Ecology Biodiversity and Conservation 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which biodiversity hotspot is home to the greatest number of endemic plant species relative to its area?
- Amazon Basin
- Cape Floristic Region of South Africa (Correct answer)
- Congo Basin
- Eastern Himalayas
Correct answer: Cape Floristic Region of South Africa
The Cape Floristic Region has exceptional plant endemism—over 6,200 endemic species—in a relatively small area, making it one of the most botanically diverse places on Earth.
Question 2: Which ecological concept explains why island biogeography predicts more species on larger islands?
- Island size increases speciation rates only
- Larger islands have greater habitat diversity and support larger populations less prone to stochastic extinction (Correct answer)
- Larger islands are closer to the mainland
- Island size reduces immigration rates
Correct answer: Larger islands have greater habitat diversity and support larger populations less prone to stochastic extinction
Larger islands offer more habitat types and sustain larger populations, reducing extinction probability and allowing more species to coexist.
Question 3: What is 'bioprospecting' in the context of biodiversity?
- Surveying species richness in unexplored regions
- Searching wild organisms for commercially valuable compounds like medicines or enzymes (Correct answer)
- Monitoring population trends of game species
- Cataloging invasive species distributions
Correct answer: Searching wild organisms for commercially valuable compounds like medicines or enzymes
Bioprospecting is the systematic search of biodiversity for biological resources with potential commercial value, raising ethical questions about access and benefit sharing.
Question 4: The Allee effect describes a situation in which:
- Population growth rate increases proportionally with density
- A population's per-capita fitness or growth rate decreases at very low population sizes (Correct answer)
- Predation pressure increases as prey density drops
- Genetic drift occurs only in large populations
Correct answer: A population's per-capita fitness or growth rate decreases at very low population sizes
The Allee effect occurs when individuals in small or sparse populations have reduced fitness due to difficulty finding mates, cooperative defense failure, or inbreeding.
Question 5: Which measure best captures functional biodiversity rather than species richness alone?
- Number of species per unit area
- Phylogenetic diversity index
- Trait diversity across species in a community (Correct answer)
- Endemism percentage in a region
Correct answer: Trait diversity across species in a community
Functional diversity quantifies the range of ecological roles (traits) present in a community, reflecting how species contribute to ecosystem processes.
Question 6: The '30x30' global biodiversity target adopted at COP15 (Kunming-Montreal, 2022) commits nations to protecting what fraction of Earth by 2030?
- 10% of land and 10% of ocean
- 20% of land and 20% of ocean
- 30% of land and 30% of ocean (Correct answer)
- 50% of land and 30% of ocean
Correct answer: 30% of land and 30% of ocean
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's 30x30 target aims to conserve 30% of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine areas by 2030.
Question 7: Which process most directly drives speciation in isolated populations over time?
- Gene flow
- Genetic drift and natural selection acting independently in each population (Correct answer)
- Phenotypic plasticity
- Epigenetic inheritance
Correct answer: Genetic drift and natural selection acting independently in each population
When populations are isolated, genetic drift and divergent natural selection cause allele frequencies to diverge, eventually leading to reproductive isolation and new species.
Ecology Biodiversity and Conservation 3
Which biodiversity hotspot is home to the greatest number of endemic plant species relative to its area?