Deck 4: Biodiversity: Society Wouldnt Exist Without It

Question 1

Ecosystem services refer to:

A) Processes by which the environment produces resources that we often take for granted, such as clean air and water, timber, and habitat for biologically diverse species.
B) Commodities made by petrochemical companies to mimic so-called "natural" processes.
C) Companies that scrub rivers, air and soil of pollution.
D) A group of policies implemented in China in the 1990s that involved the genetic engineering of food.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Biocultural diversity speaks to how:

A) Cultural diversity and biological diversity are more intertwined today than ever before (whereas in the past these two types of diversity were unrelated).
B) Our sociological imagination can improve cultural diversity while harming biological diversity.
C) Cultural diversity is often unaffected by changes to biological diversity.
D) Cultural diversity does not merely parallel biological diversity but is profoundly interrelated with it.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Conservation involves the sampling, transferring, and storage of a species in a place other than the original location in which it was found, like a zoo or seed bank. The other option is conservation, which involves the management of a species at the location of discovery.

A) Ex situ/In situ.
B) In situ/ Ex situ.
C) A priori/ post priori.
D) Post priori / A priori.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

As discussed in Society and the Environment, the "species problem":

A) Helps us understand why scientific studies of biodiversity levels can arrive at entirely different conclusions.
B) Refers to the multiple understandings of "species" that exist in the biological literature.
C) Refers to the inherent ambiguity surrounding the use and definition of the species concept.
D) All of the above.

Question 5

A cultural hotspot:

A) Is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of cultural diversity that is under threat of extinction.
B) Refers exclusively to a region untouched by forces of globalization.
C) Is a popular public space where social networking occurs.
D) Is a space inhabited by the same community for at least 250 years.

Question 6

Memory banks:

A) Help conserve biocultural diversity.
B) Were last used in Ancient Greece as a way to remember stories and songs.
C) Specialize exclusively in the conservation of genetic material.
D) Refer to people that have specialized knowledge about highly specialized agricultural practices.

Question 7

What is it called when an indigenous community's local biodiversity is taken by a company and patented (and sold as, for example, a drug or food additive) at great profit with no monies flowing back to the community?

A) Biocultural exploitation.
B) Biopiracy.
C) Bioterrorism.
D) Cultural erosion.

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT a provisioning service of ecosystems?

A) Fresh water and food, fish and fiber.
B) Pollinator Services. (ECOnnections 4.3, p.76)
C) Fuel.
D) Waste absorption.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT a regulatory service of ecosystems?

A) Ornamental and aesthetic services.
B) Water purification.
C) Erosion control (and soil formation).
D) Biological control (pest management).

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT a cultural service of ecosystems?

A) Cultural diversity and spiritual / religious values.
B) Knowledge systems.
C) Pollinator services.
D) Inspirational and aesthetic value.

Question 11

Biodiversity does not just have aesthetic "value" but provides ecosystem services, creates limits on infectious disease, and is the source of therapeutic (e.g., medical) applications.

Question 12

More than three fourths of the nearly 300 commercial crops are insect pollinated (a service performed largely by bees).

Question 13

Measuring biodiversity levels is a straightforward and non-problematic process.

Question 14

The nonmaterial benefits from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation and aesthetic are referred to as the regulatory services of ecosystems.

Question 15

If the ecosystem is high functioning and biologically diverse, predation through the food chain is likely to keep populations of all species under control.

Question 16

Disease vectors include those species that can potentially spread infectious diseases.

Question 17

Biodiversity hotspots are a biogeographic region (biome) that lack a significant reservoir of biodiversity.

Question 18

Cultural hotspots usually overlap with biodiversity hotspots.

Question 19

Ex situ and in situ conservation are two separate approaches to biological conservation.

Question 20

The United Nations is trying to encourage more biopiracy among its member nations.

Question 21

Define ecosystem services.

Question 22

Define provisioning services.

Question 23

Define regulatory services.

Question 24

Define Cultural services.

Question 25

Define disease vectors.

Question 26

What are Biodiversity hotspots?

Question 27

Define Ex situ and in situ conservation.

Question 28

What is Biopiracy?

Question 29

What does the term "Indigenous knowledge" mean?

Question 30

Define Agrobiodiversity.

Question 31

Having reviewed the Fast Facts at the start of Chapter 4 on biodiversity, which fact is most compelling (surprising) to you and why?

Question 32

Which Fast Fact would you use to talk to and educate others about the steady loss of biodiversity and species decline and extinction? Why and what would you say?

Question 33

What are some of the values to human populations of biodiversity? Discuss and explain and demonstrate your knowledge of having read the chapter.

Question 34

What are some of the human activities that threaten biodiversity? Discuss and explain and demonstrate your knowledge of having read the chapter when responding to this question.

Question 35

What are the links between cultural and biological diversity?

Question 36

Conventional agriculture has become a monoculture within a monoculture, where fields are populated by not just one crop but one variety of a single crop. What are some of the forces driving this specialization?

Question 37

Can we rely on zoos and gene banks when it comes to preserving our biological heritage?

Question 38

Why isn't community conservation more popular in a country like the United States?