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Ch. 56 - Conservation Biology and Global Change

Chapter 56, Problem 3

What is the single greatest threat to biodiversity? a. overharvesting of commercially important species b. habitat alteration, fragmentation, and destruction c. introduced species that compete with native species d. novel pathogens

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Hello everyone. And in today's video we have the following problem, identify the threats to biodiversity. And so we're given a group of answer choices that we need to identify which one would threat biodiversity in an ecosystem. Remember that biodiversity is a measure of just life in an ecosystem, how diverse the ecosystem is. So let us go over the answer choices and see what would result from them if an ecosystem undergoes habitat laws, these homes for the species will be lost and so these species without a home, they will lose access to resources, access to mates and and more. And so this would lead to just die off of the species are affected. So this will definitely affect ecosystems or biodiversity of ecosystems. So it is a threat and we will not cancel it out. Moving on to a USB we have over exploitation. This is related to resources and if our resources over exploited, the resource will be affected, it would go into a decline. And so if a species loses access to this resource, then it would be affected and it will die off as well. It would be its biodiversity will be affected. And so we cannot cancel it. That as well as over exploitation is also going to be a threat to biodiversity. Then we have invasive species, these invasive species or species that are not native and they are introduced and they meet they may lead to the destruction of native species as they compete for resources. These species are very good at competition and so they will kill off the native species affecting the native biodiversity of a certain environment. So all of these answer choices are going to result in a loss of biodiversity. They're going to be threats. And so we'll highlight answer choice D all of the above our as our final answer. I really hope this video helped you, and I hope to see you on the next one.
Related Practice
Textbook Question

One characteristic that distinguishes a population in an extinction vortex from most other populations is that a. it is a rare, top-level predator. b, its effective population size is lower than its total population size. c. its genetic diversity is very low. d. it is not well adapted to edge conditions.

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Textbook Question

The main cause of the increase in the amount of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere over the past 150 years is a. increased worldwide primary production. b. increased worldwide standing crop. c. an increase in the amount of infrared radiation absorbed by the atmosphere. d. the burning of larger amounts of wood and fossil fuels.

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Textbook Question

If you applied a fungicide to a cornfield, what would you expect to happen to the rate of decomposition and net ecosystem production (NEP)? a. Both decomposition rate and NEP would decrease. b. Neither would change. c. Decomposition rate would increase and NEP would decrease. d. Decomposition rate would decrease and NEP would increase.

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Textbook Question

Which of the following strategies would most rapidly increase the genetic diversity of a population in an extinction vortex? a. Establish a reserve that protects the population's habitat. b. Introduce new individuals transported from other populations of the same species. c. Sterilize the least fit individuals in the population. d. Control populations of the endangered population's predators and competitors.

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Textbook Question
Of the following statements about protected areas that have been established to preserve biodiversity, which one is not correct? a. About 25% of Earth's land area is now protected. b. National parks are one of many types of protected areas. c. Management of a protected area should be coordinated with management of the land surrounding the area. d. It is especially important to protect biodiversity hot spots.
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