Ask Jot

Chosen Answer by 1ofU

Biodiversity generally follows a gradient of high diversity in the tropics to low diversity at higher latitudes. There are a lot more species along the Amazon River than there are along the Yukon. This is believed to be due to the intensity of sunlight (needed for photosynthesis, which governs primary production) and temperature (residual energy, which reduces the need for thermo-regulation).

Chosen Answer by ecolink

The first part of the standard is about understanding what biodiversity is. Biodiversity is the number of different kinds of living things in an area. Tropical rainforests and coral reefs have very high biodiversity because they have so many different kinds of living things. A corn field or a lawn has very low biodiversity because there aren't very many different kinds of living things. It isn't how big the population is, but how many kinds. The second part of the standard says that biodiversity is affected when habitats are altered. For instance, if a marsh is drained in order to make farm land, then the species that lived in the marsh won't be able to survive in the altered habitat. The marsh's relatively high biodiversity will be reduced. Another example would be how the biodiversity of a forest is reduced if people remove the dead trees. There are birds, insects, and fungi that need the dead trees to nest in, feed on, and so on. If those dead trees are removed, then the forest is still there, but the biodiversity is reduced.

Chosen Answer by gardengallivant

Biodiversity programs in North America http://canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/theory/threelevels.htm http://www.iisd.org/agri/gpbiodiversity.htm http://canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/ecozones/prairies/prairies.htm http://www.tc-biodiversity.org/bioabstractsias.htm http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/280/5364/677a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Biodiversity_Strategy http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/05/invasive-species-us-waterways http://www.actionbioscience.org/biodiversity/johnson.html

Chosen Answer by Asst Prof

The greater the number of species (greater biodiversity), the more stable the food web. Should one species disappear, the web will not collapse because there are others to "fill in" that trophic level. Don't know anything about Canada's food webs...

Chosen Answer by Mafoon

As we're in the middle of a climate shift biodiversity is decreasing and human activities are also decreasing biodiversity. All conservation efforts are an attempt to keep some of this biodiversity.