GIS 1004: The Biosphere
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Questions and Answers

What is biodiversity primarily composed of?

  • Variety of living things, number of kinds, ecological diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity (correct)
  • Only species diversity
  • Only ecological diversity
  • Only genetic diversity

    • Approximately how many species are estimated to exist on Earth?

  • 200,000
  • 100,000
  • 1.7-2.0 million
  • 100 million (correct)

    • What is unique about the biodiversity found in the tropics?

  • No unique species found
  • Low concentration of species
  • Dense concentrations of species (correct)
  • Only a few species of birds

    • Why is it essential to preserve biodiversity?

    <p>For healthy ecosystems, which provide essential services to humans</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one benefit of preserving biodiversity?

    <p>To get new medicines and to preserve genetic diversity to enhance crops</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one way in which humans benefit from biodiversity?

    <p>Through the provision of food, removal of CO2, and decomposition of waste</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What percentage of angiosperm species on Earth are used as a food source?

    <p>3%</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one way in which genetic resources from biodiversity are used?

    <p>To enhance crop production, increase disease resistance, and improve drought tolerance</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the biosphere?

    <p>The zone of the Earth where all living organisms and organic matter exist</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is transferred from one level of the food chain to the next?

    <p>Energy and nutrients, like carbon</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is excluded from bioresources?

    <p>Fossil fuels and rocks of biological origin</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is biomass?

    <p>Any organic matter derived from plants or animals available on a renewable basis</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why is bioresources management and utilization important?

    <p>For the optimum utilization of bioresources for human welfare</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the importance of awareness of bioresources?

    <p>To safeguard and protect the optimum and balance way of using bioresources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What could be a potential source of new medicines?

    <p>All of the above</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one way humans indirectly contribute to species extinctions?

    <p>All of the above</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is desertification?

    <p>The conversion of grasslands or woodlands to desert-like conditions</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one effect of acid rain?

    <p>It burns trees and kills fish</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one result of climate change?

    <p>All of the above</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential new food source from the ocean?

    <p>All of the above</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one way to protect biodiversity?

    <p>By preserving and restoring natural habitats</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is bioenergy?

    <p>Energy generated from biomass</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a cause of water pollution?

    <p>All of the above</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one effect of pollution?

    <p>It damages ecosystems and harms human health</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one way to prevent overharvesting?

    <p>Establishing hunting and fishing laws</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the main goal of ecological restoration?

    <p>To create a functional ecosystem</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the name of the programme in Malaysia that aims to conserve biodiversity?

    <p>The Forest Restoration Programme</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the main objective of Malaysia's National Policy on Biological Diversity?

    <p>To conserve Malaysia's biological diversity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is an example of ecological restoration?

    <p>The restoration of Louisiana's coastal marshes</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the purpose of refuges, parks, and preserves?

    <p>To protect habitat</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    The Biosphere

    • The biosphere is the "life zone" of the Earth, including all living organisms, organic matter, and extending from the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans.
    • It is structured into a hierarchy known as a food chain, with energy and nutrients transferred from one level to the next.

    Bioresources

    • Bioresources are any resources of biological origin, excluding fossil fuels and rocks of biological origin.
    • Examples of bioresources include biomass, wood, agricultural crops, herbaceous and woody energy crops, municipal organic wastes, and manure.
    • Bioresources are important for national progress and economic activities, and their management and utilization are crucial for human welfare.

    Biodiversity

    • Biodiversity refers to the variety of living things, including different species, habitats, and genes.
    • There are estimated to be between 1.7 and 2.0 million species, with some estimates suggesting up to 100 million.
    • Biodiversity is essential for human health, as it provides ecosystem services such as producing oxygen, removing CO2, decomposing waste, and preventing erosion and flooding.
    • We benefit from biodiversity in various ways, including through medicines, genetic resources, and aesthetic and cultural values.

    Benefits of Biodiversity

    • Genetic resources: 350,000 species of angiosperm on earth, with 80,000 possessing food value and 3,000 used as food sources.
    • Livestock genetic resources: important for crop improvement, increased production, disease resistance, and drought tolerance.
    • Potential new food sources: from plants and animals.
    • Medicines from plants and animals: 50% of medicinal compounds are obtained from plants, and often difficult or expensive to artificially synthesize.
    • Bioenergy and biofuels: biomass, maize, saccharum, miscanthus, and salix.

    Impacts of Human Activity on the Biosphere and Bioresources

    • The increasing size of the human population and industrialization have far-reaching effects on the biosphere, including extinction of individual species and global climate change.
    • Humans are indirectly/directly increasing the rate of species extinctions through habitat destruction, overharvesting, and introducing exotic species.

    Threatened Species

    • Endangered species: face extinction in all or part of their range.
    • Threatened species: likely to become endangered in the near future.
    • Endemic species: evolved in one place and found nowhere else.

    Global Impact of Human Activities

    • Human activities threaten entire ecosystems, including desertification, deforestation, air pollution, acid rain, water pollution, and trash in aquatic ecosystems.
    • Desertification: poor agricultural practices turn grasslands or woodlands into deserts.
    • Deforestation: human activities strip woodlands of trees, leading to flooding, landslides, and increased atmospheric CO2.
    • Pollution: human activities generate pollutants that kill animals and damage ecosystems, including plastics, chemicals, and heavy metals.

    Protecting Bioresources and Biodiversity

    • Stop overharvesting and adopt sustainable yield practices.
    • Protect habitats through refuges, parks, and preserves.
    • Ecological restoration can help actively recreate or renew a diverse natural ecosystem.
    • National policies, such as Malaysia's National Policy on Biological Diversity, can help conserve and sustainably utilize biological diversity.

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    Description

    This quiz is about the biosphere, the 'life zone' of the Earth, including all living organisms and organic matter. It covers the structure of the biosphere, food chains, and the transfer of energy and nutrients.

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