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1
ECOL111 Questions and Answers (100%
Correct Answers) Already Graded A+
What is biodiversity? Ans: Variability among organisms and the
ecological complexes they are part of. This includes diversity between
species, within species, and between ecosystems.
Why does biodiversity matter? Ans: - Ecosystem stability
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- Key resources for humans
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- Inspiration and quality of life
How do we track trends in biodiversity? Ans: Using the IUCN Red list - this
is the worlds most comprehensive database on animal groups and other
parts of ecosystems across the world. This captures info about the
distribution, population size, ecology, and threats of ecosystems around
the world.
What are the five major threats to biodiversity across terrestrial,
freshwater and marine environments? Ans: - Land use changes
- Exploitation
- Climate change
- Pollution
- Invasive species
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Explain how land use changes act as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Use
an example. Ans: - Conversion of land cover (deforestation, mining)
- Changes in management (agricultural intensification)
- Changes in spatial configuration (habitat fragmentation)
New Zealand as an example
© 2026 Assignment Expert
Prior to humans, most of NZ was forest, so when humans arrived, through
agriculture, intensive grazing, introduced plants etc there was mass
forest loss throughout the country.
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Explain how exploitation acts as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Use an
example. Ans: Key exploited species are marine fish, invertebrates, trees,
tropical vertebrates. A large example of exploitation is overfishing, where
we are leading many species to extinction and also causing shifts in size
distribution due to forcing this selection pressure of fish that are
favourable due to surviving against fishing.
Explain how climate change acts as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Use
an example. Ans: - Has impact on ecosystem functioning (e.g bush fires
causing wipeout of Australian galaxiids due to sediment run off from
fires)
-Impacts migration
-May threaten 1/6 of species globally, especially marine (warming
oceans, acidification)
,For Expert help and assignment handling,
3
Explain how pollution acts as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Ans: -
Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (burning fossil fuels etc) mean that
there is an increase in nutrients which change the growth rates of plants
etc in ecosystems, sometimes we don't want these increases.
-Nitrogen-phosphorus fertiliser
-Microplastics (we don't know a lot about them as it is an emerging
threat)
© 2026 Assignment Expert
Why do we look at the effects of pollution in relation to loss in biodiversity
in relation to how pollutants move through food webs and rainfall? Ans:
So we can see how it moves through environments and which areas are
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threatened by accumulation of pollutants.
Explain how invasive species act as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Use an
example. Ans: Invasive species disrupt ecological functioning of natural
ecosystems as they either out-compete or prey on native species.
An example of invasive species causing loss in biodiversity is the
predation of rodents and cats on New Zealand's native birds.
How far can we go as scientists in terms of conservation of biodiversity?
Ans: As scientists we can say that 'this is what will happen if nothing is
done' about a situation, but it is up to cultural, social, and economic
context to decide what will happen in terms of policy making.
Which factors underpin conservation status assessments of rare
ecosystems in Aotearoa? Ans: - Assessing key threats on environments
, For Expert help and assignment handling,
4
- Collecting data from GIS tools on indigenous cover and protected
cover of environments
- Overlapping these data layers to form classifications
Which factors underpin conservation status assessments of species in
Aotearoa? Ans: - There is a rules based approach for assessing
extinction over three generations:
© 2026 Assignment Expert
-population size
-trend
Guru01 - Stuvia
-precautionary approach
- There is an expert panels approach where experts get together and
make assessments - though there is also some public input - and in
around 3 days this assessment is made.
- They must undergo precautionary principal looking at the worst case
scenario
- Can include some taxa that aren't formally described (it can
sometimes take many years to get a name placed on a taxa
- Criteria relevant to Aotearoa (can be diseases, introduced predators,
species doing specific things, etc that are specific to us)
- There is no legal obligation to act on assessments/to make sure that
species don't go extinct - this is a weakness in this system
1
ECOL111 Questions and Answers (100%
Correct Answers) Already Graded A+
What is biodiversity? Ans: Variability among organisms and the
ecological complexes they are part of. This includes diversity between
species, within species, and between ecosystems.
Why does biodiversity matter? Ans: - Ecosystem stability
© 2026 Assignment Expert
- Key resources for humans
Guru01 - Stuvia
- Inspiration and quality of life
How do we track trends in biodiversity? Ans: Using the IUCN Red list - this
is the worlds most comprehensive database on animal groups and other
parts of ecosystems across the world. This captures info about the
distribution, population size, ecology, and threats of ecosystems around
the world.
What are the five major threats to biodiversity across terrestrial,
freshwater and marine environments? Ans: - Land use changes
- Exploitation
- Climate change
- Pollution
- Invasive species
,For Expert help and assignment handling,
2
Explain how land use changes act as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Use
an example. Ans: - Conversion of land cover (deforestation, mining)
- Changes in management (agricultural intensification)
- Changes in spatial configuration (habitat fragmentation)
New Zealand as an example
© 2026 Assignment Expert
Prior to humans, most of NZ was forest, so when humans arrived, through
agriculture, intensive grazing, introduced plants etc there was mass
forest loss throughout the country.
Guru01 - Stuvia
Explain how exploitation acts as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Use an
example. Ans: Key exploited species are marine fish, invertebrates, trees,
tropical vertebrates. A large example of exploitation is overfishing, where
we are leading many species to extinction and also causing shifts in size
distribution due to forcing this selection pressure of fish that are
favourable due to surviving against fishing.
Explain how climate change acts as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Use
an example. Ans: - Has impact on ecosystem functioning (e.g bush fires
causing wipeout of Australian galaxiids due to sediment run off from
fires)
-Impacts migration
-May threaten 1/6 of species globally, especially marine (warming
oceans, acidification)
,For Expert help and assignment handling,
3
Explain how pollution acts as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Ans: -
Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (burning fossil fuels etc) mean that
there is an increase in nutrients which change the growth rates of plants
etc in ecosystems, sometimes we don't want these increases.
-Nitrogen-phosphorus fertiliser
-Microplastics (we don't know a lot about them as it is an emerging
threat)
© 2026 Assignment Expert
Why do we look at the effects of pollution in relation to loss in biodiversity
in relation to how pollutants move through food webs and rainfall? Ans:
So we can see how it moves through environments and which areas are
Guru01 - Stuvia
threatened by accumulation of pollutants.
Explain how invasive species act as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Use an
example. Ans: Invasive species disrupt ecological functioning of natural
ecosystems as they either out-compete or prey on native species.
An example of invasive species causing loss in biodiversity is the
predation of rodents and cats on New Zealand's native birds.
How far can we go as scientists in terms of conservation of biodiversity?
Ans: As scientists we can say that 'this is what will happen if nothing is
done' about a situation, but it is up to cultural, social, and economic
context to decide what will happen in terms of policy making.
Which factors underpin conservation status assessments of rare
ecosystems in Aotearoa? Ans: - Assessing key threats on environments
, For Expert help and assignment handling,
4
- Collecting data from GIS tools on indigenous cover and protected
cover of environments
- Overlapping these data layers to form classifications
Which factors underpin conservation status assessments of species in
Aotearoa? Ans: - There is a rules based approach for assessing
extinction over three generations:
© 2026 Assignment Expert
-population size
-trend
Guru01 - Stuvia
-precautionary approach
- There is an expert panels approach where experts get together and
make assessments - though there is also some public input - and in
around 3 days this assessment is made.
- They must undergo precautionary principal looking at the worst case
scenario
- Can include some taxa that aren't formally described (it can
sometimes take many years to get a name placed on a taxa
- Criteria relevant to Aotearoa (can be diseases, introduced predators,
species doing specific things, etc that are specific to us)
- There is no legal obligation to act on assessments/to make sure that
species don't go extinct - this is a weakness in this system
