Question

Scientific Literacy
Topic: Biodiversity

Read the following newspaper article and answer the questions which follow.
BIODIVERSITY IS THE KEY TO MANAGING ENVIRONMENT
An ecosystem that retains a high biodiversity (that is, a wide variety of living things) is much more likely to adapt to human-caused environment change than is one that has little.
Consider the two food webs shown in the diagram. The arrows point from the organism that gets eaten to the one that eats it. These food webs are highly simplified compared with food webs in real ecosystems, but they still illustrate a key difference between more diverse and less diverse ecosystems.
Food web B represents a situation with very low biodiversity, where at some levels the food path involves only a single type of organism. Food web A represents a more diverse ecosystem with, as a result, many more alternative feeding pathways. Generally, loss of biodiversity should be regarded seriously, not only because
the organisms that have become extinct represent a big loss for both ethical and
utilitarian (useful benefit) reasons, but also because the organisms that remain have
become more vulnerable (exposed) to extinction in the future.

Question 1: BIODIVERSITY

In the text it is stated that “Food web A represents a more diverse ecosystem
with, as a result, many more alternative feeding pathways.”
Look at FOOD WEB A. Only two animals in this food web have three direct
(immediate) food sources. Which two animals are they?
A Native Cat and Parasitic Wasp
B Native Cat and Butcher Bird
C Parasitic Wasp and Leaf Hopper
D Parasitic Wasp and Spider
E Native Cat and Honeyeater

Answer 1

The term biodiversity (from “biological diversity”) refers to the variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems, and can encompass the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life.

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