Just How Many Species Are There, Anyway?

Name ______

AP Environmental Science, Mr. Shannon Discovery High School

BIODIVERSITY WEBQUEST

Follow the links below and answer the relevant questions. You may submit this WebQuest when it is completed (and ONLY when it is completed!) to Mr. Shannon at [email protected].

“Just How Many Species Are There, Anyway?” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100602142045.htm

1. What is one reason why having an accurate count of species is important?

2. How many methods of assessing biodiversity did Rosenzweig and his colleagues test?

3. What is Rosenzweig’s best estimate for the total number of species on planet Earth? Is this an accurate guess? Why or why not?

4. Which method worked best – choosing ecoregions at random or spacing them evenly throughout the continent? Defend your answer.

5. What are the long-term implications of Rosenweig’s method (Hint – could it be useful in other contexts? How?) “Who Are We Sharing The Planet With? Millions Less Species Than Previously Thought, New Calculations Suggest”

6. Who was the study’s lead author, and where does he work?

7. Which species are included in the arthropod group?

8. How are applied probability modeling techniques typically used?

9. Approximately what percent of all arthropods are estimated to be awaiting discovery by humans?

10. How did the scientists in the article account for uncertainty when estimating the total arthropod diversity of the rain forest?

“How Many Animal Species Inhabit Our Planet?”

11. What challenges can species’ habitats present to estimating biodiversity?

12. What percent of total species are classified as invertebrates? 13. What are some additional ways (beyond “total number of species in a given area”) that ‘biodiversity’ is used?