Rainforest Biodiversity Flashcards

All 5 cards in this deck

What is biodiversity?

The variety of plant and animal species living in an ecosystem.

Give one reason why tropical rainforests have such high levels of biodiversity.

High temperatures, rainfall and sunlight all year mean plants grow quickly, creating many habitats and food sources for different species.

Give one effect of deforestation on biodiversity.

Habitats are destroyed, so biodiversity is reduced and individual species become endangered and possibly extinct.

True or false? Tropical rainforests contain over half of the world's plant species.

True. They cover a small part of the Earth's land surface but hold over half the world's plants, many at risk of extinction.

Why are many tropical rainforest species especially at risk of extinction?

Many are highly specialised or live only in one small area, so if that particular habitat or food source is destroyed they have nowhere else to survive.