10. BIODIVERSITY

Question 1

What is biodiversity?

Answer 1

Biodiversity is thevarietyof plant and animal life in aparticular habitat.

Question 2

Name the three types of diversity in nature

Answer 2

Genetic, species and ecosystem

Question 3

Define what a habitat is

Answer 3

A place where a community of organisms live.

Question 4

Define what a community is

Answer 4

An interacting group oforganismsin a habitat.

Question 5

Define what an ecosystem is

Answer 5

A biological community ofinteracting organismsand theirphysical environment.

Question 6

Define species richness

Answer 6

The number of speciesin a habitat.

Question 7

Why does increasing the variety of plants in an ecosystem increase the biodiversity?

Answer 7

The number of different habitats increases, and the variety of different food sources increases

Question 8

Recall the equation to calculate Index of Diversity

Question 9

Recall the two things you need to be able to calculate Index of Diversity

Answer 9

The total number of organisms, and the abundance of each organism

Question 10

Why is it better to use Index of Div instead of species richness?

Answer 10

Species richness only measure the number of species, whereas the index of diversity measure the species richness and abundance of each

Question 11

What happens to the value of the Index of Div as the ecosystem becomes more biodiverse?

Answer 11

It increases

Question 12

What happens the stability of an ecosystem and its ability to withstand change as its biodiversity changes?

Answer 12

It increases

Question 13

What effect does farming have on the species richness of an ecosystem?

Answer 13

It decreases it

Question 14

What effect does farming have on the index of diversity of an ecosystem?

Answer 14

It decreases it

Question 15

How does crop farming create a lower biodiversity of animals?

Answer 15

It reduces the number of different habitats, and reduces the variety of food sources

Question 16

Name four artificial interventions used by farmers to reduce the competition for their crops

Answer 16

Pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers, irrigation

Question 17

How do farmers eliminate unwanted plants?

Answer 17

Herbicides

Question 18

How do farmers eliminate unwanted animals?

Answer 18

Pesticides

Question 19

What should farmers use instead of fences to separate their fields?

Answer 19

Hedgerows

Question 20

Why should farmers maintain any ponds on their land?

Answer 20

Ponds would increase the number of different habitats, and increase the variety of different food sources

Question 21

Describe the effect of overgrazing on the biodiversity of the ecosystem

Answer 21

It decreases it

Question 22

Why might farmers replace hedgerows with fences?

Answer 22

Fences increase the area available to grow crops, and fences require less maintenance SO more income

Question 23

Why is crop rotation important in crop farming?

Answer 23

It prevents soil becoming deficient in one particular mineral

Question 24

Why should farmers wait to cut the edges of fields until after flowering and seed dispersal?

Answer 24

To allows natural pollination and seed dispersal to maintain the biodiversity of the natural plants

Question 25

Why is using observable characteristics to determine evolutionary relationships not always accurate?

Answer 25

Most observable characteristics are polygenic. Observable characteristics can be changed by the environment. Structures can be analogous.

Question 26

Which process changes the base sequence of DNA?

Answer 26

Mutation

Question 27

Which three biological molecules can you use to determine two individuals / species relatedness?

Answer 27

DNA, mRNA and proteins

Question 28

How do you determine how closely related two individuals are by using their DNA base sequences?

Answer 28

Count the number of differences / similarities

Question 29

What happens over time that causes more physical differences to exist between different individuals / species?

Answer 29

Mutations accumulate over time, and the more genetic differences, the more physical differences

Question 30

Which biological molecule is the most inaccurate to use to ascertain evolutionary relatedness?

Answer 30

Proteins

Question 31

Why are proteins the most inaccurate biological molecules to use to ascertain evolutionary relationships?

Answer 31

Each amino acid is coded for by a triplet of bases. Each amino acid can be coded for by more than one codon because DNA is degenerate.

Question 32

What are analogous characteristics?

Answer 32

Structures that look similar but have different evolutionary origins (have developed through convergent evolution)

Question 33

What are homologous characteristics?

Answer 33

Structures that look different but have similar evolutionary origins (have developed through divergent evolution)

Question 34

What is taxonomy the study of?

Answer 34

Classification

Question 35

What is each group within taxonomy called?

Answer 35

Taxa

Question 36

What are the three principles of taxonomy

Answer 36

There are smaller groups within a larger group, which are non-overlapping. These groups reflect their evolutionary history.

Question 37

Describe why taxonomy is considered a hierachy

Answer 37

There are smaller groups within larger groups, which are non-overlapping.

Question 38

Recall the 8 taxa, from largest to smallest

Answer 38

Domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species

Question 39

Name the three domains

Answer 39

Eukarya, Bacteria and Archaea

Question 40

Name the kingdoms within the Eukarya domain

Answer 40

Animalia, Plantae, Fungi and Protoctista

Question 41

Which two taxa comprises a binomial name?

Answer 41

Genus and species (Homo Sapiens)

Question 42

How can you ascertain how closely related two species are from their classification?

Answer 42

The more taxa they have in common, the more closely related they are

Question 43

Identify a circular taxonomy diagram

Question 44

Why is phylogeny?

Answer 44

The evolutionary relationships between organisms

Question 45

What is the diagram used in phylogeny called?

Answer 45

A phylogenetic tree

Question 46

Where in a phylogenetic tree are oldest species, and where are the newest species?

Answer 46

Oldest species at the bottom, newest species at the top

Question 47

Phylogenetic trees predict that time at which two species diverged from what?

Answer 47

Their common ancestor

Question 48

How can the relatedness of two species be ascertained from a phylogenetic tree?

Answer 48

The more recent the divergence from their common ancestor, the more closely related two species are