10: Biodiversity Flashcards by David B

What is a species?

The basic unit of classification

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What do members of a species have in common?

They are capable of breeding to produce fertile offspring

Belong to the same gene pool

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What is a gene pool?

All genes & alleles of a population

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What do same species have in common?

Similar physical/biochemical
Similar immunologically (antibodies)
Occupy same ecological niche
Similar courtship behaviour

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What is courtship behaviour determined by?

Genetics

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Why can an animal with an odd number of chromosomes not reproduce?

Odd number of chromosomes cannot split evenly in meiosis, no gametes can form

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What is a hierarchy?

Groups within larger composite groups with no overlap

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What is the binomial naming system?

First generic name denotes the genus - Capital first letter
Second specific name - lowercase, if not known replaced with “sp.”
Italics in papers, underlined in exams

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What is the purpose of courtship behaviour?

Recognise members of their own species
Identify a mate capable of breeding
Form a pair bond
Synchronise mating
Become able to breed

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Why is recognising members of the same species important?

Ensure mating only takes place between members of the same species
To ensure fertile offspring

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Why is identifying a mate capable of breeding important?

Both partners need to be sexually mature for mating

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How does courtship action work?

Male carries out a “courtship action”
Female responds yes or no
No makes male give up and moves to other female
Yes makes male do a different action and after a few this will make mating occur

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What is the stimulus response chain?

Male action and response by female
Yes to actions until mating occurs
All members of same species follow same chain

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What does courtship include?

Chemicals
Behavioural displays
Etc.

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What is taxonomy?

Theory and practice of biological classification

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What is artificial classification?

Classifies organisms according to differences based on analogous characteristics

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What are analogous features?

Same function but different evolutionary origin

E.g bird wing and bee wing

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What is phylogenetic classification?

Based on evolutionary relationship between organisms and their ancestors
Classifies species into groups using shared features derived from ancestors
Groups in a hierarchy

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What are homologous characteristics?

Same basic structure and evolution origin but may have different functions

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What is the domain and what are they?

Highest taxonomic rank

Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya

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What are the taxonomic ranks?

Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

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What are the features of bacteria?

Single-celled prokaryotes
Absence of membrane-bound organelles
Ribosomes are smaller
Cell walls contain murein
No histones

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What are the features of archaea?

Single-celled prokaryotes that differ from bacteria by:
Genes/protein synthesis more similar to eukaryotes
Membranes contain fatty acids and glycerol with ether bond
No murein
More complex form of RNA polymerase

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What are eukarya?

Eukaryotic cells
Membrane-bound organelles
Membranes contain fatty acids and glycerol with ester bond
Not all have cell wall, those that do have no muerin
Ribosomes are large

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Define biodiversity

Variety of living organisms in an area

What is species diversity?

Refers to number of different species in one community

What is a community?

All populations of different species in a habitat

What is genetic diversity?

Refers to variety of genes possessed by population of species

What is ecosystem diversity?

Refers to range of different habitats

What is local biodiversity?

Variety of different species in a small habitat

What is global biodiversity?

Variety of different species on Earth

What is species richness?

Number of different species in an area at a given time

What is the index of diversity?

Way of measuring biodiversity | "d"

What is the index of diversity equation?

``` d = N(N-1) / sum of n(n-1) N = number of organisms of all species n = number of organisms of one species ```

What do farmers do to affect crops and what is the affect of this?

Increase the amount of food that they produce | Reduces biodiversity

What are some examples of biodiversity reduction due to agriculture?

``` Woodland clearance Hedgerow removal Pesticides Herbicides Monoculture ```

How does woodland clearance and hedgerow removal affect biodiversity?

Destroys habitat for farmland Species lose shelter and food source Causes death and loss of biodiversity

How do pesticides and herbicides affect biodiversity?

They kill pests/weeds | Reduces biodiversity in the area

What is mono-culture and how does it affect biodiversity?

Only grow one type of plant | Single type means supports fewer organisms

What is done to balance biodiversity and agriculture?

Conservation schemes | Such as legal protection to species, or rewarding farmers for protecting biodiversity

How can evolutionary relationships/genetic diversity be investigated?

Compare observable features Compare DNA base sequences Comparing proteins Compare mRNA

Why is comparing physical features done and what are the disadvantages?

Done as the features are due to DNA coding for structural proteins But environment affects observable features Observable characteristics are polygenic so there is continuous variation, difficult to make distinctions

What does polygenic mean?

Characteristic is caused by many different genes | Therefore many different variations

What are the two ways you can compare DNA base sequences?

DNA sequencing | DNA hybridisation

Why is comparing DNA base sequences done?

Closely related species have similar DNA sequences After evolution initially similar sequence Over time there will be more differences due to mutations

What is DNA sequencing?

Computers compare order of bases | Closely related species have a higher % of similar bases

What colours are given to different bases in DNA sequencing?

Adenine - green Thymine - red Cytosine - blue Guanine - yellow

Why is mRNA sequences used to compare species?

mRNA copied from DNA | mRNA of a common gene can be sequenced to see how similar they are

Why is mRNA preferable to sequencing DNA?

mRNA is found in the cytoplasm | mRNA is a copy of one gene not thousands of genes like in DNA

Why is comparing proteins used to compare species?

Closely related species have similar amino acid sequences for the same protein

What are the two ways to compare proteins?

Counting similarities/differences in amino acid sequence of the same protein in different species Immunological comparisons

What is immunological comparisons for comparing proteins?

Antibodies bind to protein to form a precipitate Similar proteins bind to the same antibody If antibody binds to protein in different species they are closely related Compare amount of precipitate formed

What is inter-specific variation?

Variation between different species

What is intra-specific variation?

Variation between members of the same species

Why are samples taken?

Unrealistic to get data from the whole population of the Earth

Why is a sample not representative of a population?

Sampling bias - selection process may be biased | Chance - individuals may not be representative of the population

What can be done to increase how representative a sample is?

Large sample size - smaller probability that chance will influence it and anomalies won't affect it Analysis - shows whether variation is the result of chance

What is the shape of a normal distribution curve?

Symmetrical bell-shape

What is it called when a distribution curve is shifted?

Skewed curve

What are the three methods for calculating averages?

Mean - sum of values / number of values Mode - most common value Median - middle value of a set of values

Where is the mean, median and mode on a normal distribution curve?

Same value in the middle

What is mean used for?

Provides average value | Allows comparison of averages

What is standard deviation used for?

Measure of spread of values around the mean | Large S.D means values vary a lot

How is standard deviation shown on a graph?

Bars one standard dev. above and below | If they overlap can't be said to be different

Why is index of diversity used instead of species richness?

Takes into account both species richness and evenness Gives an idea of the number of each species relative to population size Small and large populations are treated differently

10: Biodiversity Flashcards

(65 cards)