10.1 - 10.5 Biodiversity

Question 1

Define species

Answer 1

Animals that are capable of breeding to produce living, fertile offspring

Question 2

How are animals classified today?

Answer 2

The binomial system
- Must be written in italics or underlined
- First name must have a capital letter, second letter must not

Question 3

List the functions of courtship behaviour

Answer 3

• Recognise members of their own species
• Identify a male capable of breeding
• Form a pair bond (for successful mating and raising of young)
• Synchronise mating
• Create physiological state for breeding

Question 4

Name and describe the two types of classification

Answer 4

Artificial classification:
Divides organisms into categories based on visible characteristics

Phylogenetic classification:
Classifies species into groups using shared features derived from ancestors

Question 5

List the classification order

Answer 5

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

Question 6

Name the three kingdoms

Answer 6

• Bacteria
• Archaea
• Eukarya

Question 7

Define biodiversity

Answer 7

The number and variety of living organisms in a particular area. Includes:
- Species diversity
- Genetic diversity
- Ecosystem diversity

Question 8

Define species diversity

Answer 8

The number of different species and the number of individuals of each species within a community

Question 9

Define genetic diversity

Answer 9

The variety of alleles possessed by the individuals that make up the population of a species

Question 10

Define ecosystem diversity

Answer 10

The range of different habitats

Question 11

Define species richness

Answer 11

The number of different species in a particular area in a given time

Question 12

What are the four ways to compare genetic diversity?

Answer 12

• Observable characteristics
• Base sequence of DNA
• Base sequence of mRNA
• Amino acid sequence of proteins

Question 13

What is the impact of agriculture on species diversity?

Answer 13

Species diversity is lower in agricultural ecosystems
- Farmers select species for particular qualities so reduce the genetic diversity of alleles
- Any given area can only support a certain amount of biomass and farmers take up this space with the desired crop
- Pesticides also reduce the number of other living organisms in the area

Question 14

Name some practices that directly remove habitats and reduce species diversity

Answer 14

• Removal of hedgerows and woodland
• Creating monocultures (removing diverse areas to replace with singular crops)
• Filling in ponds and draining marshes
• Overgrazing of land, preventing regeneration
• Use of pesticides and inorganic fertilisers
• Silage stores and slurry tanks running into water courses
• Absence of crop rotation, inter cropping or under-sowing

Question 15

Define interspecific

Answer 15

Variation among species

Question 16

Define intraspecific

Answer 16

Variation within a species

Question 17

What are the two reasons why sampling measurements may not be representative?

Answer 17

Sampling Bias:
The selection process may be biased either deliberately or unwittingly

Chance:
By chance, individuals chosen may not be representatives

Question 18

How do you reduce the impact of chance on the data collected from a random sample?

Answer 18

• Use a large sample size
• Use statistical tests