4. Biodiversity and Natural Resources (1)

Question 1

Biodiversity

Answer 1

The variety of living organisms within a habitat, ecosystem or biome

Question 2

Species Diversity

Answer 2

The number and relative abundance of species in a biological community.

Question 3

Genetic diversity

Answer 3

the variety of genes and alleles within a given species

Question 4

Endemism

Answer 4

ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location

Question 5

Human effects on biodiversity
(deforestation)

Answer 5

Deforestation/ tar sands → removes habitats = loss of shelter, food → extinction, loss of biodiversity (reducing species diversity)
loss of trees= soil erosion, tree roots hold soils together.

Question 6

Human effects on biodiversity (pesticides/ herbicides)

Answer 6

Pesticides → can be toxic to other animals, enter soil and can be carried to bodies of water via rainwater, which can be toxic to aquatic life. herbicides kill other plants which leads to loss of biodiversity.

Question 7

Human effects on biodiversity

Answer 7

Eutrophication and fertilisers → fertilisers carried by rain water enter rivers and lakes → leads to nitrogen spike in water which kills aquatic animals. nutrients to some extent is good but the spike produces high levels of ammonia - toxic to aquatic organisms

Question 8

Human effects on biodiversity - overgrowth of plants

Answer 8

Overgrowth of plants = removal of oxygen from water. More algae on water surface, blocks light from entering therefore no photosynthesis, no oxygen for aquatic organisms. They die, ammonia is released back into the water

Question 9

Selective breeding + why it is problematic

Answer 9

humans choosing plants and animals with the most desirable traits/ most advantageous alleles) and breeding them more to enhance the expression of these traits over many generations, increasing desirable allele frequency this leads to a loss in genetic diversity of farm animals, which leads to a loss in biodiversity.

Question 10

Species richness

Answer 10

The number of different species in a community

Question 11

Species abundance

Answer 11

The number of individuals of each species (species population size)

Question 12

Diversity index equation

Answer 12

uses the number of species (species richness/ N) and the number of individuals in each species (species abundance / n )

D = N(N-1) / sum of n(n - 1)

Question 13

Gene pool

Answer 13

the combination of all the genes (including alleles) present in a reproducing population or species

Question 14

Habitat

Answer 14

an area where one or more organisms live

Question 15

Community

Answer 15

All of the populations of different species living and interacting in a place at the same time

Question 16

Ecosystem

Answer 16

The dynamic interaction between all the living (biotic) and non living (abiotic) factors in a given area.

Question 17

Population

Answer 17

All the individuals of a species living within a specific area. Individuals in the same species can interbreed.

Question 18

Greater variety of alleles present in gene pool =

Answer 18

greater genetic diversity

Question 19

Phenotype

Answer 19

The set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the environment

Question 20

Genotype

Answer 20

all the alleles and organism has on its chromosomes.

Question 21

Relationship between base sequences and genetic diversity

Answer 21

The greater the difference in base sequences = the greater the number of different alleles = greater the genetic diversity

Question 22

relationship between phenotypes and genetic diversity

Answer 22

Greater number of phenotypes ⇒ higher genetic diversity

Question 23

Heterozygosity index

Answer 23

heterozygotes have different alleles at their particular locus. Higher proportion of heterozygotes = greater genetic diversity, heterozygosity index can be calculated using this:

H = number of heterozygotes/ number of individuals in the population

Question 24

Niches

Answer 24

Within an ecosystem, every organism occupies a specific ecological niche.
Niche - the role a species has with its environment. This includes its interactions with the biotic and abiotic

Question 25

What happens if two species have the same niche?

Answer 25

Competition

Question 26

Behavioural adaptations

Answer 26

ways that the species acts to improve survival chances (i.e. possums playing dead, mating rituals)

Question 27

Physiological Adaptations

Answer 27

processes inside an organisms body that help its chances of survival (i.e. brown bears hibernating)

Question 28

Natural selection

Answer 28

[some organisms are better adapted to survive and pass on their characteristics] mutations provide introduction of new alleles selection pressures => competition advantageous alleles more likely to survive + are able to reproduce to pass down alleles. non-advantageous alleles less likely to survive and reproduce. They get outcompeted advantageous alleles reproduce, pass down alleles for generations increasing allele frequency over time = evolution

Question 29

Anatomical adaptation

Answer 29

structural features of an organisms body that increase its chances of survival (i.e.. otters have streamlined shape to help them glide through the water.)

Question 30

Evolution

Answer 30

change in allele frequencies over time

Question 31

Divergent evolution

Answer 31

two or more species sharing a common ancestor become more different over time

Question 32

Adaptive radiation

Answer 32

Evolutionary pattern, many species evolving from a single ancestral species

Question 33

Convergent evolution and its problem

Answer 33

Process by which unrelated organisms independently evolve similarities when adapting to similar environments = makes classification harder

Question 34

Species

Answer 34

Organisms that can reproduce to produce fertile offspring

Question 35

Speciation

Answer 35

Two species become reproductively isolated and can no longer reproduce to produce fertile offspring

Question 36

4 causes of speciation

Answer 36

seasonal changes → leading to different m flowering or mating seasons > sexually active at different times of year mechanical changes → changes in genitalia preventing successful mating Behavioural differences → differences in courtship behaviours that are not attractive to other population. Geographical isolation also

Question 37

conditions of the hardy-weinberg principle

Answer 37

...that it is a large population with no immigration, emigration, mutations or natural selection. There must be random mating

Question 38

Hardy Weinberg equation

Answer 38

PREDICTING ALLELE FREQUENCY p+q = 1 p ⇒ frequency of the dominant allele q ⇒ frequency of the recessive allele. p^2 + 2pq +q^2 = 1 p^2 = frequency of the homozygous dominant genotype 2pq = frequency of the heterozygous genotype q^2 = frequency of the homozygous recessive genotype

Question 39

Species evenness

Answer 39

A measure of the relative abundance of the different species within a given area

Question 40

Taxonomy

Answer 40

classification of organisms Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species [Did King Phillip Come Over For Good Soup]

Question 41

What is classification based on

Answer 41

Classification based on on observable phenotypes, genotypes and relations to other species. for example, anatomical, physiological, behavioural characteristics.

Question 42

Classification for characteristics you cannot see/ are not observable visible

Answer 42

DNA profiling to find similarities in organisms' DNA sequence to help in classification.

Question 43

Phylogeny

Answer 43

Evolutionary history of a species or a group of organisms

Question 44

What does phylogeny tell us?

Answer 44

It tells us which species are related and how closely related they are

Question 45

Molecular Phylogeny

Answer 45

Looks at DNA and proteins to see how closely related organisms are

Question 46

Process of new taxonomic groupings

Answer 46

New data has to be evaluated by other scientists to ensure experiments were designed properly and if conclusions are fair

Question 47

Prokaryotae Kingdom

Answer 47

(Bacteria) Prokaryotes, unicellular, no nucleus, less that 5micrometres

Question 48

Protoctista Kingdom

Answer 48

(Algae, Protozoa) eukaryotic cells, live in water, single celled/ simple multicellular organisms.

Question 49

Fungi Kingdom

Answer 49

(Moulds, Yeasts, Mushrooms) - eukaryotic, chitin cell wall, saprotrophic (absorb substances from dead or decaying organisms)

Question 50

Plantae Kingdom

Answer 50

(Mosses, ferns, flowering plants) eukaryotic, multicellular, cell walls made of cellulose, can photosynthesise, contain chlorophyll, autotrophic (can produce their own food)

Question 51

Animalia Kingdom

Answer 51

(insects, fish, mammals, birds, nematodes, molluscs) - eukaryotic, multicellular, no cell walls, heterotrophic (consume plants and animals)

Question 52

Zoo's contribution to conservation

Answer 52

captive breeding, reintroduction to the wild programmes

Question 53

Captive breeding

Answer 53

species that are endangered or already extinct in the wild can be bred together in zoos to increase their numbers if they are critically low

Question 54

Issues with captive breeding

Answer 54

animals could have problems breeding outside their natural habitat which is hard to recreate in an artificial setting, cruelty/ ethical concerns

Question 55

Reintroduction to the wild

Answer 55

increasing numbers in wild/ conserve/ bring back from the brink of extinction helps organisms that prey on animals being reintroduced to the wild. contributes to restoring habitats.

Question 56

Problems with reintroduction into the wild

Answer 56

new diseases being introduced, behavioural issues (such as communication, finding food) especially for adults introduced into the wild. Young animals have time to acclimatise

Question 57

Seedbanks

Answer 57

store seeds from different species of plants, conserving biodiversity and genetic diversity by storing the seeds of endangered plants (therefore conserving different alleles)

Question 58

What conditions do seedbanks need and why.

Answer 58

cool, dry conditions are needed for storage so seeds can be kept for a long time.

Question 59

What are some tests seedbanks do?

Answer 59

Testing the seeds for viability. (seeds are planted, grown and new seeds are harvested to put back into storage.) Also helpful in the case of famines

Question 60

Advantages of seedbanks

Answer 60

cheaper to store than fully grown plants, large numbers of seeds can be stored because they take up less space. less labour needed. Seedlings can be stored anywhere whereas whole plants would need to be store din places similar to its original habitat. Seeds less likely to be damaged by disease or natural disaster than plants

Question 61

Disadvantages of seedbanks

Answer 61

testing for viability can be expensive and time consuming Too expensive to store all types of seeds difficult to collect all seeds, some grow in remote locations

Question 62

Seedbank contribution to scence

Answer 62

Seeds can be used to research new crops, medical research and new materials studying how seeds can be successfully grown is helpful for reintroducing them into the wild

Question 63

Why are seedbanks not representative

Answer 63

sample comes from a small interbred population

Question 64

Zoos contribution to science

Answer 64

increases knowledge about the behaviour, physiology and nutritional needs of animals, contributing to conservation efforts in the wild zoos carry out studies not possible in the wild ⇒ reproductive and nutritional studies

Question 65

Disadvantage of zoos

Answer 65

Disadvantage - the way animals act in captivity is different to how they act in the wild