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Biology Yr 11 > Biodiversity > Flashcards

Biodiversity Flashcards

1
Q

When does one ecosystem start and one end?

A

Life on Earth is connected through the cycling of nutrients and the transformation of energy through food webs.
Ecosystems are generally homogeneous, but some regions within an ecosystem may vary.

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2
Q

Define biological species concept.

A

Created in 1942 by Ernest Mayr.
The individual members must be able to interbreed and produce viable, fertile offspring to be classified as a particular species.

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3
Q

Define habitat.

A

An area or environment where an individual or species lives within an ecosystem.

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4
Q

Comment on the variety of ecosystems in Australia?

A

Australian ecosystems vary widely and exhibit great diversity (e.g. forest, grassland, desert, coral reef, tropical savannah, tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest, etc.)

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5
Q

Issues with the morphological species concept.

A

Structures are most appropriate to compare when characterising a species.
Amount of variation must be seen in the structures before a new species is characterised. 


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6
Q

Define environment?

A

The abiotic and biotic components of the ecosystem.

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7
Q

Define biotic.

A

The living components of an ecosystem.

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8
Q

Define abiotic.

A

The non-living components of an ecosystem.

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9
Q

Define parasitism.

A

Where one species benefits at the expense of the other.

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10
Q

Define ecosystem?

A

An interacting community of populations of organisms and the physical environment in which they live.

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11
Q

Rules for binomial system.

A

Genus (first letter uppercase) then species (first letter lowercase)
Must be either italicised or underlined

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12
Q

Define population.

A

A group of individuals belonging to the sam species living in a particular area at the same time

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13
Q

Define morphological species concept.

A

A species is characterised by their form or morphology (most commonly used for fossils)

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14
Q

Define cladogram.

A

A diagram constructed using cladistics that shows the evolutionary relationship between organisms

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15
Q

What does Bacteria include?

A

Microscopic single celled organisms.

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16
Q

Define phylogenic trees.

A

Phylogenetic trees are diagrams that show relationships between organisms based on shared common ancestors.
If the entire key has two choices at each branching point, the key is dichotomous.

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17
Q

Describe the biodiversity of Australia.

A

Landscape and the types of plants and animals, including marsupials.
1 million species of plants, animals and insects

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18
Q

What does Protista include?

A

Amoebae

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19
Q

What are the 7 kingdoms?

A

Animalia, Plantae, Protista (Eukarya)
Archaea (Archaea)
Bacteria (Bacteria)

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20
Q

Define Taxonomist.

A

A scientist who studies organisms and places them into taxa

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21
Q

Define keystone species.

A

A species of relatively low abundance in a higher trophic level that allows the coexistence of a number of lower trophic level organisms in a particular area
Prevents any one of the organisms in the lower trophic levels from monopolising food, resources and space.
Allows for richer biodiversity within a restricted area.

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22
Q

Define dichotomous keys.

A

Dichotomous keys are tools used to identify organisms which involve choosing between a series of two options until an organism is identified.

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23
Q

What are the three types of symbiosis.

A

Parasitism, mutualism, commensalism

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24
Q

What are the 3 domains?

A

Eukarya
Archaea
Bacteria

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25
Q

Notes on genetic biodiversity.

A

Every individual carries large number of genes
Code for all of their inherited traits
Different individuals carry many different genes
Populations with higher genetic diversity are more resilient and more likely to survive sudden changes in the environment

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26
Q

How do abiotic factors acting in an area affect the biodiversity of an area?

A

Harsh abiotic factors decrease a regions biodiversity.

Stable or healthy abiotic factors lead to a high biodiversity in a region.

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27
Q

What did the voyages of discovery in the 18th and 19th century provide?

A

Wealth of information about the biodiversity of Earth’s plants and animals.
Lead to the development of the concept of ecosystems.

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28
Q

Describe the distribution of species around the world?

A

Organisms are not uniformly distributed across the globe.

Occur as collections of interacting populations within specific physical environments

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29
Q

Define monophyletic.

A

Organisms that are grouped together as a clade

30
Q

What does Fungi include?

A

Yeasts
Moulds
Mushrooms

31
Q

Define common ancestor.

A

An organism from which two different species both evolved

32
Q

Why is the binomial system used?

A

So that there is uniformity in classifying organisms worldwide.
Latin is used so that there is no confusion between changes in language.
Taxonomists on opposites of the world can discuss an organism or taxonomic level without confusion.

33
Q

Issues with the biological species concept?

A

Cannot apply to fossils

Hybrid zones

34
Q

Examples of ecological niches.

A

The time they feed, what they feed on, where they live and when they reproduce.

35
Q

Define ecological niches.

A

The way in which species function within their environment.

36
Q

Define eucaryotes?

A

Contain DNA within a nucleus and have membrane-bound organelles.

37
Q

How are all the components of an ecosystem are tightly linked?

A

By the cycling of nutrients and raw materials within it (e.g. CO2, O2, water, nitrogen, phosphorus and many other minerals).

38
Q

Why is classification of organisms done?

A

A way of organising information.
Allows for patterns and trends to be observed and relationships between organisms better understood.
Allows biologists to analyse information about organisms.
Allows biologists to communicate with one another.

39
Q

Define the binomial system.

A

A system used to name organisms using its genus and its specific species.

40
Q

Why are hybrids difficult to classify?

A

The offspring is the result of two different parent species interbreeding. Thus they are not classified as either one of the parent species. The hybrid may be viable and able to live within a restricted hybrid zone, but do not survive well outside this zone and may be sterile. 


41
Q

Define clade.

A

A taxonomic group that contains all of the descendants of a common ancestor

42
Q

What does Archaea include?

A

Microscopic single celled organisms known for living in extreme environments.

43
Q

What are the 3 characteristics that species classification is based on?

A

Physical characteristics
Reproductive methods
Molecular sequences

44
Q

Define organelle.

A

Membrane-bound structures that help to make up the internal structure of a cell

45
Q

Define Prokaryotes.

A

Have no nucleus or membrane bound organelles.

46
Q

What is an ecosystem composed of?

A

All living things, together with the physical environment (abiotic factors), in one particular area.
Within an ecosystem, the communities of organisms and the physical conditions tend to be fairly uniform.

47
Q

What does Animalia include?

A

Mammals
Insects
Sea sponges

48
Q

Define biomes?

A

Main categories of ecosystems across large geographical areas.

49
Q

What are the 8 levels of classification?

A 
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
50
Q

What is the distribution of terrestrial environments such as tundra, deserts, open forests and temperate grasslands is mainly based on?

A

Climatic variation

51
Q

Define commensalism.

A

Where one species benefits and the other neither benefits nor is harmed.

52
Q

How does disease effect the biodiversity of an ecosystem?

A

The host numbers may be reduced to the extent that resources are free for other competitors.

53
Q

Define fundamental niche.

A

The potential region an organism could inhabit if there are no competitors, predators or parasites.

54
Q

Define phylogenic species concept.

A

States that a species is the smallest group of organisms who can all trace their origins to a single ancestor (uses genetic techniques on extant or living organisms)

55
Q

Define realised niche.

A

The actual niche a species inhabits.

56
Q

Define taxonomic level.

A

A group of organisms; the major taxa are as Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species

57
Q

What does each biome consist of?

A

Several different ecosystems.

58
Q

Define mutualism.

A

Where both species in the relationship benefit and neither is harmed.

59
Q

Define paraphyletic.

A

A group that does not contain all of the organisms descended from the most recent common ancestor

60
Q

Define biosphere?

A

The sum of all ecosystems across the world.

61
Q

How does DNA technology effect taxonomy?

A

Provides new and highly detailed information about evolutionary relationships.
Supports previous classification or reclassifies of organisms
Provides clarity as to when certain groups evolved
Allows classification down to many more levels than the traditionally recognised taxa

62
Q

Define community.

A

The sum of the different species inhabiting a particular habitat at one time.

63
Q

What domains do Prokaryotes include?

A

Archaea

Bacteria

64
Q

What does Plantae include?

A

Mosses
Ferns
Flowering plants

65
Q

Define characteristic.

A

A feature or quality of an organism that can be used to classify and identify it

66
Q

Define hybrid.

A

An individual that is the result of two members of different species interbreeding. 


67
Q

Characteristics of aquatic environments.

A 
Marine and freshwater environments
Marine 3% NaCl, 
Freshwater 1% NaCl
Photosynthesis occurs in photic zone (first 200 m of ocean depth)
90% marine life resides in photic zone
Still bodies or moving bodies of water
68
Q

How to construct a cladogram.

A

Arrange groups in different ways until the simplest cladogram is found. The arrows indicate when each characteristic evolved.

69
Q

Define species?

A

A group of morphologically similar organisms that is capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring

70
Q

4 examples of discovery voyages?

A

Alfred Wallace, Joseph Banks, Charles Darwin and Alexander von Humboldt

71
Q

What do food webs show?

A

Shows what a species feeds on and its trophic level within an ecosystem.
Shows the flow of energy through an ecosystem.

72
Q

What domain does Eucaryotes include?

A

Eukarya

Biology Yr 11 (4 decks)

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