Part 6 Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is biodiversity?
The total variety of life on Earth, including genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity.
Around 2 million species have been identified, but estimates suggest there may be up to 50 million species.
What is the impact of human activity on biodiversity?
Human activity is rapidly reducing biodiversity, leading to many species going extinct before they can be studied.
This loss underscores the importance of conservation efforts.
Define taxonomy.
The science of classifying organisms to tell different species apart.
Taxonomy helps in distinguishing between organisms that may be very different or very similar.
Describe the hierarchical system of classification.
Organisms are grouped in levels, with each lower level having fewer, more closely related species.
Examples include grouping similar species into a genus.
What are the seven groups in the classification system?
Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom.
This system helps organize biological diversity.
Who was Aristotle and what was his contribution to classification?
Aristotle grouped living things into plants and animals, dividing animals by their habitat.
This system lasted until Linnaeus introduced a more refined classification.
What is the current classification system?
A six-kingdom classification system organized into three domains: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya.
All living things are placed into one of the six kingdoms.
What characterizes Kingdom Animalia?
Multicellular, heterotrophic organisms.
Includes over 2 million species like mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
What is the significance of arthropods in Kingdom Animalia?
Arthropods make up over half of all animal species.
Examples include insects, spiders, crabs, and centipedes.
What are the main characteristics of Kingdom Plantae?
Multicellular, autotrophic organisms that make their own food.
Includes mosses, ferns, trees, and flowering plants (~300,000 species).
What is the role of photosynthesis in Kingdom Plantae?
Converts sunlight, water, and CO₂ into food and oxygen.
Plantae provides most of Earth’s oxygen and food for other organisms.
What defines Kingdom Fungi?
Lack well-defined cells; have cell walls made of chitin.
They absorb nutrients by breaking down dead or living matter.
What is the ecological role of fungi?
Play a key role in nutrient recycling in ecosystems.
Examples include decomposers and parasites like athlete’s foot fungus.
What characterizes Kingdom Protista?
Mostly single-celled eukaryotes, some are multicellular.
Includes organisms that can be animal-like, plant-like, or fungi-like.
What is the significance of eubacteria and archaebacteria?
Unicellular prokaryotes that can be autotrophs or heterotrophs.
Includes bacteria and methanogens, found abundantly in various environments.
Fill in the blank: The classification system organizes organisms into seven groups from smallest to largest, starting with _______.
Species
True or False: Kingdom Fungi can photosynthesize.
False
Fungi do not photosynthesize and are more closely related to animals than plants.
