test #1

Question 1

artificial selection

Answer 1

More commonly known as selective Breeding, where professionals study the genotype and phenotype of parent organisms in the hope of producing a hybrid that possesses many of the desirable characteristics found in their parents.

Question 2

biodiversity

Answer 2

The existence of a wide range of different types of organisms in a given place at a given time. The diversity of plant and animal life in a particular habitat (or in the world as a whole); a high level of biodiversity is desirable.Pertaining to the diversity and frequency of organisms in a given area.

Question 3

common ancestor

Answer 3

any person to whom two or more persons claim descent; also, the most recent ancestral form or species from which two different species evolved.

Question 4

community

Answer 4

An ecological unit composed of a group of organisms or a population of different species occupying a particular area, usually interacting with each other and their environment.

Question 5

conservation

Answer 5

concerned with the studies and schemes of habitat preservation and species protection for the purpose of alleviating extinction crisis and conserving biodiversity.

Question 6

conspecific

Answer 6

Another organism of the same species.

Question 7

consumer

Answer 7

An organism that generally obtains food by feeding on other organisms or organic matter due to lack of the ability to manufacture own food from inorganic sources; a heterotroph.

Question 8

adaptation

Answer 8

The adjustment or changes in behavior, physiology, and structure of an organism to become more suited to an environment.

Question 9

decomposer

Answer 9

An organism whose ecological function involves the recycling of nutrients by performing the natural process of decomposition as it feeds on dead or decaying organisms.

Question 10

Earth overshoot day

Answer 10

the calculated illustrative calendar date on which humanity’s resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that year.

Question 11

ecological reserve

Answer 11

an area established to maintain one or more natural ecosystems that are representative of a region.

Question 12

ecological deficit

Answer 12

occurs when the Footprint of a population exceeds the biocapacity of the area available to that population.

Question 13

ecological footprint

Answer 13

the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.

Question 14

ecological niche

Answer 14

The ecological role and space that an organism fills in an ecosystem.

Question 15

ecological trap

Answer 15

scenarios in which rapid environmental change leads organisms to prefer to settle in poor-quality habitats. The concept stems from the idea that organisms that are actively selecting habitat must rely on environmental cues to help them identify high-quality habitat.

Question 16

ecosystem

Answer 16

A system that includes all living organisms (biotic factors) in an area as well as its physical environment (abiotic factors) functioning together as a unit.

Question 17

ecosystem diversity

Answer 17

Variety of habitats, living communities, and ecological processes in the living world.

Question 18

ecosystem resilience

Answer 18

the capacity of an ecosystem to tolerate disturbance without collapsing into a qualitatively different state that is controlled by a different set of processes. A resilient ecosystem can withstand shocks and rebuild itself when necessary.

Question 19

ecosystem resistance

Answer 19

The resistance presented by the environmental conditions to limit a species from growing out of control or to stop them from reproducing at maximum rate.

Question 20

ecosystem services

Answer 20

the benefits provided by ecosystems that contribute to making human life both possible and worth living.

Question 21

endemic species

Answer 21

present or usually prevalent in a population or geographical area at all times, said of a disease or agent.

Question 22

evolution

Answer 22

The change in genetic composition of a population over successive generations, which may be caused by natural selection, inbreeding, hybridization, or mutation.

Question 23

evolutionism

Answer 23

belief that organisms inherently improve themselves through progressive inherited change over time, and increase in complexity through evolution.

Question 24

extinction

Answer 24

The death of an entire species.

Question 25

fitness

Answer 25

A relative measure of reproductive success of an organism in passing its genes to the next generation.

Question 26

food web

Answer 26

A graphical model showing the interconnecting food chains in an ecological community.

Question 27

genetic diversity

Answer 27

Genetic diversity refers to both the vast numbers of different species as well as the diversity within a species. The greater the genetic diversity within a species, the greater that species' chances of long-term survival. This is because negative traits (such as inherited diseases) become widespread within a population when that population is left to reproduce only with its own members.

Question 28

genus australopithicus

Answer 28

extinct genus of African hominid

Question 29

genus homo

Answer 29

Homo is the genus comprising the species Homo sapiens, which includes modern humans, plus several extinct species classified as ancestral to or closely related to modern humans—as for example from Homo habilis to Homo neanderthalensis

Question 30

habitat destruction

Answer 30

the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity.

Question 31

habitat fragmentation

Answer 31

the process by which habitat loss results in the division of large, continuous habitats into smaller, more isolated remnants.

Question 32

hominid

Answer 32

Any of the lineages of humans, including the closely-related species of humans and the early human predecessors such as Homo erectus, Homo habilis, Homo neanderthalensis, and Australopithecus species.

Question 33

keystone species

Answer 33

is one whose impact on its community or ecosystem is disproportionately large relative to its abundance [8]. The classic example is a starfish (Pisaster ochraceus) in the rocky intertidal of the Pacific Northwest:

Question 34

hypothesis

Answer 34

A supposition or tentative explanation for (a group of) phenomena, (a set of) facts, or a scientific inquiry that may be tested, verified or answered by further investigation or methodological experiment.

Question 35

mass extinction

Answer 35

The extinction of one of more species in a relatively short period of geological time, usually as a consequence of a catastrophic global event, a natural disaster, or an abrupt change in the environment, and based on studies of fossil records and macroscopic evidence.

Question 36

microevolution

Answer 36

Evolution involving small-scale changes, i.e. within the species, occurring over a short period of time that results in the formation of new species.

Question 37

natural selection

Answer 37

A process in nature in which organisms possessing certain genotypic characteristics that make them better adjusted to an environment tend to survive, reproduce, increase in number or frequency, and therefore, are able to transmit and perpetuate their essential genotypic qualities to succeeding generations.

Question 38

nature

Answer 38

The existing system of things; the world of matter, or of matter and mind; the creation; the universe.

Question 39

net primary productivity

Answer 39

The rate at which an ecosystem accumulates energy or biomass, excluding the energy it uses for the process of respiration.

Question 40

overexploitation

Answer 40

(overharvesting), the act of removing more than the sustainable amount of a resource that would insure its renewal for future generations.

Question 41

population growth

Answer 41

increase, over a specific period of time, in the number of individuals living in a country or region.

Question 42

primary producer

Answer 42

Autotrophic organisms that synthesise organic materials from inorganic materials, effectively introducing new organic material into the environment that the primary consumers can feed upon and so forth.

Question 43

scientific method

Answer 43

A systematic approach to solving a problem by discovering knowledge, investigating a phenomenon, verifying and integrating previous knowledge. It follows a series of steps that evaluates the veracity or the feasibility of a prediction through research and experimentation from where the information obtained will be used as a basis in making conclusions. 1) observe 2) question 3) research 4) guess 5) experiment 6) analyze data 7) conclude

Question 44

directional selection

Answer 44

The process of natural selection involving the genome for a species directionally choosing certain genes to remain prominent in the species, such as a growth in size in response to predation.

Question 45

stabilizing selection

Answer 45

Selection that selects the more “average” traits instead of extreme traits. Favours the majority of the population that is well adapted to the environment.

Question 46

sexual selection

Answer 46

Selection for traits that enhance the ability to attract a mate Traits preferred by females Traits that provide success in competition with other males

Question 47

Speciation (macroevolution)

Answer 47

Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. -Over incredibly long amounts of time. new species must be able to reproduce

Question 48

Species diversity

Answer 48

Contrasting with genetic diversity, Species Diversity is the measure of the species within an ecological community. Incorporates both species richness (see below) and species abundance (evenness in the individuals of each species)

Question 49

Species richness

Answer 49

The number of distinct species within an ecological community

Question 50

Source-sink dynamics

Answer 50

Source, High quality habitats that spur population growth. Sink, Low quality habitats that cause in a population decline.

Question 51

Stewardship

Answer 51

Managing another person’s property or financial affairs; administrating anything as the agent of another or others. In this case, essentially taking care of the creation (God owns it, we take care of it).

Question 52

Sustainability

Answer 52

Sustainability is the capacity to endure; it is how biological systems remain diverse and productive indefinitely. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems. In more general terms, sustainability is the endurance of systems and processes.

Question 53

Systems (stocks, flows, loops, auxiliary variables)

Answer 53

A system is an interconnected set of elements that are coherently organized in a way that achieves something (a function or purpose). A system is a set of things -- people, cells, molecules, or whatever -- interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time.

Question 54

Theory

Answer 54

Widely accepted explanatory idea that is broad in scope and supported by a large body of evidence; speculation or hypothesis.

Question 55

Trait variation

Answer 55

Simply, the idea that different species have different traits. If a trait such as color puts the animal in more danger, those with that trait will likely not survive as well as the other, and thus natural selection occurs.

Question 56

Trophic level

Answer 56

The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food chain The number of steps an organism is from the start of the chain is a measure of its trophic level. Food chains start at trophic level 1 with primary producers such as plants, move to herbivores at level 2, predators at level 3 and typically finish with carnivores or apex predators at level 4 or 5.

Question 57

Variables (controlled, independent, dependent)

Answer 57

The independent variable is the one that is changed by the scientist, the variable being tested. The dependent variable is the result of the changes from the independent variable. It depends on the independent. Controlled variables are things that are the same between all samples. They are held steady throughout.

Question 58

Wilderness

Answer 58

an uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable region. A region untrammeled by human interference. nature is allowed to reign on its own “relatively large and undisturbed aggregate of contiguous habitats” - Wilson