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Higher Biology > Unit 3 Food Security > Flashcards

Unit 3 Food Security Flashcards

(58 cards)

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1
Q

What is Food Security?

A

The ability of human populations to access food of sufficient quality and quantity.

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2
Q

What must Food Production do

A

Must be sustainable and not degrade the natural resources on which agriculture depends.

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3
Q

Livestock production and advantages.

A

Livestock produce less food per unit area than crop plants, due to loss of energy between trophic levels.
However, livestock production is often possible in habitats unsuitable for growing crops.

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4
Q

How to increase food production: Breeding Higher Yield Cultivars

A

This will increase yield, but some require more intensive farming methods and are more dependant on particular soil profiles and nutrients.

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5
Q

How to increase food production: Reduce Competition

A

Plant less crops within an area. Kill weeds that could outcompete crops.

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6
Q

How to increase food production: Kill Pests

A

Kill pests that can cause disease or eat crops.

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7
Q

How to increase food production: Use of Fertilisers

A

Plants need specific nutrient profiles. Some may need to be added using fertilisers. Can also use crop rotations.

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8
Q

How to increase food production: Reduce Disease

A

If plants are diseased, they produce less food. By controlling disease, we can ensure our crops are healthy.

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9
Q

What characteristics do breeders seek to develop crops with?

A
  • Higher nutritional values.
  • Resistance to pests and disease.
  • Physical characteristics suited to rearing and harvesting.
  • Ability to thrive in particular environmental conditions.
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10
Q

Common crops

A
  • Cereals (wheat)
  • Legumes (peas)
  • Potatoes
  • Roots (carrots)
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11
Q

What can happen to light in photosynthesis?

A

Can be either reflected, absorbed or transmitted.

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12
Q

What happens to light percentages in photosynthesis?

A

100% white light is reflected absorbed or transmitted onto the leaf, 83% is absorbed, 12% is reflected, 5% transmitted.

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13
Q

What is the benefit of photosynthetic pigments?

A

If more pigment, more photosynthesis.

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14
Q

What state does light show?

A

autumn, winter, summer

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15
Q

What are the 3 photosynthetic pigments found in chloroplasts?

A
  • Chlorophyll a
  • Chlorophyll b
  • Caratenoids
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16
Q

What light colour does chlorophyll a and b absorb?

A

Red and blue

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17
Q

What does caratenoids do?

A

Passes energy on to chlorophyll to extend the range of wave lengths that can be absorbed.

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18
Q

Explain the stages of Photolysis

A
  1. Light energy is absorbed by pigments which generates electrons.
  2. Energy is used to split water.
  3. Energy from the electrons is used to pump hydrogen ions by active transport.
  4. H+ ions pass through ATP synthase to make ATP.
  5. Coenzyme NADP picks up hydrogen to form NADPH.
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19
Q

Explain the stages of the Calvin Cycle (Carbon Fixation).

A
  1. Carbon dioxide enters the chloroplast by diffusion and combines with the Ribulose biphosphate.
  2. This makes a molecule called 3-phosphoglycerate.
  3. ATP and hydrogen from NADPH are added to 3PG.
  4. This makes Glycerate-3-phosphate.
  5. G3P can then be used to synthesise sugars, such as glucose.
  6. However, most is used to recycle more RuBP, using ATP from photolysis.
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20
Q

What are the four fates of glucose?

A
  • Used immediately as an energy source to start respiration.
  • Stored as starch for later.
  • Passed on to other biosynthetic pathways. (leading to the formation of DNA, protein and fat).
  • Converted to cellulose, a structural carbohydrate used in cell walls.
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21
Q

What does plant and animal breeding aim to improve?

A

Plant and animal breeding aims to improve characteristics to help support sustainable food production.

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22
Q

What are the desirable characteristics for crops and animals?

A

Breeders develop crops and animals with higher food yields, higher nutritional values, pests and diseases resistance and ability to thrive in particular environmental conditions.

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23
Q

What are Field Trials?

A

Plant field trials are carried out in a range of environments to compare the performance of different cultivars or treatments and to evaluate GM crops.

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24
Q

Features of Study? Why?

Study These Flashcards
A
  • Selection of Treatments —> Ensures Validity.
  • Replication —> Takes account of variability and makes it more reliable.
  • Randomisation —> Eliminates bias.
25
What is Inbreeding?
In inbreeding, selected related plants or animals are bred for several generations until the population breeds true to the desired type due to the elimination of heterozygous.
26
What is an advantage of inbreeding?
This means you can be sure of the characteristics your offspring have.
27
What is a disadvantage of inbreeding?
A result of inbreeding can be an increase in the frequency of individuals who are homozygous for recessive deleterious alleles. These individuals will do less well at surviving to reproduce. This results in inbreeding depression.
28
What is crossbreeding?
We can solve the inbreeding problem by crossbreeding. This produces new genes. However, the offspring will have variation.
29
What is a benefit of crossbreeding?
In animals, individuals from different breeds may produce a new crossbreed population with improved characteristics. The two parent breeds can be maintained to produce more crossbred animals showing the improved characteristic.
30
How can new alleles be introduced?
New alleles can be introduced to plant and animal lines by crossing a cultivar or breed with an individual with a different, desired genotype.
31
What do F1 hybrids often have?
Increased vigour and yield.
32
What do plants with increased vigour have?
Increased disease resistance or increased growth rate.
33
What happens in inbreeding to F1 hybrids
F1 Hybrids are not usually bred together as the F2 produced shows too much variation.
34
GM Plants
As a result of genome sequencing, organisms with desirable genes can be identified and then used in breeding programmes.
35
Recombinant DNA technology in plant breeding examples:
- Insertion of Bt toxin gene into plants for pest resistance. - Glyphosate resistance gene inserted for herbicide tolerance.
36
Crop Damage
Weeds compete with crop plants, while other pests and diseases damage crop plants, all of which reduce productivity.
37
What are the two types of weeds?
Annual and Perennial.
38
Annual weeds
Rapid growth, short lift cycle, high seed output and long-term seed viability.
39
Perennial weeds
Competitive adaptations - storage organs and vegetative reproduction.
40
Pests
Most of the pests of crop plants are invertebrate animals such as insects, nematode worms and molluscs.
41
What can plant disease be caused by?
Fungi, bacteria or viruses, which are often carried by invertebrates.
42
What are the two effects of pesticides?
Selective and Systemic
43
What are the different types of pesticides?
- Herbicides - kill weeds - Fungicides - control fungal disease - Insecticides - kill insect pests - Molluscicides - kill molluscs pests - Nematicides - kill nematode pests
44
What is systemic pesticides?
Spread through the vascular system of plants and kill pests feeding on plants.
45
What is Selective Herbicides?
Have a greater effect on certain plant species.
46
What are Systemic Herbicides?
Spreads through vascular system of plant and prevents regrowth.
47
What are the cultural methods of farming?
There are methods farmers use, other than chemicals, that can help control pests and diseases. - Ploughing - Weeding - Crop Rotation
48
Four problems with pesticides?
- Toxicity to non-target species - Persistence in the environment - Bioaccumulation or biomagnification in food chains. - Producing resistant populations of pests.
49
Treatment
Applications of fungicide based on disease forecasts are more effective than treating diseased crops.
50
What is Bioaccumulation
Build-up of a chemical in an organism.
51
What is Biomagnification?
Increase in the concentration of a chemical moving between trophic levels.
52
Other methods of pest management: Biological Control.
The control agent is a natural predator, parasite or pathogen of the pest. The control organism may become an invasive species, parasite, prey on or be a pathogen of other species.
53
Other methods of pest management: Integrated Pest Management
A combination of chemical, biological and cultural control.
54
What happens to invasive species in new habitats?
Invasive species thrive better in new habitats because they are free from predators/competitors/pathogens/parasites found in their native habitat.
55
Free Range Vs Intensive Farming
Intensive farming is less ethical than free range farming due to poorer animal welfare.
56
Costs and Benefits of Intensive Farming
Costs- Creates conditions of poor animal welfare. Benefits- Cost effective, generates higher profit as costs are low.
57
Costs and Benefits of Free Range Farming
Costs- Required more land, more labour intensive. Benefits- Can be sold at a higher price, animals have a better quality of life.
58
Indicators of Bad Welfare
- Stereotypy: Repetitive movements eg pacing. - Misdirected Behaviour: When a normal behaviour is directed at the animal itself, its environment or others eg gnawing on a cage. - Failure in Sexual or Parental Behaviour: Unable to have sex, unable to conceive, unable to give birth, don’t care for babies when born. - Altered Levels of Activity: Very low (apathy) or very high (hysteria) levels of activity.

Higher Biology (6 decks)

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