2.1 Classification

Question 1

Define taxonomy.

Answer 1

The scientific discipline concerned with the naming and classifying of organisms.

Question 2

What is the binomial classification system?

Answer 2

Generic name (genus) + specific name (species)

Question 3

What are the advantages of scientific names?

Answer 3

• Common names vary from language to language but scientific names are universal.
• Scientific names give an indication of the degree of relatedness.
• Common names may be misleading, suggesting relationships that are not valid.

Question 4

What is the Linnaean system?

Answer 4

Groups similar organisms into a hierarchy which places species into groups that are increasingly inclusive.
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. (King Philip Came Over For Good Spaghetti)

Question 5

Five Kingdom scheme

Answer 5

Plants, Animals, Fungi, Protists, Monera

Question 6

The three domains

Answer 6

Archaea (Extremophiles), Bacteria, Eukarya (Eukaryotes)

Question 7

r-strategists

Answer 7

• short lived (some exceptions exis)
• high rates of reproduction
• strong sex drive
• little care for offspring
• live in unstable habitats
• rapid appearance and removal of individuals
• quick, dynamic changes in population
  e.g. corals, insects, rodents, bacteria

Question 8

k-strategists

Answer 8

• much longer lived
• stable habitats
• produce fewer offspring but spend a great deal of energy nurturing their offspring giving them a better chance to reach sexual maturity
• take longer to reach sexual maturity
• being bigger they have longer gestation periods
  e.g. mammals, sea turtles, fish

Question 9

Species interaction - Symbiotic relationship

Answer 9

• Mutualism
• Commensalism
• Parasitism
• Predation

Question 10

Species interaction - Disease

Answer 10

• Infectious
• Non-infectious

Question 11

Phylogenetic classification

Answer 11

Comparing genetic sequences and molecular structures

Question 12

Cladistics

Answer 12

Similarities in molecular sequences are used to define a group of organisms with an assumed common ancestor and its lineal descendants, known as a clade.

Question 13

World Wide Fund for Nature - Eight biogeographical regions based on landform types, climate and vegetation types

Answer 13

• Nearctic (comprised mainly of North America)
• Palearctic (Eurasia and North Africa)
• Indomalaya (South Asian subcontinent and South-East Asia)
• Australasia (Australia, New Zealand and other neighbouring islands)
• Oceania (Polynesia, Fiji and Micronesia)
• Antarctic (Antarctica)

Question 14

QLD Government’s three-step method to classify regional ecosystems

Answer 14

• Identification of the 13 bioregions that occur in QLD.
• Identification of which of the 12 types of landforms the ecosystem is on
• Identification of the 185 vegetation communities using Webb’s classification for rainforest and a modified Specht classification system for non-rainforest vegetation

Question 15

Four major types of ecosystem classification

Answer 15

• Holdridge life zone classification scheme
• Specht’s classification scheme
• Australian National Aquatic Ecosystem classification scheme (ANAE)
• European Nature Information System habitat classification scheme (EUNIS)

Question 16

Holdridge life zone classification scheme

Answer 16

• Average annual rainfall (mm)
• Average biotemperature (0 - 30)
• Altitude (m)
• Latitude
• Humidity
• Potential evapotranspiration
• Regional Ecosystem classification

Question 17

Specht’s classification system

Answer 17

• Dominant types of vegetation and canopy cover.
• The plant which forms the tallest or dominant layer in a community. (tree, shrub, grass, herb).
• Density or cover of canopy is estimated according to the amount of sunlight blocke out (70-100%, 30-70%, less than 30%)
• Vegetation is described by the stratum that contributes the most above-ground biomass.
• The tallest strata, if not the predominant strata, is called the emergent layer.
• The height and canopy cover of each layer is measured independently of the other.

Question 18

The Australian national Aquatic Ecosystem (ANAE)

Question 19

The European Nature Information System (EUNIS)

Answer 19

• Covers all types of aquatic, terrestrial and marine habitats. (European data).
• EUNIS is an interactive, criteria based key that uses sequential questions with a choice of answers. The user progresses through the key until they have a definitive classification for their habitat, species or site.