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Biology > B2- Understanding our Environment > Flashcards

B2- Understanding our Environment Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What are the 7 levels of classification?

A
  1. Kingdom
  2. Phylum
  3. Class
  4. Order
  5. Family
  6. Genus
  7. Species
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2
Q

What is artificial system?

A

Based on one or two characteristics that make identification easier (appearance)

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3
Q

What is natural system?

A

Based on evolutionary relationships and genetic similarities between organisms

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4
Q

Define genus

A

A group of closely-related species that can interbreed to produce **fertile **offspring

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5
Q

What is the binomial system?

A
  1. genus (Capital letter)
  2. species (lower case letter)
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6
Q

Why was it difficult to put the Archaeopteryx in a group?

A
  • It had feathers like a bird
  • It had teeth and a long, bony tail, like a reptile
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7
Q

How does bacteria go against the definition of ‘species’?

A

They reproduce **asexually **and do not interbreed

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8
Q

What are hybrids?

A

The **infertile **offspring produced when two animals of different species breed

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9
Q

Name some examples of hybrids

A
  • mules (donkey and horse)
  • lyger (lion and tiger)
  • zedonk (zebra and donkey)
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10
Q

What does ecologically related mean?

A

Organisms with similarities due to the fact that they live in the same habitat, for example dolphins and fish (although dolphins are mammals)

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11
Q

How are dolphins and bats similar and different?

A

They both evolved to live in different habitats (dolphins in sea, bats in roosts), but both are mammals as they are related through evolution

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12
Q

What do pyramids of biomass / numbers represent?

A

The feeding relationships between organisms in a food chain or web

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13
Q

What does a pyramid of biomass show?

A

The dry mass of living material at each stage of a food chain

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14
Q

How could a pyramid of biomass look different to a pyramid of numbers?

A

Pyramids of biomass always have a triangular shape

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15
Q

Why are pyramids of biomass usually pyramid-shaped?

A

This is because biomass is a measure of the amount of food available. If there is less biomass in the lower level, then it would mean there is not enough food for the consumers

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16
Q

What are trophic levels?

A

The stages in a food chain

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17
Q

How could pyramids of biomass be difficult to construct?

A
  • some organisms feed on organisms from different trophic levels
  • measuring dry mass is difficult as it involved removing all the water from an organism, which will kill it
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18
Q

What is energy transferred into as it flows along a food chain?

A
  • growth
  • heat from respiration
  • egestion (e.g. poop)
  • excretion (e.g. urine)
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19
Q

What is the difference between egestion and excretion?

A

Egestion is expulsion of solid waste (e.g. poop) and excretion is the process of getting rid of waste from the body (e.g. urine, sweat)

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20
Q

How is the material lost at each stage of the food chain not wasted?

A

Decomposers use the waste to start another food chain

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21
Q

Why does a food chain eventually end?

A

Because each trophic level ‘loses’ about 90% of the energy, so by the end of the food chain, there is not much energy left

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22
Q

How could you calculate the efficiency of energy transfer in the food chain?

A

energy used for growth / energy input = energy efficiency

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23
Q

What element is found in living organisms?

A

Carbon

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24
Q

How is carbon dioxide removed from the air?

A

By photosynthesis

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25
Q

How is carbon dioxide released into the air?

A
  • plants and animals respiring
  • soil bacteria and fungi acting as decomposers
  • burning of fossil fuels (combustion)
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26
Q

What occurs in the ocean when carbon dioxide is absorbed?

A

Marine organisms make shells made of carbonate, which become limestone rocks

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27
Q

How can the carbon in limestone return to air?

A

Volcanic eruptions of weathering of limestone can return it into the air as carbon dioxide

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28
Q

What process is used to show the recycling of carbon dioxide in the air?

A

Carbon cycle

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29
Q

What is nitrogen useful for?

A

To make proteins for growth

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30
Q

What do decomposers do to nitrogen compounds in dead organisms?

A

Break it down and return into the soil

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31
Q

Which organisms are involved in the nitrogen cycle?

A
  • decomposers (convert proteins and urea into ammonia)
  • nitrifying bacteria (ammonia to nitrates)
  • denitrifying bacteria (nitrates to nitrogen gas)
  • nitrogen-fixing bacteria, living in root nodules (fix nitrogen gas)
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32
Q

How does pH and oxygen affect decomposers?

A
  • decay will be slower in waterlogged soil as there is less oxygen
  • acidic conditions will slow down decay
33
Q

What is intErspEcific competition?

A

Between organisms of diffErEnt species?

34
Q

What is intrAspecific competition?

A

Between organisms of sAme species

35
Q

How do organisms in the same habitat/ species compete with each other?

A
  • habitat - resources e.g. food
  • species - resources and mates
36
Q

What is an ecological niche?

A

The habitat the organism lives in and also its role in the habitat. For example, ladybirds live on trees such as sycamore and eat greenfly

37
Q

Why do predator and prey show cylical changes?

A
  • lots of prey = more predators survive = increase in numbers
  • more predators = eat more prey = prey numbers drop
  • more predators starve = predator numbers drop
38
Q

Why do the predators peak after the prey peaks?

A

It takes a while for the increased supply of food to allow more predators to survive and reproduce

39
Q

What is a parasite?

A
  • Feed on or in another living organism
  • The host suffers
  • Parasites benefit
40
Q

What is a mutualistic relationship?

A

Both organisms benefit as a result of their relationship

For example, insects visit flowers and transfer pollen, allowing pollination to occur, and the insects get sugary nectar

41
Q

How do legumes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria benefit from mutualism?

A
  • bacteria turn nitrogen into nitrogen-containing chemicals and gives to pea
  • pea plant gives bacteria sugars that has been produced from photosynthesis
42
Q

What anatomical adaptations do animals have to living in cold conditions?

A
  • insulation to cut down heat loss (arctic fox has thick fur that traps air for insulation)
  • quite large, with small ears (decrease heat loss by decreasing surface area to volume ratio)
43
Q

What behavioural adaptations do animals have to living in cold conditions?

A
  • migrate long distances to warmer areas
  • slow down all body processes and hibernate
44
Q

What do penguins have to help reduce heat loss?

A

Counter-current heat exchange

warm blood entering flippers warms up cold blood leaving, to stop it cooling the body

45
Q

What biochemical adaptations do some organisms have to live in cold climates?

A

antifreeze proteins in their cells

46
Q

What anatomical adaptations do animals have to living in hot conditions?

A
  • very little hair
  • smaller and have larger ears (larger surface area to volume ratio so they lose more heat)
47
Q

What behavioural adaptations do animals have to living in hot conditions?

A
  • seek shade during the hotter hours
  • bathe in cold water
48
Q

How are organisms adapted to living in dry conditions?

A
  • camels can survive with little water as they produce concentrated urine
  • cacti reduce water loss because their leaves have been reduced to spines
    • deep roots and can store water in stem
49
Q

What are extremophiles?

A

Organisms that can survive in hot conditions, such as bacteria that can live in hot springs (containing enzymes that do not denature at 100°C)

50
Q

What are specialists?

A

Very well adapted to living in specific habitats and would struggle to live elsewhere

e.g. polar bears

51
Q

What are generalists?

A

Organisms that can live in several habitats and would lose to specialists in certain habitats

52
Q

Who wrote the theory of natural selection over 150 years ago?

A

Charles Darwin

53
Q

What is the idea of natural selection?

A
  • within any species there is variation
  • organims produce far more young than will survive, so there is competition for limited resources
  • only best adapted will survive (survival of the fittest)
  • those that survive pass on successful adaptations to the next generation in their genes
54
Q

Why might the changes produced by natural selection result in a new species?

A
  • if the different groups of organisms cannot mate for a long time
  • geographical isolation
  • if each group evolves differently
55
Q

What is geographical isolation?

A

If organisms live in different areas and are prevented from mating

56
Q

What are some examples of natural selection?

A
  • antibiotic resistant bacteria e.g. MRSA
  • peppered moths (dark vs light)
57
Q

Why did people disagree with Darwin’s ideas?

A
  • thought he did not have enough evidence to back up his theory
  • thought God created all species
58
Q

Why is Darwin’s theory now accepted?

A
  • it explains a lot of observations
  • has been discussed and tested by scientists
59
Q

What was Lamarck’s theory of ‘the law of use and disuse’ and ‘the law of acquired characteristics’?

A
  • characteristic which is used more and more by an organism becomes bigger and stronger
  • one that is not used disappears eventually
  • characteristic is improved through use and passed to its offspring

e.g. giraffes acquired long necks to feed and this characteristic was passed on

60
Q

Why is Lamarck’s theory wrong?

A
  • It does not have a genetic basis
  • Cannot account for all the observations made of life on Earth
61
Q

Which 3 pollutants cause most concern?

A
  1. carbon dioxide (burning fossil fuels = increase greenhouse effect and global warming)
  2. CFCs (aerosols = destroy ozone layer)
  3. sulfur dioxide (burning fossil fuels = acid rain)
62
Q

What is exponential growth?

A

Ever-increasing growth of human population

(Birth rate exceeding death rate)

63
Q

Where are the greatest rise of world population?

A

In under-developed land masses

e.g. Africa and India

64
Q

Which countries use more fossil fuels?

A

Developing land masses

e.g. USA and Europe

65
Q

What is a carbon footprint?

A

Amount of pollution caused per person or organisation

66
Q

What can pollution in water or air be measured using?

A

Direct methods or indicator organisms

67
Q

What are examples of direct methods?

A
  • oxygen probes attached to computers to measure oxygen levels in pond
  • special chemicals to indicate levels of nitrate pollution from fertilisers
68
Q

What does the presence of an indicator species show?

A

The estimate levels of pollution

69
Q

What are examples of indicator species?

A
  • mayfly larva is an insect that can only live in clean water
  • water louse, bloodworm and mussels can live in polluted water
  • lichen grows on trees and rocks only when air is clean
70
Q

What are advantages of both methods of measuring pollution?

A

indicator organisms:

  • cheaper, does not need equipment that can go wrong and monitors pollution levels over long periods of time

direct methods:

  • more accurate results at any specific time
71
Q

What does conservation do?

A

Preserve the variety of plants and animals and the habitats they live in

72
Q

Why do people think conservation is important?

A
  • protect food supply
  • prevent damage to food chains
  • protect plants and animals that might be useful for medical uses
  • protect organism and habitats people enjoy to visit and study
73
Q

What factors do you need to consider when trying to conserve species?

A
  • size of population (if below critical level, it is unlikely to have genetic variation in population to enable it to survive)
  • number of suitable habitats available to live in
  • amount of competition
74
Q

Why are whales hunted?

A
  • body parts to make food, clothes and other products
  • live whales for tourist trade
75
Q

Why do some people disagree with captive breeding of whales?

A

Whales lose freedom

76
Q

Why do scientists believe that killing whales is useful?

A
  • to find out more about how whales survive

Could study whales without killing them

  • migration patterns
  • whale communication could only be investigated when animal is alive
77
Q

What is sustainable development?

A

Taking resources from the environment for current needs, while leaving enough for the future and preventing permanent damage

78
Q

What are examples of sustainable development?

A
  • fishing quotas
  • woods are replanted to keep up supply of trees
79
Q

Why is it crucial to carry out sustainable development?

A
  • fossil fuels will run out, so we must manage alternative fuels, such as wood
  • need to supply food for growing populations without destroying large areas of natural habitats
  • waste products must be disposed of to minimise pollution

Biology (6 decks)

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