Biodiversity Flashcards
Taxonomy
Is the science of identifying and classifying all organisms,
Some ways to identify:
- Morpohology
- Behaviour
- Habitat
Taxonomic levels
- Domail
- Kingdom
- Phylum
- Class
- order
- Family
- Genes
- Species
Naming (genus and species)
Genus: Refers to a group of organisms that are closely related and have similar characteristics
Species: Refers to a group of organisms that look alike and that are so similar they can interbreed and produce fertile offspring
Biodiversity
The number and variety of species and ecosystems on earth
Genetic diversity
Individuals of species that reproduce sexually and inherit unique combinations of traits from their parents
Species diversity
Variety of species in an area and the total population of each of these species
Structural diversity
Range of the physical structure of the habitat or ecosystem that the organisms are living in
Phylogenetic tree
A diagram depicting the evolutionary relationships between different species or groups
Phylogeny
The study of the evolutionary relatedness between species
Evolution
The scientific theory that describes changes in species over time and their shared ancestry
Prokaryotes
Single-celled organisms without a cell membrane-bound organelles
- Smaller than eukaryotes
- Free dna (not in a nucleus)
- Divide by fission (cloning)
- Single celled only
Examples: Bacteria, archea
Clade
A taxonomic group that includes a single common ancestor and all its descendants
Metabolism of bacteria
- Autotrophic
- Heterotrophic
- Obligate aerobes (must have oxygen to survive)
- Facultative aerobes (can use oxygen or live without it)
- Anaerobic (they dont need oxygen0
Reproduction in Bacteria
Asexual reproduction: Binary Fission
- Chromosome duplicates and new cell wall forms creating 2 identical bacteria
- A very fast process, that takes about 20 mins to double the cell number
Sexual Reproduction: conjugation
- Occurs under poor conditions
- Bacteria joins together via the poli and one bacteria transfers genetic infromation to another bacteria, which then creates a geneticallt different strain
Eukaryotes
any organism whose cells contain organelles
- Larger in size
- DNA is in nucleus
- Divide by mitosis
- Single or multicellular
Examples: animals, plants, protists, fungi
Domain of life: Eubacteria, Archaea, Eukarya
- only contain the kingdom of Eubacteria
- Archaea only contains the kingdom of Archaea
- Eukarya contains Protista, animals, plants, and fungi kingdoms
Why is bacteria important?
- Responsible for
diseases - Help make vitamins in our gut
Can infect livestock and food sources
Can be decomposers - help with the carbon cycle - Photosynthetic
Characteristics of bacteria
- Nucleoid, chromosomes in a single loop of DNA
- Ribosomes: used in protein and are scattered around the cytoplasm
- Flagella: movement
- Pili are responsible for sexual reproduction
- Plasmid: a circular piece of DNA
Cell walls: think, stong and rigid and theyre made of peptidoglycan
- The bacteria is surrounded by a sticky capsule to reduce water loss, resists high temps and keep antibodies and virus out.
Spore formation of Bacteria
Endospores is a highly resistant structure that forms around the chromosome when a cell is under stress
- They tolerate extreme temperatures and are dormant until situations improve
