Biodiversity and Evolution Flashcards
What is a species?
A group of individual organisms very similar in appearance, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and genetics
What is a habitat?
The place where an organism lives
What is biodiversity?
The variety of life covering both species richness and species evenness
What is random sampling?
Studying a small part of the habitat and assuming it contains a representative set of species tat can be applied to the whole habitat
The three ways to avoid experimenter bias
Take samples at regular intervals across the habitat
Use random numbers generated by a computer to use as coordinates
Select coordinates from a map of the area and use a portable global positioning satellite system to find the exact location inside the habitat
What are the eight taxa used in the current system of classification?
Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
Why do we classify?
For our convenience
To make our study of living things more managable
To make it easier to identify organisms
To help us see relationships between species
What is the trend in diversity in a taxonomic classification system?
As you rise up the ranks of classification, the individuals grouped together show more diversity
What is the binomial system?
A classification system that uses two names to identify each species; the genus and the species name
Why cannot we use common names to identify organisms?
The same organism may have a completely different common name in different parts of one country
Names differ in each country
Translation of languages or dialects may give different names
The same common name may be used for a different organism somewhere in the world
What is a dichotomous key?
A classification system that uses a series of questions with two possible answers to help you identify a specimen
What must you carry out before any large development plan is passed?
A environmental impact assessment has to be carried out to see if there are any endagered species in the area
Why has there been a need to change previous classification systems in recent years?
Due to the advancements made in microscopy and DNA reading, we have realised that there are many differences and similarities between organisms that we did not know before
What are the kingdoms in a five kingdom classification system?
Prokaryotes Animals Plants Fungi Protoctists
What are the groups in a three domain classification system?
True bacteria
Archae bacteria
Eukaryotes
How can cytocrome c be used to find out how closely related different organisms are?
Cytochrome c is found in all cells that respire
We can identify the amino acid sequence in cytochrome c and compare them
The more similar the sequences are, the more closely related they are
How can DNA be used to measure how related species are?
The amino acid sequence can be studied and compared
Like cytochrome c, the more similarities it shows the more closely related it is
What is the difference between true bacteria and archae bacteria
Different cell membrane structure
Flagella with a different internal structure
Different enzymes for building RNA
No proteins bound to genetic material
Different mechanim for DNA replication and for building RNA
What are the similarities between archae bacteria and eukaryotes
Similar enzymes for building RNA
Similar mechanisms for DNA replication and building RNA
Production of some proteins that bind to their DNA
What is variation?
The presence of variety of differences between individuals
What is genetic variation?
Variation caused by differences in the genes
What is continuous variation
Variation where there is a full range of intermidiate phenotypes between two extremes
What is discontinuous variation?
Variation where there are discrete groups of phenotypes with none or very few intermidiates between them
Give some exmples of continuous variation
Height
Length of leaves