Biodiversity and Natural Resources Flashcards
Define species.
A group of organisms with similar physiological, anatomical and behavioural adaptations which can interbreed to produce fertile offspring.
Define habitat.
The place where an organism lives.
Define population.
Interbreeding individuals of the same species.
Define community.
Populations in a habitat.
Define niche.
How an organism exploits its habitat.
Define behavioural adaptations.
Actions allowing an organism to survive and reproduce.
Define physiological adaptations.
Internal workings of an organism allowing it to survive and reproduce.
Describe anatomical adaptations.
Visible adaptations of an organism that can be seen when observed or dissected.
Describe natural selection.
A mutation leads to the development of a beneficial adaptation. Organisms with this mutation survive, breed more and pass on the adaptation. Organisms without the adaptation die. This results in a change in allele frequency.
What factors is natural selection reliant on?
Strength of selection pressure.
Size of gene pool.
Reproductive rate of organism.
What are the conditions of Hardy Weinberg.
No mutations. No alleles introduced or lost, thus no emigration or immigration. No selection of favour. Mating and alleles are random. Large population.
What is the hierarchy of taxonomy?
Kingdom Phyla Class Order Family Genus Species.
What are the five kingdoms?
Animalia Plantae Fungi Protoctista Prokaroytae.
Describe cellulose.
Beta glucose. Condensation reaction. 1,4 glycosidic bonds. Straight chain.
Hydrogen bonds between neighbouring OH groups, forming helical microfibrils.
Held together by hemicellulose and pectins.
Describe the xylem.
Large cells with thick cell walls. Transports water and mineral ions upwards. Waterproofed by lignin. Restricts entry of water and solutes. Dead cells.
Water diffuses out of the stoma, down a diffusion gradient, in a transpiration stream.
What are nitrate ions needed for?
Required to produce amino acids.
What are magnesium ions for?
Required to make chlorophyll.
What are calcium ions for?
Required for growth.
Describe the phloem.
Has perforated end walls which are sieve plates.
Transports organic molecules up and down via translocation.
Contains companion cells which contain all organelles.
Describe the sclerenchyma.
Supports the cell.
Waterproofed by lignin.
Keeps the cell turgid.
Describe what Withering did.
Discovered and recorded the side effects of digitalis (dropsy).
Checked the right dosage.
Describe pre-clinical testing.
Involves testing on animals and laboratory studies.
Describe Phase I of drug testing.
Small group of healthy volunteers.
Describe Phase II of drug testing.
Small group of volunteers with the disease.
Describe Phase III of drug testing.
Large group of patients suffering from the disease in a double blind trial.
What are seeds used for?
Protect embryo.
Aid dispersal.
Provide nutrition.
Describe starch as packaging.
Starch granules cannot dissolve in water. Therefore they are heated in water, in a process called gelatinisation, they swell and thicken.
Cross-linked starch is absorbent and able to take up large amounts of water.
Describe oil-based fuels.
Produce carbon dioxide.
Non-renewable.
Non-biodegradable.
Describe plant-based fuels.
Carbon neutral.
Biodegradable.
What is captive breeding used for?
Increasing the number of individuals in a species.
Maintaining genetic diversity.
Reintroducing animals into the wild.
Define inbreeding depression.
Inbreeding results in the inheritance of recessive alleles.
What is a studbook?
Raw data of breeding plans and the current population. Encourages animals to breed.
What conditions are seeds kept in?
Cool and dry.
What does the Millennium Seed Bank do?
Germination is tested every 10 years. If germination falls below 75% then seeds will be grown to collect a new sample.
Aims to have 25% of all species by 2020.
Describe genetic drift.
Some alleles may not be passed on in a small population by chance. Genetic drift is the change in allele frequency over time.
Inbreeding leads to a rise in homozygous alleles and a loss of heterozygous alleles.
We were literally never taught this but it’s in the spec apparently so: what is the calculation for heterozygosity index?
Heterozygosity index = number of heterozygotes divided by the number of individuals in the population.
What are the three domains?
Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryota.
