biodiversity - terminology 1.1, 2, 3, 4 Flashcards
terminology
Species diversity
Variety and abundance of species in a given area
Genetic diversity
Variety of traits within a species
Gene pool
All the genes in a population
Why might high genetic diversity be a good thing?
High genetic diversity allows for different genetic material (DNA) present in individuals, resulting in a diverse range of immune responses to a disease –> more resistance to diseases
What are species?
A group of organisms that can interbreed in nature and produce fertile offspring
What are the 3 ways to identify a species?
Morphological species concept, biological species concept, and phylogenetic species concept
What is the morphological species concept?
It compares the measurements and descriptions of organisms, and focuses on morphology
What is morphology?
The study of the form and structure of organisms and their structural features
What is an advantage and disadvantage to the morphological species concept?
An advantage is that it’s the most widely used concept due to how simple it is, especially when it comes to identifying plants.
A disadvantage is how it becomes difficult when deciding how much difference between individuals is too much variation.
What is the focus of the biological species concept?
It focuses on the ability of organisms to interbreed in nature and produce viable, fertile offspring
(example to rmr, if two individuals mate under natural conditions and produce offspring that can successfully live and reproduce, they are of the same species)
What is an advantage and disadvantage to the biological species concept?
An advantage is that it’s widely used by scientists.
Disadvantages include: It can’t be applied to species reproducing asexually (plants, bacteria, archaea, fungi), or species that are now fossils (and therefore no longer reproducing). Also, when two populations are physically separated, they don’t have an opportunity to interbreed and therefore fertile offspring requirement cannot be tested
How does the phylogenetic species concept work?
It focuses on evolutionary relationships by using DNA analysis to provide evidence for them. A species is defined as a cluster of organisms that are closely related
What is an advantage and disadvantage to the phylogenetic species concept?
An advantage is that it can be applied to extinct species and it uses evidence from DNA analysis.
A disadvantage is that evolutionary history isn’t known for all species
What is taxonomy?
The practise of classifying organisms which was founded by a old white man named Carolus Linnaeus, who grouped species by their simple physical characteristics
Define binomial nomenclature
How species are named with two latin words which are referred to as their scientific name. An example is felis domesticus (house cat).
First word is the name of the genus, second word is the name of the species, and it’s always italicised
