Biogeography

Question 1

what is biogeography?

Answer 1

study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time

Question 2

what are ‘species’?

Answer 2

organism groups that are clearly identified by their appearance structure, physiology and behaviour and can breed
(except mules that are horse and donkey offsprings that cannot breed due to chromosomes)

Question 3

what are the taxonomic groups?

Answer 3

Kingdom
Phylum (or division)
Class
Order
Family
Genus 
Species

Question 4

the difference between ecological biogeography and historical biogeography?

Answer 4

Ecological biogeography is concerned with short term periods of time, scale, local habitats, species and subspecies e.g why more species in the tropics?
Historical biogeography is concerned with long-term scale, evolutionary periods, global areas, higher taxa, even extinct species e.g why a taxon is endemic?

Question 5

why early biogeography focuses more on animals than plants?

Answer 5

plants:
are static, easily influenced by the environment
easy to collect the sampled of plants
fossil remains are rarer and harder to inspect
most info from the flower crown which is rarily find

Question 6

The discovery of Charles Darwin

Answer 6

in 1831 Darwin noticed three different mockingbirds in South Africa, on three Galapagos islands, different tortoises, finch bird sizes, and their beaks and thought of natural selection idea:

1) offsprings vary slightly
2) some characteristics are better suited for the environment
3) offspring with favourable aspects tend to survive better than their relatives
4) survivors will mate and pass on favourable aspects until the environment changes again

Question 7

what is continental drift

Answer 7

in 1912 german meteorologist Alfred Wegener presented a theory of continental drift according to plant Glossopteris deposit in Africa, Australia, S.America, Antarctica and India. The theory that all continents were one a Pangea. Was accpeted only in 1960s because people thought plants could be dispersed by wind

Question 8

what is vicariance?

Answer 8

geographical separation of a population, typically a physical barrier like mountains, resulting in a pair of closely related species.

Question 9

what is a guild

Answer 9

group of animals not related that use the same resources or overlap in their environment requirements

Question 10

what is climax vegetation?

Answer 10

vegetation assemblage that develops through different stages governed by climate. Nature can be altered by chance also.

Question 11

what is ecopysiology

Answer 11

science that examines how plants and animals vary in their physiological proceses in response to the the environment

Question 12

natural theory of biodiversity

Answer 12

arrival of species is stochastic or randomly determined and dispersal is caused by chance

Question 13

artic poppy

Answer 13

found in alpine zones of Europe, N America, Asia. Is covered by thick hairs to trap heat and has slight toxicity to fight animals. Cup shaped petals trap air which warms up and attracts pollinators. Is heliotropic - turns head towards the sun . 10 degrees warmer in the petals.

Question 14

desert superbloom

Answer 14

rare heavy rainfall in desert cause flowers to bloom. They lay dormant or sleeping and the seeds are protected by wax for years until water reaches them. These flowers are xerophytes which can survive in droughts.

Question 15

different kinds of species

Answer 15

subspecies - stable but have diff distributions
polytypic species - that exist as a series of subspecific forms
monotypic species - less variable species that exist only in one form

e.g Herring gull and Greenish warbler

Question 16

limits of distributions

Answer 16

1 physical - mountains, rivers, deserts, oceans but goose can cross himalayas
2 climatic - frost kills cells, drought desiccates water
3 geological - soil chemistry and structure, pH
4 nature of the habitat - forest in grassland, wetland in forest, usually human land.
5 biological barrier - predation, parasitism, disease, competition, fragmentation
6 historical - mass or ice movements
7 chance - stochastic or randomly determined e.g gust of wind

Question 17

what is a niche

Answer 17

the demands that an organism places on its environment in terms of physical and chemical conditions, space and food supply

Question 18

what is the difference between fundamental and realized niche?

Answer 18

fundamental - all niche requirements under ideal conditions with no competition and other species
realized - when other niches overlap and resources become limited