Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is biodiversity
The variety and number of life forms
Define a species
All organisms capable of breeding freely under natural conditions
Define hybridization
The cross-breeding of two species
Define morphology and give examples.
The description of characteristics shared by an organism that reproduces asexually like dandelions
Define genetic diversity and give examples.
The genetic diversity of a species. Like black cats and white cats
What is an evolutionary change
A change that occurs to an entire population usually over a long period of time
What is an autotroph
An organism that makes its own food (energy) from the sun. To produce nutrients from the water, gases and/or minerals.
What is a heterotroph
An organism that feeds off of other living or dead organisms
What is species diversity
A measure of how many of each species there is and how many species there are.
What is structural diversity
The range of physical sizes and shapes in a habitat or ecosystem
List three ways that biodiversity is threatened
- Urban Expansion
- Forestry
- Air and Water pollution
List three ways that declining biodiversity threatens human life.
- Lose sources of homeopathic medicine
- Loss of food supply
- Disruptions to biogeochemical systems such as the carbon intake by plants.
What is taxonomy? a Taxon?
Taxonomy: The science of classifying all organisms.
Taxon: A classification assigned to an organism
What did Carl Linnaeus do?
He is the founder of modern taxonomy and founded the binomial naming system that we have today.
What is a genus?
A taxonomical group that has multiple species (Common Basilisk and Western Basilisk)
