Diversity Exam Prep

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.

Question 2

Anthropause

Answer 2

the dramatic slowdown in human activity caused by the pandemic.

Question 3

What is biodiversity

Answer 3

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. Earth is unique in its capacity for life.

Question 4

Why is biodiversity important

Answer 4

Biodiversity is essential for the processes that support all life on Earth, including humans. Without a wide range of animals, plants and microorganisms, we cannot have the healthy ecosystems that we rely on to provide us with the air we breathe and the food we eat.

Biodiversity is the key to the future of humanity. There will be no jobs on a dead planet. Biodiversity equals stability. Civilization won’t work without biodiversity. Animal lives are intimately connected to the lives of others around them. The evolution of life changed the planet from a desolate wasteland to comfortable conditions for life. Productivity of the living world increases with more animal diversity

Question 5

Taxonomy

Answer 5

The science of identifying, naming, and classifying organisms

Question 6

Binomial nomenclature

Answer 6

Developed by Carl von Linne (Carolus Linnaeus) in 1735
Scientific name has two parts:
Genus
Species

Question 7

Phylogeny

Answer 7

Evolutionary tree showing relationships between groups

Question 8

Cladogram

Answer 8

a branching diagram showing the cladistic (common characteristics) relationship between a number of species.

Question 9

biological species concept

Answer 9

Groups of actually or potentially interbreeding populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups

Question 10

reproductive isolation and isolating mechanisms

Answer 10

no exchange of genetic material.
Physical
Physiological
Chromosomal
Behavioral

Question 11

parthenogenesis

Answer 11

a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization by sperm. Occurs when an animal does not encounter conspecifics over a period of time.

Question 12

conspecifics

Answer 12

a member of the same species

Question 13

evolutionary species concept

Answer 13

A single lineage of ancestor-descendent populations that maintains its identity from other such lineages and that has its own evolutionary tendencies and historical fate

Question 14

phylogenetic species concept

Answer 14

The concept of a species as an irreducible group whose members are descended from a common ancestor and who all possess a combination of certain defining, or derived, traits

Question 15

biological species concept

Answer 15

A species is a group of members who can interbreed and produce viable, fertile offspring. Must be reproductively compatible. Members of different species cannot mate and produce viable offspring. They remain their own distinct species.

Question 16

morphological species concept

Answer 16

A species is a group of members of the same body shape or features.

Question 17

ecological species concept

Answer 17

Members of the same species occupy the same ecological niches. Interaction with biotic and abiotic parts of the environment. (soil type, cold toleration, climates, elevation

Question 18

evolution

Answer 18

The process by which species of organisms arise from earlier life forms and undergo change over time through natural selection.

Question 19

natural selection

Answer 19

the process through which populations of living organisms adapt and change. Individuals in a population are naturally variable, meaning that they are all different in some ways. This variation means that some individuals have traits better suited to the environment than others.

Question 20

divergent evolution

Answer 20

The evolutionary pattern in which species sharing a common ancestry become more distinct due to differential selection pressure which gradually leads to speciation over an evolutionary time period.

(Lions, cheetahs, and leopards (all family felidae). These three cats evolved from the same ancestor. Their habitats overlap)

Question 21

convergent evolution

Answer 21

the process whereby distantly related organisms independently evolve similar traits to adapt to similar necessities.

(Dolphins and sharks have several morphological similarities(streamlined bodies, dorsal fins, pectoral fins, etc.) because of the environment they are from but they are not closely related. Sharks are fish and thus are ectotherms (do not have lungs, lay eggs, etc). Dolphins are mammals and therefore are endotherms (have lungs, and give live birth, etc). Sharks and their ancestors are believed to have been always aquatic whereas it is believed that dolphins evolved from a once terrestrial mammalian ancestor.)

Question 22

continuous distribution

Answer 22

Eurytopic or wide-ranging animals are adapted to a wide variety of environmental conditions and are not specific to any particular type of food or may have special power to cross barriers either by flight, rafting or swimming and adapt to new environmental conditions.

Question 23

discontinuous distribution

Answer 23

When continuity of distribution of a type of animal is broken by uninhabited areas which are sometimes very large stretches of oceans.

Question 24

habitats

Answer 24

Places where animals live, defined by climate, latitudes, altitudes, types of soil, etc
Examples: coastal cliffs, talus slopes, sand dunes, alpine meadows

Question 25

niche

Answer 25

Precise part of the habitat which is occupied by a species
Includes:
Resources used
How resources are exploited
“How the animal makes a living”

Question 26

biome

Answer 26

a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g. forest or tundra.

Question 27

autotroph

Answer 27

an organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide. (Photosynthesis/ plants)

Question 28

heteretroph

Answer 28

an organism deriving its nutritional requirements from complex organic substances. (Porifera)

Question 29

Phylum cnidaria

Answer 29

sea anenomes, hydras, jellyfish, coral
Nematocysts- stinging cells
Radial symmetry
Polyp and medusa body types
Hydrostatic skeleton
Nerve net

Question 30

Symbiotic relationship

Answer 30

mutually beneficial

Question 31

Phylum Cnetophora

Answer 31

comb jellies
comb plates used for propulsion
nerve net
all marine
0.4cm to 1 meter long
sticky colloblasts
bioluminescent
swims oral end upward

Question 32

Phylum platyhelminthes

Answer 32

flatworms
bilateral symmetry
cephalization
dorsoventrally flattened

Question 33

Phylum nematoda

Answer 33

roundworms
0.1 mm to 9 mm
probably most abundant animals on earth
beneficial- used as biological pest control in AG
non-beneficial- many are parasites

Question 34

Phylum Arthropoda

Answer 34

Jointed appendages
Chitinous exoskeleton
4 subphylum
Chelicerata
Myriapoda
Crustacea
Hexapoda

Question 35

subphylum chelicerata

Answer 35

horseshoe crabs, sea spiders, spiders, mites, ticks, scorpions, harvestmen
segmented bodies: Cephalothorax and abdomen
6 pairs jointed appendages: 1 pair chelicerae, 1 pair pedipalps, 4 pairs walking legs
scavengers/predators
no mandibles or antennae

Question 36

subphylum myriapoda

Answer 36

centipedes and millipedes
paired, uniramous appendages on most or all trunk segments
one pair antennae

Class Chilopoda- Centipede- venemous predator
Class Diplopoda- Millipede- detritivores

Question 37

subphylum crustacea

Answer 37

crabs, lobsters, shrimp, krill
2 pairs antennae
biramous appendages in some species
three body sections: head, thorax, abdomen. head+thorax sometimes fused
gills for respiration

Question 38

subphylum hexapoda
class insecta

Answer 38

1 pair antennae
thorax w/ three pairs of legs, usually two pairs of wings
seperate sexes or pathogenesis
metamorphasis
eggs laid or may be internally withheld by female