Ecosystems and Their Diversity Flashcards
Define “Abiotic”
Non-living
Define “biotic”
Living
What is a species?
A group of organisms that can reproduce with each other and produce fertile offspring
Define “population”
Individuals of the same species in the same place at the sames time
Define “community”
A group of different populations living in the same area
Define “ecosystem”
the interactions of a community with the environment (both biotic and abiotic factors)
What does the biosphere include?
all the ecosystems in the world and their interactions
How far does the biosphere extend?
several kms into the atmosphere and several meters into the soil
What is the 2 main purposes of the biological classification systems?
- Identifying organisms
- Providing a basis for recognizing natural groups of living things
What is Taxonomy?
it is the science of classification according to presumed relationships among organisms
Who formed the earliest classification system?
Aristotle
What did Aristotle discover?
- Identified more that 1000 different organisms
- Put them into 2 main groups: plants and animals (called them kingdoms)
- Categorized them based on the way they moved on land, water, and air
- Divided plants into 3 categories
- Had limitations and these classifications changed overtime
What did Ernst Haeckel do?
- Suggested classifying microorganisms that were neither animals or plants into a third kingdom (protista)
- Eventually this led to an agreement of 6 kingdoms under 3 domains
What are the 3 domains of life?
- Eukarya
- Bacteria
- Archea
What is special about archea?
They like the extreme and are able to live in things like hot springs, thermal vents etc.
