environmentally part of b6 Flashcards
why can conservation schemes be difficult?
-might require several countries to work together- difficult to arrange and some countries might not be willing to sign up to an agreement
-can be objected by local residents
- can be difficult to monitor things like endangered species
-they cost money
-involve making laws and regulations which can take a long time
what is selective breeding?
mating the best organism to get good offspring
what are some examples of good qualities in selective breeding?
-produces maximum yield- good food production
-good health and disease resistance
-in plants: attractive flowers, nice smell
what are the two issues with inbreeding?
causes health problems because there is more chance of the organism developing harmful genetic disorders because organisms with similar features who might be related are breeded
reduces the gene pool (number of different alleles in a population) because the farmer keeps breeding the best animals or plants which are closely related- inbreeding
what are the basic steps in selective breeding?
-choose parent organisms with the best characteristics
-breed them together
-the best off spring can be selected and bred
-process is repeated over several generations to develop desired traits
what is the abundance of an organism?
how many individuals you find in an area
what is the distribution of an organism?
where an organism is found in a habitat
why do you take samples of organisms?
it’s too time consuming measuring the number and distribution of a species in an area
what are pooters used for?
collecting insects
what are pooters?
-jars that have rubber bungs sealing the top and two tubes stuck through the bung.
you crawl around for a few minutes sucking up as many insects as you can the count how many insects you have collected. do this in a second area and compare the results. spend the same amount of time sampling and in sample areas of the same size.
what are pitfall traps used for?
ground insects
what are pitfall traps?
steep-sided containers that are sunk in a hole in the ground with the top partially open.
leave the trap overnight in your first sample area and insects that fall in can’t get out. try it in a second area and compare results.
what are nets used for?
collecting animals from long grass and water
what is a sweep net?
strong cloth net used for collecting insects from long grass.
sweep the net from left to right and quickly sweep up the net and turn the insects out into a container and count them. repeat in a second area and compare results.
what is a pond net?
a net used for collecting insects (water snails) from ponds or rivers.
you sweep the net along the bottom of the pond or river and then turn the net out into a white tray to count the organisms
what is a quadrat?
a square frame enclosing a known area to compare how common an organism is in two sample areas
what is the capture and recapture method?
you can estimate the size of a population by capturing a sample of the population and marking them and then recapturing another sample and see which ones are marked
what is a key?
a series of different questions that you can use to figure out what an unknown organism is- the questions narrow down to the correct organism
what are keys useful for?
to correctly identify an organism that you have sampled
what is the distribution of organisms affected by?
abiotic and biotic factors
what are abiotic factors?
non living factors
what are four abiotic factors?
temperature
moisture level
light intensity
soil ph
what are some biotic factors?
competition
predators
food availability
pathogens
what are ways to measure abiotic factors?
-therometre- temperature
-light sensor- light intensity
-soil moisture meter- moisture level
-indicator liquid/ electronic PH monitors- soil PH