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Sustainability and Interdependence Flashcards

1
Q

What is food security?

A

The ability of human populations to access food of sufficient quality and quantity.

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2
Q

What are the two key factors that will maintain sustainable food security?

A

Increased plant productivity and the manipulation of genetic diversity.

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3
Q

What is a cultivar?

A

A cultivated variety of plant selected for desirable characteristics which can be easily propagated.

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4
Q

What are some characteristics of a cultivar?

A

Higher nutritional values, higher yield, resistance to pests and disease, physical characteristics suited to rearing and harvesting, characteristics that allow plants to survive particular environmental conditions.

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5
Q

What is photosynthesis?

A

The process by which green plants trap light energy and use it to produce carbohydrates.

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6
Q

What happens when white light hits a leaf?

A

Can be absorbed, reflected or transmitted.

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7
Q

What is an absorption spectrum?

A

A spectrum that shows the specific wavelengths of light that are absorbed.

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8
Q

What is the function of carotenoids?

A

They extend the range of wavelengths absorbed and pass the energy to chlorophyll for photosynthesis.

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9
Q

What does an action spectra show?

A

The wavelengths of light that produce the most active photosynthesis.

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10
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A
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11
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A
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12
Q

What are examples of characteristics that have been selected for in plants?

A
  • Increase in yield
  • Increase in nutritional value
  • Pest resistance
  • Resistance to disease
  • Possession of a useful physical characteristic
  • Ability to thrive in particular environmental conditions

Examples include increased mass of food produced by wheat and resistance of potatoes to late blight.

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13
Q

What is a plant field trial?

A

A type of investigation set up to compare the performance of different plant cultivars under the same environmental conditions or to find out the effect of different environmental conditions on a new cultivar.

Examples include comparing conventional versus GM crops.

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14
Q

What are the key components to consider when designing a plant field trial?

A
  • Selection of treatments
  • Number of replicates
  • Randomisation of treatments

Each component ensures a fair comparison and reliable results.

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15
Q

What is the importance of selection of treatments in a field trial?

A

To ensure a fair comparison by only changing one variable, such as fertiliser concentration.

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16
Q

Why is the number of replicates important in field trials?

A

To account for variability within the sample; more replicates lead to more reliable results.

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17
Q

What does randomisation of treatments aim to eliminate in a field trial?

A

Bias when measuring treatment effects.

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18
Q

What is inbreeding?

A

The breeding of selected related plants or animals for several generations until the population breeds true to the desired type.

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19
Q

What can be a consequence of inbreeding?

A

An increase in the frequency of individuals homozygous for recessive deleterious alleles, leading to inbreeding depression.

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20
Q

What is hybrid vigour?

A

The improved or increased function of any biological quality in a hybrid offspring.

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21
Q

How can crossbreeding be used in breeding programs?

A

To produce individuals with desired characteristics from both parent breeds.

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22
Q

What is the role of genetic technology in breeding?

A

To improve cultivars or breeds by enhancing desired traits.

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23
Q

Fill in the blank: A plant field trial is set up to compare the performance of two different plant __________.

A

[cultivars]

24
Q

True or False: Self-pollinating plants are less susceptible to inbreeding depression.

25
What is meant by 'accurate' measurements?
The precision of the measurement taken.
26
What does 'reliable' refer to in the context of field trials?
How much you can trust the result, generally linked to replication.
27
How is inbreeding depression seen phenotypically?
As a decline in vigour, size, fertility and yield.
28
What is inbreeding?
Related plants or animals are selected and bred for several generations until the population breeds true to the desired type due to the elimination of heterozygotes.
29
What can be a negative result of inbreeding?
An increase in the frequency of individuals who are homozygous for recessive deleterious alleles.
30
What is a weed?
Any type of plant that is growing where it’s not wanted.
31
What problems occur when weeds grow in a cultivated field?
Reduction in yield due to competition, weeds can release chemical inhibitors into soil which further reduce crop growth, contaminate grain crops with their seeds and reduce crops value, acts as hosts for crop pests and diseases.
32
What properties of annual weeds make them successful?
Rapid growth, short life cycle, high seed output, long term seed viability (can remain dormant in soil for many years)
33
How are perennial weeds able to compete successfully with crop?
The weeds are already established in the habitat, have storage organs from the previous year that provide food initially and carry out vegetative reproduction.
34
What are the 3 invertebrates groups that pests mainly fall into?
Insects, nematode worms and molluscs
35
Why do pests cause decreased yield?
Damage to leaves and roots causing a decrease in photosynthesis, pests also often act as vectors for plant diseases
36
What are some non-chemical techniques for controlling weeds?
Ploughing (perennial weeds are buried at a depth in which they can due and decompose), weeding (removal of weeds at an early stage in their life cycle), crop rotation (different plants in turn of same area)
37
Name all the pesticides (5).
Herbicides to kill weeds, fungicides to control fungal diseases, insecticides to kill insects pests, molluscicides to kill mollusc pests and nematocides to kill nematode pests.
38
What can herbicides be?
Selective or systemic.
39
How do selective herbicides work and why is this an advantage?
Similar to plant hormones, stimulates plant growth and cause the plant to exhaust their food reserves and die. Effective against B-road leaved weeds, narrow leaves crop plants (such as cereals) are unaffected. Normally biodegradable and don’t harm soil community.
40
How do systemic herbicides work and why is this an advantage?
Spreads through vascular system of the plant and prevents re growth. Effective on narrow leaved weeds as can reach underground storage organs and roots and kill a greater variety of weeds.
41
42
What is bioaccumilation?
A build of of a chemical in an organism
43
What is biomagnification?
An increase in the concentration of a chemical moving between trophic levels
44
What is biomagnification?
An increase in the concentration of a chemical moving between trophic levels
45
What are some problems that can arise from the use of pesticides?
Toxicity to non-target species, persistence in the environment, bioaccumulation, biomagnification, and production of a resistant population.
46
What is biological control?
When the control agent is a natural predator.
47
What are some negative consequences from biological control?
Control organisms may become an invasive species or prey on species other than the pest.
48
What are some behavioural indicators of poor animal welfare?
Stereotyp (repetitive behaviour such as pacing or chewing without food), misdirect behaviour (such as an animal mutilating itself), failure in sexual behaviour, failure in parenting behaviour, altered levels of activity (hysteria or apathy)
49
What is symbiosis?
An ecological relationship between organisms of different species that live in direct contact with one another. They are intimate relationships that have evolved over millions of years (have evolved together-co-evolution)
50
51
What are the two types of symbiotic relationships?
Parasitism and mutualism.
52
What is parasitism?
A specific type of symbiosis where one organism benefits in terms of energy or nutrients to the detriment of the host. Parasites often have limited metabolism so often cannot survive out of contact with a host.
53
How can parasites be transmitted?
Direct contact (eg. Head lice), using resistant stages and surviving adverse environmental conditions until they come into contact with a new host, vectors (eg. Mosquitoes)
54
What are ectoparasites and endoparasites?
Ectoparasites are external, and endoparasites are internal
55
What is mutualism?
A type of symbiosis in which both partner species benefit in an interdependent relationship( eg. Bee’s and flowers)
56

Biology (3 decks)

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