Topic 4 - Investigating Diversity

Question 1

How can genetic diversity within, or between species be measured?

Answer 1

By comparing:

1) The frequency of measurable or observable characteristics.

2) The base sequence of DNA.

3) The base sequence of mRNA.

4) The amino acid sequence of the proteins encoded by DNA and mRNA.

Question 2

What is interspecific variation?

Answer 2

This is variation between different species. It is due to different genes causing differences in physical traits, adaptations, habitats, etc. and environmental factors like climate, diet, lifestyle, etc.

Question 3

What is intraspecific variation?

Answer 3

This is variation between individuals within a species. It is due to different alleles (gene variants) and environmental factors.

Question 4

What does random sampling involve?

Answer 4

1) Randomly generating coordinates across an area to prevent sampling bias.

2) Collecting samples from these random coordinates to represent the population.

3) Repeating this several times as a large sample size minimises the effects of chance.

4) Analysing the data collected to identify any relationships.