topic 5 key terms

Question 1

Anthropogenic climate change

Answer 1

Changes in the climate that are caused by human activity.

Question 2

Biofuels

Answer 2

Fuels produced using biomass

Question 3

Biomass

Answer 3

The dry mass of all of the living organisms in an area.

Question 4

Conservation

Answer 4

The maintenance of ecosystems and biodiversity by humans in order to preserve the Earth’s resources. This typically involves the management of succession

Question 5

Calvin cycle

Answer 5

The group of light-independent reactions involved in photosynthesis

Question 6

Carbon fixation (Calvin cycle)

Answer 6

The addition of CO2
to RUBP to form an unstable 6 carbon intermediate in the Calvin cycle catalysed by RuBisCO.

Question 7

Chlorophyll

Answer 7

The main photosynthetic pigment found in chloroplasts which is used to capture energy from photons during photosynthesis.

Question 8

Chloroplast

Answer 8

An organelle found in plants and algae which is the site of photosynthesis.

Question 9

Data extrapolation

Answer 9

The process of predicting unknown data using trends in known datasets which has many applications such as predicting changes in the climate.

Question 10

Dendrochronology

Answer 10

The use of tree rings to work out data about the tree and its environment which can be useful for analysing changes in climate conditions.

Question 11

The greenhouse effect

Answer 11

The increase of global temperatures caused by the trapping of solar
heat by gases in the atmosphere

Question 12

Trophic level

Answer 12

The position that an organism holds in a food chain, food web, pyramid of numbers or pyramid of biomass.

Question 13

Biomass transfer efficiency

Answer 13

The proportion of energy transferred between biomass levels
Biomass at higher level/biomass at lower level x 100

Question 14

Gross primary productivity

Answer 14

The total amount of energy fixed as chemical energy during photosynthesis carried out by producers.

Question 15

Net primary productivity

Answer 15

The amount of chemical energy that is available for transfer once the amount of energy loss from respiration is deducted from the total amount of energy
Gross primary productivity - energy lost due to respiration

Question 16

Allele frequency

Answer 16

The number of times an allele appears within a population’s gene pool

Question 17

Allopatric speciation

Answer 17

The development of new species over time following the geographic isolation of members of a species.

Question 18

Evolution

Answer 18

A change in allele frequency over time due to natural selection.

Question 19

Genomics

Answer 19

The study of the structure and function of the genome.

Question 20

Natural selection

Answer 20

The process by which the frequency of beneficial alleles gradually increases in a population’s gene pool over time. This theory was developed by Charles Darwin.

Question 21

Proteomics

Answer 21

The study of the structure and function of the proteome.

Question 22

Sympatric speciation

Answer 22

The development of a new species over time in the same area as the original species without any geographical isolation.

Question 23

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (GALP)

Answer 23

The 3 carbon molecule produced by the reduction of GP by NADPH using the energy provided by the hydrolysis of ATP

Question 24

Glycerate 3-phosphate (GP)

Answer 24

The 3 carbon molecule produced by the spontaneous breakdown of the 6 carbon product of carbon fixation

Question 25

Granum

Answer 25

A stack of thylakoids.

Question 26

Photolysis

Answer 26

The breaking apart of a molecule using light.

Question 27

Photophosphorylation

Answer 27

The addition of a phosphate group onto a molecule using the energy obtained from sunlight.

Question 28

Photosynthesis

Answer 28

The process of harnessing the energy from sunlight to split apart the bonds in water molecules and store the hydrogen in organic molecules by combining it with carbon dioxide.

Question 29

RuBisCO

Answer 29

The enzyme used to fix carbon dioxide in the Calvin cycle

Question 30

Stroma

Answer 30

The liquid portion of the chloroplasts where the light-independent reactions of photosynthesis take place.

Question 31

Thylakoids

Answer 31

Flattened membrane-bound sacs found inside chloroplasts which are the site of the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis.

Question 32

Abiotic factors:

Answer 32

Non-living factors present in the environment which affect ecosystems.

Question 33

Climax community

Answer 33

A community that remains stable and shows little change over time.

Question 34

Colonisation

Answer 34

The occupation of a new area by a species.

Question 35

Community

Answer 35

The interactions of different species in the same area.

Question 36

Directional selection

Answer 36

A type of selection that favours one extreme phenotype and selects against all other phenotypes.

Question 37

Ecosystem

Answer 37

The interactions between living organisms and the environment in a given area.

Question 38

Niche

Answer 38

The position occupied by an organism in its ecosystem.

Question 39

Pioneer species

Answer 39

The first species to occupy a new area.

Question 40

Population

Answer 40

Members of the same species that occupy the same area.

Question 41

Primary succession

Answer 41

The colonisation of previously uninhabited land by a pioneer species

Question 42

Secondary succession

Answer 42

The re-colonisation of a habitat after a disturbance.

Question 43

Succession

Answer 43

A directional change in a community over time