Unit 2.1 - Classification and Biodiversity

Question 1

What are the five kingdoms?

Answer 1

Plants, Animals, Fungi, Single Celled Organisms (Protoctists), Bacteria

Question 2

Why do scientists need to classify organisms?

Answer 2

It makes it easier to identify new organisms and for scientists to communicate with each other.

Question 3

Why are scientific names used rather than common names?

Answer 3

This creates a universal language for scientists to communicate with each other, and it avoids the confusion and duplication caused by the use of common or local names.

Question 4

How does the binomial system make an organism’s scientific name?

Answer 4

The name is made from the organism’s genus and species (e.g. Homo sapiens)

Question 5

What two main types of adaptation are there?

Answer 5

Morphological and behavioral

Question 6

Describe the difference between morphological and behavioral adaptation

Answer 6

Morphological - changes to organism’s structure or physical features (e.g. leg length, camouflage)
Behavioral - way an organism behaves, acts or reacts to its environment (e.g. nocturnal, diet, etc.)

Question 7

6 ways of maintaining biodiversity

Answer 7

CITES (Legislation)
SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest)
Captive Breeding Programs
Local Biodiversity Action Plans
Seed/sperm Banks
National Parks

Question 8

What are the two types of competition?

Answer 8

Intraspecific - within a species

Interspecific - between different species

Question 9

What do organisms compete over?

Answer 9

Animals - Food, mates, territory
Plants - Light, space
Both - Water, Minerals

Question 10

What factors limit population size?

Answer 10

Competition over resources, predation, disease and pollution

Question 11

Define the term ‘biodiversity’

Answer 11

The number of/variety of species in an area, or the number of individuals within those species.

Question 12

Why is it important to maintain biodiversity?

Answer 12

Biodiversity creates stable environments which are resistant to a drop in a particular food source; more chance of finding new drugs/medicines; good for human well-being and for scientific interest; provides more building materials.

Question 13

What are the difficulties with legislating to protect biodiversity?

Answer 13

The real world is varied and it is difficult to create legislation that covers all situations fairly.

Question 14

What are the principles of sampling (how must it be done to be effective)?

Answer 14

Sample size must be large enough to be representative of the area being sampled; samples must be random to avoid researcher bias; method of sampling must not affect the results.

Question 15

What methods are used for random sampling, systematic sampling and sampling animals?

Answer 15

Random - quadrats; systematic - transects; animals - capture/recapture

Question 16

What are the principles of capture-recapture sampling of animals?

Answer 16

There must be no death, no large-scale migration and the marking technique must not affect the chance of recapture

Question 17

Define the term ‘native species’

Answer 17

A species which exists naturally in an area and has not been introduced from elsewhere by humans

Question 18

What is an alien species?

Answer 18

A species which has been introduced into an ecosystem and whose numbers grow faster than those of native species, upsetting the ecological balance, or whose numbers grow out of control.

Question 19

What is biological control?

Answer 19

When a non-native species is deliberately introduced to an area to control/prey on a local pest species.

Question 20

What problems can occur as a result of biological control?

Answer 20

The new species may carry diseases to which it has resistance but local species do not; it may prey on local species other than the target; it may have no natural predators and so its population may grow out of control; it may out-compete native species for resources, decreasing biodiversity.