Unit 3 Flashcards
what is biodiversity?
measure of species and ecosystem health
What is species richness?
Relative species abundance
what is predation?
One organism consumers another for food
what is competition?
2 or more organisms need the same resources
what is commensalism?
one organisms benefit but the other is not affected by the relationship
What is mutualism?
both organisms gain from the relationship
what is parasitism?
one organisms will suffer while the other benefits
what is abiotic factors?
limit ecosystems climate, substrate, pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, light
what is environmental factors?
limit the distribution and abundance of species in an ecosystem
what is classification?
Hierarchical system based on different level of similarity of physical features, methods of reproduction and molecular sequences
what is Linnaean?
similarity of physical features
what is K selection?
produce few offsprings to increase survival
what is r selection?
produce many offspring knowing that most will die
what is cladistics?
molecular phylogeny used for comparison
what is clade?
a group of organisms that consists of a common ancestor
what is interspecific hybrid?
infertile offspring from 2 species that are similar
define disease
relationship where the parasite causes the host to get sick
what is microhabitat?
tiniest place an organism can live
what is niche?
preferred place organism wants to live
what is ecosystem naming?
by the dominant plants that inhabit the region
what is stratified sampling?
estimating populations, density, distribution using a set method
what is a quadrant?
set area that is used to count species
what is transect?
a line within an area that is used to determine where samples are taken
what is biomass?
the mass of organic material in an ecosystem
what is carbon cycle?
the movement of carbon from atmosphere to ocean to earth and back again
what is a food chain?
a sequence of food transfers from producers through several levels of consumers in an ecosystem
what is a food web?
a network of interconnected food chains
what is a food pyramid?
tropic levels of consumers with autotrophs on the bottom that show the gradual reduction in number of organisms
what is radiation?
the emission of heat to the environment
what is reflection?
heat that is reflected back onto the environment
what is absorption?
heat that is absorbed from the environment
what is energy transfer?
the transfer of energy thought the components of the ecosystem
what is trophic level?
level within a food web
what is productivity?
the rate that energy is added to the bodies of organisms in the form of biomass
what is ecological niche?
the role and position a species has in its environment and is affected by abiotic and biotic factors
what is a keystone species?
a species that is not usually abundant in a community
what is carrying capacity?
the number of individuals that an environment can sustain
what is limiting factors?
environmental factors that restrict population growth
what is natality?
birth rate
what is mortality?
Death rate
what is immigration
new organisms moving into an area
what is emigration?
organisms leaving an area
what is the Lincoln index
used to estimate the size of closed populations marked recapture method
what is j curve?
population growth of a new species with unchecked growth
what is s curve?
population growth of a species where the population is checked by environmental factors to stabilise
what is logistic growth?
population growth with no restrictions
what is population limiting factors?
anything that constrains a populations size or strops it from growing
what is ecological succession?
the process of biological community change resulting from disturbance, transition in the species, composition of a biological community usually following a catastrophic event
what is pioneer communities?
the first species into an area following a catastrophic event
what is climax communities?
The final stage of biotic succession attainable by a plant community in a stable environment
what is primary succession?
plants and animals first colonise a barren, lifeless habitat
what is secondary succession?
an area that was previously occupied by living things is disturbed, the re-colonized following the disturbance
what is nitrogen fixation?
the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen N2 into nitrogen compounds that plants can absorb and use
what is tolerance?
an organisms capacity to survive variation in environmental conditions
what is germination?
process where an organism grows from a seed or a spore
what is temporal succession?
habitat lifespan relative to the generation time of the organism
what is spatial succession?
the distance between habitat patches relative to the dispersal distance of the organism
what is DNA?
Deoxyribonucleic Acid-genetic material that organisms inherit from their parents
what are chromosomes?
gene carrying structure found in the nucleus
what is histones?
protein found in chromosomes that bind to DNA to give chromosomes their shape
what is cytosol?
intracellular fluid
what is mitochondria?
site of respiration within the cell organelle
what is complementary base pairing?
Chargaff’s rule-DNA base pairs the same every time A-T and C-G
what is nucleotide?
molecule that holds DNA and RNA together made up of phosphate group, 5 carbon sugar and nitrogenous base
what is helicase?
enzyme that unzips DNA
what is DNA polymerase?
responsible for synthesising DNA
