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z Biol 011 > Unit 5: Taxonomy, Ecology, and Diversity > Flashcards

Unit 5: Taxonomy, Ecology, and Diversity Flashcards

1
Q

What is mutualism?

A

Mutualism is a species interaction in which each species benefits by associating with the other.

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2
Q

What is obligate mutualism?

A

It means that the two species literally need each other, e.g. milkweeds and monarchs

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3
Q

What is mutual protection?

A

When the two species use each other for protection, e.g. the clown fish and anemone

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4
Q

What are competitive interactions?

A

Essentially, resource wars.

Since resources are scarce and limited, there is major competition for them.

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5
Q

In competitive interactions, which species wins?

A

No one, really; they are both “hurt” by the depletion of resources.

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6
Q

Which is usually more intense: inter-species or same-species competitive interactions?

A

Same-species

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7
Q

What is an ecological niche?

A

The environmental conditions under which an organism can survive and thrive.

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8
Q

What can we say about similar species and niches?

A

The more similar the niches of two species, the more intense the competition

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9
Q

What is resource partitioning?

A

The evolutionary process by which species adapt to share resources in a way that limits competition.

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10
Q

What is predation?

A

An species interaction in which one species (predator) captures, kills, and eats another species (prey).

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11
Q

What are the main three kinds of physical adaptations for prey that help with protection?

A

Warning coloration, mimicry, and camouflage.

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12
Q

What is herbivory?

A

When an animal feeds on plants

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13
Q

What two defences do plants have against herbivores?

A
  • Tolerance + quick regrowth

- Physical or chemical deterrents

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14
Q

What is parasitism?

A

When one species (parasite) benefits by feeding on another (host), without immediately killing it

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15
Q

What do we call it when one egg-laying species benefits by having another raise its offspring?

A

Brood parasitism

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16
Q

What is brood parasitism?

A

When one egg-laying species benefits by having another raise its offspring, e.g. cuckoos or cowbirds

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17
Q

What are parasitoids?

A

Insects that lay eggs inside other insects

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18
Q

What is ecological succession?

A

A process in which one array of species replaces another

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19
Q

What is primary succession?

A

When NOTHING was there, e.g. new volcanic land or glaciers receding

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20
Q

What is a pioneer species?

A

The first species to appear in a primary succession, usually lichen or mosses

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21
Q

What do pioneer species do?

A

They are opportunistic colonizers that help to build and improve soils

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22
Q

What is a secondary succession?

A

When one array replaces another in a disturbed region, e.g. the OK Mtn Park fire

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23
Q

Who developed the taxonomic categories?

A

Carl Linnaeus

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24
Q

Our system of naming uses two names–what’s that called?

A

Binomial nomenclature

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25
Q

How are taxonomic names written?

A

A capitalized Genus, followed by a species epithet.

e.g. Ursus americanus

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26
Q

What is taxonomy?

A

The science of classification

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27
Q

What does classification mean?

A

Putting things in groups

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28
Q

What traits is our current system of taxonomy based on?

A

Morphological

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29
Q

What are morphological traits?

A

Physical and structural traits

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30
Q

What is the principle that Linnaeus’s system was based on?

A

It assumed that “more in common” meant “more closely related”

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31
Q

What is currently happening with the taxonomic system?

A

Many taxons are being reevaluated because modern DNA analyses are showing us that the original assumptions are, in fact, incorrect.
(think mammals vs. marsupials)

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32
Q

Where and when was Linnaeus?

A

Sweden, 1707-1778

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33
Q

Why are taxonomic names in Latin?

A

It’s a dead, unchanging language that scientists are already familiar with

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34
Q

Every organism has a unique _____ name.

A

Every organism has a unique species name.

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35
Q

How many known, living, and named species are there on Earth?

A

2 - 4.5 million

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36
Q

How many estimated species are there on Earth?

A

10 - 100 million

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37
Q

How many species is it estimated that we lose a year?

A

50 000

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38
Q

How is a species defined?

A

Organisms with similar characteristics that produce fertile offspring

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39
Q

A species is what?

A

The basic unit of biological classification.

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40
Q

What is the problem with our current definition of a species?

A

We run into problems with unicellulars that reproduce asexually.

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41
Q

What is a dichotomous key?

A

A key for the identification of organisms

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42
Q

What are the three domains?

A

Archaea, Eubacteria, Eukarya

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43
Q

What are the five kingdoms?

A

Monera, plantae, fungi, protista, animalia

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44
Q

How do lichens work as a pioneer species?

A

They literally create soil.

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45
Q

How do lichens create soil?

A

The lichen breaks down the rocks, producing organic materials; other stuff blows in, and soil is formed.

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46
Q

What are lichens?

A

A mutual relationship between fungi and algae/cynobacteria

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47
Q

What symbiotic interaction does lichen exemplify?

A

Obligate mutualism

48
Q

How does the fungus benefit in the lichen relationship?

A

The algae and cynobacteria do photosynthesis, aka make sugars

49
Q

How do the algae/cynobacteria benefit from the lichen relationship?

A

The fungi holds absorbs minerals from breaking down rocks; it also holds the water, because otherwise they would just dry up.

50
Q

Where does most of a fungus exist?

A

Underground

51
Q

What is the underground part of a fungus called?

A

The mycellium network

52
Q

What does the mycellium do?

A

They look for molecules to break down.

53
Q

Are fungi multi- or uni-cellular?

A

Mostly multi, but some uni (yeast)

54
Q

Where do fungi live?

A

In warm,dark, moist conditions rich in organic matter

55
Q

What is the point of fungi?

A

They are decomposers and can break down just about anything, i.e. wood, crops, plastic.

56
Q

What are the benefits of fungi?

A
  • They decompose and recycle nutrients
  • Mycorrhiza helps trees and other plants absorb water and nutrients from the soil
  • Lichens make soil
  • Food: mushrooms and blue cheese
  • Baking and brewing: yeast
  • Antibiotics: penicillin
57
Q

What are the negatives of fungi?

A
  • Fungal crop parasites spoil food
  • Mold damage to homes
  • Parasites on humans, e.g. athlete’s foot
58
Q

What is mycorrhiza?

A

It is a symbiotic relationship between fungi and the roots of vascular plants.

59
Q

What do fungi get from mycorrhiza?

A

They get sugars (carbohydrates/energy) from the plants

60
Q

What do plants get from mycorrhiza?

A

They gain nutrients and water from the soil

61
Q

What are hyphae?

A

They are the long, branching filaments in the fungi underground network

62
Q

What do hyphae do?

A

They search out and digest food

63
Q

What are hyphae called as a collective?

A

Mycelium

64
Q

How fast can hyphae grow?

A

Over 1 km/day

65
Q

Where do hyphae come from?

A

They grow from a single spore (mitosis)

66
Q

How do fungi do meiosis?

A

They hyphae become a fruiting body that then does haploid spore production

67
Q

How do fungi break down food?

A

Externally; they secrete digestive enzymes onto food, then absorb the resulting small food molecules

68
Q

What is a saprobe?

A

Mostly fungi and bacteria that obtain food from the decaying bodies of plants and animals

69
Q

Give two examples of fungal parasites.

A

Athlete’s foot and ring worm

70
Q

What phylum are club fungi?

A

Basidiomycota

71
Q

What are some common species of club fungi?

A

Mushrooms, shelf fungi

72
Q

What do club fungi do?

A

They decompose forest plants; they are the only fungus that can break down lignin (in plant stems)

73
Q

What are basidiospores?

A

They are released from a club-shaped spore-producing structure called basidia

74
Q

Describe the sexual phase of the fungal life cycle.

A 
1. Dikaryotic stage (n + n)
(fusion of nuclei)
2. Diploid (2n) zygote
(meiosis)
3. Spore-producing structure (n)
4. Spores (n)
5. Haploid (n) mycelium
(fusion of cytoplasm)

Back to #1!

75
Q

What are the four major events in the evolution of land plants?

A
  1. Zygote protection and waxy cuticle
  2. Vascular tissue
  3. Pollen grain and seed
  4. Fruits and flowers
76
Q

What are the two phases of a plant life cycle?

A

The diploid and haploid phases

77
Q

What is the biggest difference between plants and animals?

A

Animals don’t have a diploid growth phase

78
Q

Where are spores produced in fungi?

A

In the gills of the fruit

79
Q

Flowers: What are the man bits?

A

The stamen.
The stamen produce sperm-pollen (male gametophytes) through meiosis in the pollen sack, which then go on to insert themselves in the centre tube (stigma).

80
Q

Flowers: What are the lady bits?

A

The carpel.
The ovule lives inside the ovary at the base of the carpel; it undergoes meiosis, producing megaspores, which develop into a female gametophyte.

81
Q

What does the female gametophyte include in flowers?

A

An egg and six other cells, include a cell with two nuclei.

82
Q

What the hell is double fertilization?

A

One sperm fertilizes and egg to produce a zygote and another a diploid cell to create a triploid cell that develops into an endosperm; this makes a seed!

83
Q

What the nut is an endosperm?

A

A triploid (3n) tissue in the seed that acts as food for the embryo; that’s what it’s more successful in new environments.

84
Q

What plants are associated with the first major event in the evolution of land plants?

A

Bryophytes

85
Q

What plants are associated with the second major event in the evolution of land plants?

A

Seedless vascular plants

86
Q

What plants are associated with the third major event in the evolution of land plants?

A

Gymnosperms

87
Q

What does bryophyte literally mean?

A

moss-plant

88
Q

What does gymnosperm literally mean?

A

naked-seed

89
Q

What plants are associated with the fourth major event in the evolution of land plants?

A

Angiosperms

90
Q

What plants are bryophytes?

A

Mosses

91
Q

What are the characteristics of bryophytes?

A

Short, no true leaves and no real roots; only found in moist habitats

92
Q

Why doesn’t moss grow tall?

A
  • It has no way of transporting water up and down

- It would fall over (no vascular tissue)

93
Q

What stage is dominant in bryophytes?

A

Gametophyte

94
Q

Why do bryophytes need moist environments?

A

It can only sexually reproduce in water; the sperm must “swim” to the egg

95
Q

What plants are “seedless vascular plants”?

A

Ferns, horsetails, etc.

96
Q

What are the characteristics of seedless vascular plants?

A
  • has roots
  • grows to over 30 cm
  • stem walls show channels in cross-section
97
Q

What do seedless vascular plants have in common with bryophytes?

A

Still cannot reproduce in dry environments

98
Q

What kind of plants are gymnosperms?

A

Conifers

99
Q

What are the characteristics of gymnosperms?

A
  • Seeds!
  • Pollen grains travel through the air from male to female structures and gametes meet after arrival (never exposed to air)
  • Seed allows dispersal of protected embryo (increased survival rate of offspring)
100
Q

How are seeds dispersed with gymnosperms?

A

Wind, gravity, and a few birds and animals

101
Q

How is pollination achieved with gymnosperms?

A

Gravity and wind

102
Q

What does angiosperm literally mean?

A

vessel-seed

103
Q

What kind of plants are angiosperms?

A

Mapes, roses, dandelions, etc.

This is by FAR the most diverse group.

104
Q

What is the point of fruit?

A

A fruit covering protects seeds and attracts animals; animals eating fruits disperse seeds in the feces

105
Q

What is the point of flowers?

A

The colours and nectar attract insect and bird pollinators who carry pollen grains along as they travel from one flower to the next, effecting pollination

106
Q

Flower parts: What’s the peener/tube part called?

A

Carpel

107
Q

Flower parts: The thing that looks like a petal but isn’t

A

Sepal

108
Q

Flower parts: Hole at the top of the carple

A

Stigma

109
Q

Flower parts: Tube of the carpel

A

Style

110
Q

Flower parts: Tank of the carpel

A

Ovary

111
Q

Flower parts: Eggy bits

A

Ovule

112
Q

Flower parts: Stem of the stamen

A

Filament

113
Q

Flower parts: Pollen sack of the stamen

A

Anther

114
Q

What’s a sporophyte?

A

Diploid, spore-producing body in the life cycle of land plants and some algae

115
Q

Explain algae and sporophyte

A

Algae mostly have haploid gametophyte bodies (male and female different bodies), but then that little flowery-not-flower bit comes out, which is the diploid sporophyte part, and babies get made

116
Q

Explain the plant life-cycle.

A

Top and clockwise:

Diploid phase
1. Multicelled sporophyte

(undergoes meiosis on the left; dotted line)

Now in the haploid phase
2. Spores
(mitosis)
3. Multicelled gametophyte
(mitosis)
4. Gametes

(fertilization on the right; dotted line)

Diploid again
5. Zygote
(mitosis)

Multicelled sporophyte!

z Biol 011 (7 decks)

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