Evolution and Ecology Review

How are DNA/ RNA different?

• DNA has thymine/ RNA has uracil

• DNA has deoxyribose sugars with out oxygen/ RNA ribose sugar (with oxygen)

• DNA double helix/ RNA single stranded

• DNA codes for RNA/ RNA codes for proteins

What makes DNA & RNA similar?

• Both formed/ found in Nucleus

• Both made out of nucleotides

• In both G & C pair with one another

Whats the role of RNA in productive proteins?

RNA carries genetic information from DNA and translates it into amino acid sequences during protein synthesis.

How does RNA polymerase know when to start and stop making a strand of RNA?

RNA polymerase binds to specific promoter regions on the DNA to initiate transcription and recognizes terminator sequences to stop synthesis.

Codon

each codon corresponds to an amino acid

Transcription

copying the DNA code into mRNA

Evolution

a change in allele frequency with in a population over time.

Natural selection

the differential reproductive success of individuals, based on heritable traits that are favored by the environment.

Describe how natural selection affects genotypes by acting on phenotypes

Natural selection influences genotypes by favoring phenotypes that enhance survival and reproduction. As advantageous traits become more common in a population, the associated alleles also increase in frequency.

What makes an individual “fit”

is its ability to survive, reproduce, and pass on its genes to the next generation.

Mutation (Neutral, beneficial, or harmful)

It’s natural because some mutations don’t change the main acid sequence. Beneficial would make it a better-shaped protein/reproductive success

. Harmful would be if the sequence were to change

Evolution in why humans may have appendices in our bodies….

is a remnant of our herbivorous ancestors. It may have once played a role in digesting cellulose but has since become less significant in modern human physiology.

• Our ancestors had to eat bark and other things because our appendix used to be big.

List the levels of organization from species through the biosphere

Species, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Biome, Biosphere

Biotic

pertaining to living organisms, their interactions, and their effects on the environment.

Abiotic

pertaining to non-living physical and chemical elements in the environment, such as sunlight, water, and minerals.

What is the ultimate source of energy that powers all food chains and webs?

The Sun, which provides the necessary light energy for photosynthesis, is the ultimate source of energy for all food chains and webs.

Why is a food web a more accurate representation of the feeding relationships in an ecosystem than a food chain?

A food web is more accurate because it shows more connections (interconnected food chains), while a food chain only shows one connection.

Explain the 10% rule. Why isn’t more energy passed on to the next trophic level?

The 10% rule states that only about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is passed to the next level due to energy loss through metabolic processes, heat, and waste.

What are the different types of symbiotic relationships found in ecosystems? Provide a specific example of each kind of relationship.

Symbiotic relationships in ecosystems include mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.

For example, in mutualism, both species benefit, such as bees pollinating flowers; in commensalism, one species benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed, like barnacles on a whale; in parasitism, one species benefits at the expense of another, like ticks feeding on a host.

Farmers/gardeners will sometimes use fungicide to kill fungi growing on their plants. What do you think would happen if runoff carrying fungicide spread into a forest ecosystem?

The fungicide could adversely affect non-target fungal species, disrupting nutrient cycling and soil health. It may also harm the organisms dependent on these fungi, impacting the entire forest ecosystem.

Trophic Levels

producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, and tertiary consumer

Sexual Selection

the differential reproductive success of individuals, based on heritable traits that are favored by the (future) potential traits

Artificial selection

the differential reproductive success of individuals, based on heritable traits that are favored by humans.

6 mechanisms (Deterministic)

Natural selection, Artificial Selection, Sexual selection

6 mechanisms (stochastics)

Mutations, Founders effect, Genetic drift