Biology - Classification and biodiversity

What are the two groups that most familiar living things fall into?

Plants - flowering and non-flowering

Animals - vertebrates and invertebrates

Why do scientist classify living things into groups which have similar features and characteristics?

Easier to identify organisms,

Helps scientists communicate with eachother

What are the two types of adaptions?

Morphological - structural adaptations of the organism e.g colour of fur, leg length, petal shape

Behavioural - actions or behaviours that help organisms survive e.g time of day an animal is active, type of food an animal eats

What are some common types of adaptation?

Camouflage - Colouring to match their environment to hide from predators and threats

Climate - Thick fur to retain heat, thin fur to lose heat, large ears to lose heat, thick waxy cuticle on leaves to avoid water loss in dry environments, deep roots to reach water

Catching prey - long legs to have a longer stride and can run faster

What resources are needed by what organism and why?

Light - Plants to make food for energy, Some animals for illumination to see

Food - Animals for energy

Water - All living organisms for the chemical reactions to take place in the cells

Oxygen - All living organisms that respire aerobically, to break down food and release its energy

Carbon Dioxide - Plants for photosynthesis

Minerals - All living organisms, specific minerals are needed for particular chemical reactions that take place in the cell

What always takes place between members of the same species because they all require the same things?

Competition

It also occurs between different species with similar needs

It also puts a limit on the potential size of population although other factors are important e.g predation, disease, pollution

What is biodiversity?

The number of different species in a particular area. It also relates to the number of animals and plants of each species that there are. The ‘area; concerned is of no fixed size.

Why is biodiversity a good thing?

It leads to stable environments that can resist potentially harmful situations

Gains more interest from humans for both scientific and leisure purposes

Many important medicines have been developed from chemicals in plants. The more variety types of plants there are available, the more potential of extracting new drugs

How can you maintain biodiversity?

Breeding and release programmes,

Active conservation of habitats of threatened species,

Re-creation of habitats that have declined

Legislation to protect habitats or individual species

Controlling pollution or other factors that may be a threat to habitats or species

What are the three principles that must be followed when choosing a sample?

The sample must be big enough to be representative of the area as a whole

The sample must be random so that it is free of bias

The method of sampling must not affect the results e.g presence of human may frighten animals away from the sampling area

What is an alien species?

A species that is not normally found in a certain area, but has been introduced from a different area

What are some problems that alien species can cause?

May have no predators in the area and population may get out of control

May compete with with existing species, letting them die out

It could prey on existing species, reducing their number

It may carry a disease to which it has immunity, but the existing population does not

What are three advantages of biological control?

Specific to particular pest,

Once predator established, no need to re introduce

The pest doesn’t develop resistance to the predator

What are two disadvantages of biological control?

Feat between introducing the predator and a reduction in the pest

Doesn’t completely eradicate the pest, only brings number down to acceptable levels