Biology - Unit 2a - Classifying organisms and Biodiversity

Unit 2a - Classifying Organisms and Biodiversity

Two groups for animals

Vertebrates(have a backbone) - mammals.

Invertebrates(lack a backbone) - insects

Give 2 groups for plants

Flowering and non-flowering

What are morphological characteristic and what are they used for in classification?

internal and external features

Used to classify organisms in the five-kingdim classification system

List the 5 groups in Kingdom

Animals

Plants

Fungi

Bacteria

Single- celled organims with a nucleus

Name all taxa’s in the taxonomic hierarchy

Kingdom

Phylum

Class

Order

Family

Genus

Species

What are the subdivided groups from the kingdoms collectively called?

A Taxonomic Hierarchy

How does having a systematic approach to classification help scientists?

• better understanding of species and relationship between them

• Easier to no confusion between language barriers

How else can Organisms be classified?

Using DNA analysis - looking for similarities in DNA

Name the two types of Adaptations

Morphological

Behavioural

What does interspecific mean?

An organism competing againt a differnt species

What does intraspecific mean?

Organims competing against their own species

What are the 3 factors affecting population size?

Pollutants - (pesticides build up through bioaccumulation, excess fertilisers, air pollution)

Number of predators

Diseases

What is biodiversity?

Variety of different species and quantity of species in an area.

What are the 4 ways Biodiversity benefits humans?

Future Medicine, Industrial materials. Food, Well-being

What are the 4 ways Biodiversity and Endagered species can be protected?

Seed/sperm banks, Captive breeding programmes, National parks, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species(CITES)hatW

Whats a negative to protecting biodiversity?

National parks prevent farms from expanding and being able to make a profit while keeping up with inflation - leading them to increase their prices

Advantage of Biodiveristy for plants and animals?

If the enviroment were to change, there would be a bigger chance of survival

What does abundance mean?

Amount of species in a given area

What does distrubution mean?

Where the species is in the habitat

How can you measure abundance (estimated)?

Using a quadrat - counting amount of specific species and in a random area in a random coordinate on quadratic grid. Finding a mean no. species per m2 then scaling up.

When measuring for abundance, why is it better to have larger sample sizes?

More likely to be representative of the whole population - valid results

How can you measure distribution?

Transects - mark a line with a tape measure then count the number of species along the line.

Give 2 examples of enviromental factors you can measure for using a transect

• Light intensity. - light meter

• Soil pH - pH probe

How can you measure for animal population size?

Capture and Recapture - capture a group of species and mark them, then release. Capture another group of the species and see how many of the ones you marked were in the second sample. Then use the population size formula.

Give 2 assumption we make when using Capture and Recapture

• There were no death or births

• The markings havent affected chance of survival (making more visible to predators or are toxic)

What’s an alternative to Pesticides?

Biological Control - using biological control agents to reduce number of pests (organisms that negatively effects the enviroment)

What is a pest? Give one example

Any living thing that has a negative effect on humans. E.g. Aphids are pest because they eat roses and vegetables

Give 2 reasons biological control is a better alternative to pesticides?

• No chemicals - less pollution

• Lower bioaccumulation

Give 2 ways biological control agents can become invasive

• Invasive species can grow faster than native species which can mean it takes over an area and prevent other plants from growing.

• Invasive species can out-compete native species for food and shelter

Why is a biological control agent researched before being put out?

See the effect of biological control agents on non-targeted native species