Chapter 18 - Classification, Biodiversity, and Conservation

taxonomy

the study and practice of naming and classifying species and groups of species within the hierarchical classification scheme

taxonomic rank

one of the groups used in the hierarchical classification system for organisms. eg. species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, and domain

hierarchical classification

the arrangement of organisms into groups of different ranks. The lowest rank is the species; similar species are grouped together into the next rank, which is the genus; this continues to the highest rank, which is the domain where many species are grouped together

biological species

a group of organisms with similar morphology and physiology, which can breed together to produce fertile offspring and are reproductively isolated from other species

morphological species

a group of organisms that share many physical features that distinguish them from other species

ecological species

a population of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time

population

all of the organisms of the same species present in the same place and at the same time that can interbreed with one another

taxa (singular: taxon)

a taxonomic group of any rank, such as a particular species

biological classification

the organisation of living and extinct organisms into systematic groups based on similarities and differences between species

Bacteria

the domain that contains all prokaryotic organisms except those classified as Archaea

Archaea

the domain of prokaryotic organisms that resemble bacteria but share some features with eukaryotes

Eukarya

the domain that contains all eukaryotic organisms: protoctists, fungi, plants, and animals

Protoctista

kingdom of eukaryotic organisms which are single-celled or made up of a group of similar cells

Protoctist

a member of the Protoctista kingdom

→ any eukaryote that is not a fungus, plant or animal

Fungi

kingdom of eukaryotic organisms which do not photosynthesise and have cell walls but without cellulose

Plantae

kingdom of eukaryotic organisms which are multicellular, have cell walls that contain cellulose and can photosynthesise

Animalia

kingdom of eukaryotic organisms which are multicellular and heterotrophic and have a nervous system

ecosystem

a relatively self-contained, interacting community of organisms, and the environment in which they live in and interact

niche

the role of an organism in an ecosystem

genetic diversity

all the alleles of all the genes in the genome of a species

biodiversity

the variety of ecosystems and species in an area and the genetic diversity within each species

endemic

of species, a species that is only found in a certain area and nowhere else

habitat

the place where an organism, a population or a community lives

species diversity

all the species in an ecosystem

random sampling

method of investigating the abundance and/or distribution of population which is determined by chance and shows no bias on the part of the person carrying out the sampling

systematic sampling

a non-random method of investigating the abundance and/or distribution of populations in which the position of sampling points are determined by the person carrying out the sampling (eg. at every 2m along a transect)

quadrat

a square frame which is used to mark out an area for sampling populations of organisms

transect

a line marked by a tape measure along which samples are taken, either by noting the species at equal distances (line transect) or placing quadrats at regular intervals (belt transects)

mark-release-recapture method

a method of estimating the numbers of individuals in a population of mobile animals

Simpson’s index of diversity (D)

used to calculate the biodiversity of a habitat; the range of values is 0 (low biodiversity) to 1 (high-biodiversity)

Pearson’s linear correlation

a statistical test used to determine if there is a linear correlation between two variables that are normally distributed

Spearman’s rank correlation

a statistical test used to determine if there is a correlation between two variables when one or both of them are not normally distributed

assisted reproduction

any technique that is involved in treating infertility or protecting a female mammal of an endangered species from the health risks of pregnancy

artificial insemination (AI)

injection of semen collected from a male into the uterus

embryo transfer

embryos are removed from the uterus of a female mammal of an endangered species shortly after fertilisation and transferred to surrogate mothers to bring to full term

surrogate

a female becomes pregnant with an embryo from another female and carries it to full term; embryos can be conceived naturally, by AI or by IVF

in vitro fertilisation (IVF)

the fertilisation of an egg that occurs outside the body of a female (eg. in a Petri dish)

frozen zoo

a facility where genetic materials taken from animals are stored at very low temperatures (-196 degrees celsius); sperm, eggs, embryos, and tissue samples are examples of these genetic materials

seed bank

facility where seeds are dried and kept in cold storage to conserve plant biodiversity