IH Biology -- 2nd Semester Vocab Review (Christine Ver.)

Aerobic respiration

Respiration that requires oxygen

Allele

One of two different forms of a gene that arise through mutation

Allele frequency

Number of times that an allele occurs in a gene pool compared with the number of alleles in that pool for the same gene

Antibodies

Specialized proteins that aid in destroying infectious agents

Auxins

Plant hormones; by elongating the plant

Biogeochemical cycles

any of the natural pathways by which essential elements of living matter are circulated

Biomagnification

accumulation of pollutants at successive levels of the food chain

Biomes

a broad, regional type of ecosystem characterized by distinctive climate and soil conditions and a distinctive kind of biological community adapted to those conditions.

Blood Types

A, B, AB and O. Type O is the universal donor and AB blood is known as the universal recipient.

Bottleneck effect

a reduction in the genetic diversity of a population caused by a reduction in its size

Carbon Cycle

the movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back (reusing carbon atoms) also helps sustain earth

Carrying capacity

Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support

Cellular Respiration

Process that releases energy by breaking down glucose and other food molecules in the presence of oxygen

Characteristics of Kingdoms (and prokaryotes vs eukaryotes)

Prokaryotic organisms are always unicellular and may be bacteria or archaea.

Eukaryotic organisms, however, may be unicellular or multicellular and include plants, animals, fungi, and protists.

Cladograms

a branching diagram showing the cladistic relationship between a number of species.

Classification

The process of grouping things based on their similarities/ characteristics

Coloration

the general appearance of an organism as determined by the quality and quantity of light that is reflected or emitted from its surfaces.

Commensalism

A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected

Competition

the struggle between organisms to survive in a habitat with limited resources

Cycle of Interdependence

The products of photosynthesis are the reactants of cellular respiration

Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection

\-Organisms produce more offspring than are able to survive in their environment.

\-Those that are better physically equipped to survive, grow to maturity, and reproduce.

Dead zones

In a body of water, an area with extremely low oxygen concentration and very little life

Dihybrid Crosses

crosses that examine the inheritance of two different traits

directional selection

occurs when individuals with traits on one side of the mean in their population survive better or reproduce more than those on the other

disruptive selection

occurring in a population where extreme traits are favored over intermediate traits.

Dominant

Describes a trait that covers over, or dominates, another form of that trait.

Emigration

the act of leaving one's own country to settle permanently in another; moving abroad.

Energy Flow

the flow of energy from an ecosystem to an organism and from one organism to another

Enzyme

A type of protein that speeds up a chemical reaction in a living thing

Epidemic

A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease.

Ethylene

The only gaseous plant hormone. Among its many effects are response to mechanical stress, programmed cell death, leaf abscission, and fruit ripening.

Exponential growth

growth whose rate becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number or size.

Extinction

the dying out of a species

Facilitated diffusion

Movement of specific molecules across cell membranes through protein channels

Finch speciation

beaks; how their beaks start evolving

Food chains

Energy links between different organisms in an ecosystem based on feeding habits.

Food webs

the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem

Fossils' relative age

based on the location where a given fossil occurs in a layered sequence of sedimentary rocks. fossils buried in the lower layers are older than those encased in the upper strata, which were formed by more recent deposits.

Founder effect

the reduced genetic diversity that results when a population is descended from a small number of colonizing ancestors.

Gene flow

movement of alleles from one population to another (in or out)

Genetic drift

A change in the allele frequency of a population as a result of chance events rather than natural selection.

Genotype

genetic makeup of an organism

Gibberellins

A class of related plant hormones that stimulate growth and germination of seeds and breaking of bud dormancy, and stimulate fruit development.

Gradualism vs. Punctuated Equilibrium

Gradualism is the idea that organisms change gradually and steadily over time.

Punctuated equilibrium is equilibrium that is interrupted by brief periods of more rapid change

gravitropism

A growth response to gravity

Helper T Cells

Activate macrophages, B cells and T cells.

Herbicides

Chemicals that kill plants- used for control

HIV/AIDS

the virus that causes AIDS, spread through bodily fluids rather than casual contact or airborne HIV --\> AIDS

Homologous structures

Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry.

Horse evolution

major trends: longer legs reduction in number of toes (3 toes on fore-limbs and 4 toes on hind legs), development of complex and high-crowned teeth, and stronger jaw bones in order to graze in the grasslands

Immigration

the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country.

Immune Response

The body's defensive reaction to invasion by bacteria, viral agents, or other foreign substances.

Inbreeding

A selective breeding method in which two individuals with identical or similar sets of alleles are crossed.

Insecticide

substance that kills insects

Lactic acid

product of fermentation in many types of cells, including human muscle cells

Leaf adaptations

having a large surface area, and contain openings, called stomata to allow carbon dioxide into the leaf and oxygen out.

Life cycle

the series of changes in the life of an organism including reproduction.

Macrophages

Found within the lymph nodes, they are phagocytes that destroy bacteria, cancer cells, and other foreign matter in the lymphatic stream.

Mechanisms of evolution

mutation, gene flow, genetic drift, natural selection

Memory B cells

Like memory T cells, remain in reserve to respond to next infection

Multiple alleles

three or more forms of a gene that code for a single trait

Mutation

a random error in gene replication that leads to a change

Mutualism

A relationship between two species in which both species benefit

Natural selection

A natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment.

Nitrogen Cycle

The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere

Nitrogen fixing

because atmospheric N cannot be used directly by plants, it must first be converted into ammonia by bacteria.

nitrogen-fixing bacteria

bacteria that can use nitrogen in soil to make nitrogen compounds

Nutrients in soil

nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium

Parasitism

A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed

Parts of a flower

stigma, style, ovary, sepal, stem, anther, filament

Pathogen

A disease causing agent

Pedigrees

a chart that shows a trait in a family and how it is inherited

Pesticide Resistance

a trait possessed by certain organisms that are exposed to a pesticide and survive

Phenotype

An organism's physical appearance, or visible traits.

Phloem

Living vascular tissue that carries sugar and organic substances throughout a plant

Photosynthesis

Conversion of light energy from the sun into chemical energy.

Phototropism

A growth response to light

Plant and animal adaptations

Adaptations are special features that allow a plant or animal to live in a particular place or habitat. These adaptations might make it very difficult for the plant to survive in a different place. This explains why certain plants are found in one area, but not in another.

Plant hormones

substances that act as chemical messengers within plants

Pollution

Release of harmful materials into the environment

Predation

An interaction in which one organism kills another for food.

Primary immune response

the initial immune response to an antigen, which appears after a lag of several days (takes up to 14 days to resolve)

Primitive

simple, ancient

Recessive

An allele that is masked when a dominant allele is present

Rock layers

layers of rock that are built up over a period of time

Secondary immune response

Immune response after the body has already been exposed to a specific antigen. Response is faster, of greater magnitude, and more prolonged.

Seed adaptations

* fertilization in cones and flowers
* pollination in wind
* protective seed coats
* seed hooking on animals/animal feces

Selection pressure

the environmental factors that favour certain phenotypes

Sex-linked alleles

present on only one of the sex chromosomes usually the x-chromosome of females

Speciation

Formation of new species

Species

A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.

stabilizing selection

Natural selection that favors intermediate variants by acting against extreme phenotypes

Symbiosis

relationship in which two species live closely together

Taxonomy

The scientific study of how living things are classified

Tectonic shifts

plate movement at or near boundaries creates variation in the stratigraphic record by colliding into one another (convergent), moving away from one another (divergent), or moving along sideways to one another (transform)

Tetrapods

animals with four limbs

thigmotropism

A growth response to touch

Trophic levels

levels of nourishment in a food chain

Vascular tissue

Plant tissue consisting of cells joined into tubes that transport water and nutrients throughout the plant body. Phloem and Xylem.