Animals & Planta: L3 NCEA Bio

Klinokinesis

Orientation response where the intensity of the stimulus determines the rate of turning.

Circalunar

Endogenous rhythm with a period of about 29 days.

Ovulation

Cyclical production of one or more ova (eggs).

Dominance

Aggressive behaviour by a dominant individual towards another, who is lower in the hierarchy.

Precocial

Born well developed and ready to move independently. For example, a zebra.

Geomagnetic compass

Used by animals when star or sun compasses cannot be used. Usually due to magnetite in the head, it allows them to follow the magnetic field of the Earth. For example, whales, birds, and arthropods use this method of direction finding.

Zeitgeber

An environmental cue used to reset a biological clock. (Literal translation = "Time-giver".)

Learned behaviour

Behaviour that involves other individuals in the population teaching it. For example, chimpanzees learn to use tools from their parents.

Circannual

Endogenous rhythm with a period of about 365 days.

Pair bond

A stable sexual relationship between individuals of the opposite sex that ensures co-operative in mating and rearing of offspring.

Dominant individual

The one in a group with favourable access to food and mates. Has a better chance of passing on their alleles to offspring.

Predation

One organism kills and eats another organism.

Geotropism

Growth response in plants towards or away from the stimulus of gravity.

Abscisic acid

A plant hormone that causes leaf fall and maintains dormancy in plants.

Lek

Courtship area for males to call females. For example, kākāpō.

Circa semilunar

Endogenous rhythm with a period of the spring tide cycle of about 14.7 days.

Parasitism

A relationship between two different species of organisms where one organism benefits while the other is harmed, but not usually killed. For example, dogs and fleas. (+-)

Dormancy

A period of inactivity to survive adverse conditions, by lowering the metabolic rate. For example, hibernation in bears.

r-strategy

Mating strategy where the species produces lots of offspring but has very little parental care for them. Few offspring survive.

Habitat

Where an organism lives.

Active Period

Time from the start of activity until the activity begins again in a new cycle.

Linear /dominance Hierarchy.

Each individual in a group is ranked from most dominant to most submissive in status. For example, Pūkeko or hens who have a pecking order.

Circa tidal

Endogenous rhythm with a period of about 12.5 hrs.

Parental care

Parents invest energy in feeding, protecting, and teaching offspring to ensure their survival.

Ecological niche

The role an organism holds in a habitat.

Ritual aggression

No harm comes to individuals who engage in this activity, yet a clear winner and loser emerge, reducing harm and saving energy.

Herbivory

An exploitative relationship where an animal eats plants.

Agonistic behaviour

Aggression specifically between members of the same species so is usually more intense due to the same niche requirements.

Long Day Plants (LDP)

Plants that flower when the night is shorter than a critical value. For example, irises.

Clinostat

A device that rotates objects (like plants or cells) around a horizontal axis to simulate a microgravity or weightless environment.

Phase-shift

Process where the onset of activity of free running period is advanced or slows by introduction of a zeitgeber.

Ecosystem

Interactions between all the living organisms and their abiotic and biotic environment, in a defined area.

Supra-chiasmatic nuclei (SCN)

Situated in the hypothalamus. The site of the biological clock in mammals.

Hierarchy

An order of dominance in a group that saves energy by reducing conflict within the group.

Allelopathy

Plants reduce competition by releasing toxic chemicals that kill competitors. For example, walnut trees.

Marking territory

Behaviours used to show the boundary of, and hold an individual's territory. For example, scenting, song and spraying faeces or urine.

Colonies

Where many individuals cooperate to act like a single organism to raise young. For example, termites.

Phenotype

How a gene is expressed as a protein/characteristic/trait.

Endogenous rhythm

A rhythm recurring at regular intervals controlled by a biological clock and entrained by a zeitgeber.

Short-day plants (SDP)

Plants that flower when the night is longer than a critical value. For example, chrysanthemum.

Home range

An undefended area travelled by organisms in daily foraging, may overlap with the home range of other members of the same species.

Altricial young

Born helpless, so need parental care. For example, puppies or birds are born without sight.

Mating

The process of a male delivering sperm to a female for internal fertilisation during sexual reproduction.

Commensalism

An interspecific relationship where one organism benefits and the other is unaffected. For example, shark and remora. (+0)

Pheromones

Hormones (usually with a strong smell) produced by organisms and released into the environment to attract a mate.

Entrainment

The synchronization of an activity pattern to a zeitgeber so that both have the same period.

Solar navigation

Organisms use the angle of the sun to maintain a course during migration. Usually requires a biological clock to compensate for the movement of the sun as the Earth turns.

Homing

The ability to return to a home site after a journey. For example, bees foraging.

Altruism

Where an individual will help another with no apparent gain to itself. Rare in nature. For example, dolphins help a drowning man to the surface.

Melatonin

Hormone produced by the pineal gland and sent to the SCN to maintain the wake/sleep cycle.

Communal breeders

Where groups of individuals mate, nest and rear young cooperatively. For example, pukeko.

Photoperiod

Length of the light phase in a cycle.

Environment

The biotic and abiotic factors in the habitat of an organism.

Species

A group of organisms that can breed with each other and produce fertile offspring.

Hormones

Biochemicals produced by an organism to control the timing of some life processes.

Actogram

Activity record of an organism's rhythmic behaviour.

Migration

Annual seasonal mass movement of a population from breeding to feeding grounds and return.

Competition

A relationship between two organisms (can be of the same species or different species), where both are trying to benefit from a scarce resource.

Photoperiodism

How a plant responds (with respect to flowering) to the relative amount of light (photoperiod) compared to dark.

Environmental cues

A stimulus in the environment that triggers a change in behaviour or physiology.

Star/stellar navigation

Using the predictable movement of the stars across the sky at night to maintain course and navigate during migration.

Indole-acetic acid (IAA)

An auxin made in the root and shoot tips, responsible for cell elongation in the plant stem.

Amensalism

One organism is unaffected, whilst the other is harmed. For example, an elephant accidentally stands on a mouse.

Monogamy

One partner during courtship and breeding. For example, the little blue penguin.

Co-operative defence

A behaviour where animals combine as a group to defend against predators. For example, American bison form a group around young when cornered by wolves.

Phototropism

Directional growth movements in plants towards (positive) or away (negative) from the stimulus light.

Etiolation

Rapid growth in plant stems in response to low light, caused by gibberellins, a plant hormone.

Status

An individual's place in a group or hierarchy. For example, alpha.

Innate behaviour

Behaviour that is genetic and inherited from parents.

Antibiosis

One organism is harmed and one benefits. Fungi kill one next to it with excretion. An antagonistic interaction between organisms where one organism produces substances that inhibit the growth or activity of another.

Mullerian mimicry

Where two or more species of a specific colouration are toxic and therefore gain benefit by predators learning to avoid them.

Courtship/mating rituals

A ritualised behavioural adaptation before mating that is specific to different species to attract a mate and potentially maintain the pair bond.

Physiological adaptation

A biochemical trait/phenotype that allows an organism to better survive in its environment.

Exogenous

A rhythm dependent on external stimuli. For example, cacti only flower when it rains.

Stimulus

An environmental change to which an organism can respond.

Infanticide

The killing of offspring. For example, a member of a group will kill all offspring belonging to a rival as they take over the alpha position. For example, wolves and lions. Or, for example, a mother rabbit kills her offspring if conditions are not suitable for survival.

Appeasement

Behaviour used to calm a dominant individual. For example, grooming in apes.

Mutualism

A relationship between two different species of organisms where both benefit. For example, clown fish and anemone.

Crepuscular

The activity pattern of an organism where it is most active at dawn and/or dusk. For example, pekapeka flight.

Phytochrome

Leaf pigment used by plants to measure the length of the night. Exists in two interconvertible forms - P fr and P r .

Exploitation

An interspecific relationship where one organism benefits while another is negatively affected.

Structural adaptation

A physical trait/phenotype that allows an organism to better survive in its environment.

Interspecific behaviour

Behaviour between members of different species. For example, predation, competition, etc.

Batesian mimicry

Members of one species copy a the markings of another toxic species to gain protection from predation. For example, Viceroy butterfly caterpillars copy the colour markings of toxic monarch caterpillars.

Nastic

Non-directional plant response to the intensity of a stimulus.

Cue

An external signal (light, sound, vibration, etc.) used to start activity.

Pineal gland

The site of the biological clock in birds and the gland that makes melatonin in mammals (important in the sleep/ wake cycle). Suppressed by bright light.

Fecundity

How fertile an individual or species is.

Subordinate

How about: An individual of lower status in a hierarchy. Less likely to mate and pass on alleles.

Intraspecific behaviour

Behaviour occurring within a species. For example, courtship.

Behavioural adaptation

A way of responding to the environment that is specific to a species of organisms that allows the organism to better survive in its environment.

Navigation

The methods that different organisms use to find their way. Can be solar, stellar, magnetic, ocean currents or landmarks.

Day-neutral plants

Plants that flower at any time of year, irrespective of the day length (or night). For example, dandelions.

Polyandry

One female with many male partners. For example, emu.

Florigen

Flowering hormone.

Taxes

Movement of the whole organism towards or away from a directional stimulus. For example, negative phototaxis of maggots away from light.

K-strategy

Reproductive strategy where the parents produce few young but invest a lot of energy in parental care. Most young survive.

Biological clock

Internal timing mechanism controlling the onset of an organism's activity.

Nocturnal

An activity pattern with the period of activity mostly in the dark. Kiwi.

Den

An enclosed space used for birthing, raising young, and other life processes.