BIOL10011 - Key Words

haploid

single set of chromosomes in an organism’s cell(s)

ecosystem collapse

• ecosystem collapse when loss of life and ecosystems disrupted

• IUCN assesses risk of ecosystem collapse using criteria that can be applied to any ecosystem

  • declining distribution

  • degradation of abiotic environment

  • quantitative risk a

nardoo hills nature reserve

• threat of reduced water, higher temperature and predation

• dieback of trees after drought, so seeds planted from another region where the species is more drought-tolerant —> climate-ready restoration

bittern and rice crop

• bringing water in early

• additional habitat

• less predators

community action and merri creek

• used to be a very biodiverse location but it was then overtaken by the city

• community action to help restore it

community action responses

1. development of strategic plans

2. Visiting specialists

3. Running advocacy campaigns in the local media

4. Used community people to describe what’s needed

5. Lobbied councillors and members of government

6. Visits to schools and informational talks

7. Written grant applications

genetic rescue

the process where inbred populations receive genes from another population such that their overall genetic diversity increases

per capita growth rate

how much the population is increasing or decreasing in proportion to the population itself

lowland rainforest of subtrorpical Australia

• flying foxes

• extensively cleared for agriculture and grazing

intrinsic growth rate (r)

the number of births minus the number of deaths per generation time—in other words, the reproduction rate less the death rate

geographical scales

• The bogong moth spends its larval stage in the plains of QLD and NSW and then adults migrate to the alpine zone (more than 1,000 km away)

• They’re an important food for mountain pygmy possums

Coevolution and antagonistic relationships between species

• Newts produce neurotoxin, which Garter snakes have evolved resistance to

• Resistance is higher in regions where newts are and lower in regions which don’t have newts due to coevolution forces

pottoroo, truffles and mycorrhizae

• potoroos feed on truffles so they are an important disperser of spores —> ecosystem engineers

• potoroos have a high extinction rate, along with other small Australian mammals.

  • this may have a problematic influence on mycorrhizae networks in ecosystems

succession at Wilson’s promontory

• Changes in vegetation over time

• Invasion of coastal tea-tree into the coastal grassy woodland

  • may have already been at climax, with the tea tree an invasive species

• now there’s increased management of fire and grazing to restore the woodland

vector transmitted parasites

• carried by other organisms between their hosts

• they are microparasites

• mosquitoes are the most common vectors

genetic rescue and the mountain pygmy possum

• possums found in 3 populations which are very genetically isolated

• captive breeding unsuccessful

• males from a nearby population at Mt Hotham released into the Mt Buller population

• population increased significantly after that

demography

the study of the birth and death rates of populations and how they change over time

parasitoids

insects which eventually kill their hosts

e.g. parasitoid wasps

• eggs grow and hatch in the host and eventually emerge from it

micropredators

attack several hosts, usually feeding on their blood

• leeches, mosquitoes, flies, fleas and ticks

• lampreys, vampire bats

ecosystem services of mountain ash forests

• world’s largest forest carbon store

• trees live a very long time ~350 years

• help provide clean drinking water

• Melbourne water supply at risk due to collapse of forests after logging

  • ecosystem collapse when loss of life and ecosystems disrupted —> moving toward acacia system which uses more water

• provide tree hollows for bird and possum species e.g. the greater glider

banksia woodlands of the swan coastal plain

• honey possum, honey eater, banksias, western ring tailed possum, moaning frog

• honey possum threatened by habitat loss so now there is a tree-planting effort

• threats of clearing, mining, fragmentation

living sea walls

• reduce the impact of storm surges

• protect coastal settlements and ecosystems

• provide ecological niches to enhance marine biodiversity

Baw Baw frog conservation

• affected by chytrid fungus

• conservation focuses on breeding programs

Victorian volcanic plain conservation

• striped legless lizards, growling grass frog

• species face threats including: urban development, invasive species (weeds), changed disturbance regimes

  • large housing developments reducing habitat

• assessment that 4,500 ha of grassland will be lost to housing, so new grassland reserves are being created to offset this loss

  • however this only represents a possible gain as the grassland reserves were never delivered and wetlands for growling grass frog habitat not built

effect of indigenous land burning

• reduced landscape fuel loads

• reduced vertical connectivity of fuels

• protection of fire sensitive ecosystems

• connection to country

tropical savannah and fire

• most fire-prone environment on earth

• either side of the equator

• prolonged dry seasons leads to high biomass buildup

  • lightning ignites huge, canopy-destroying fires

• burns in late dry season when fuel load is high and dry

  • long dry season and intense wet season (lots of growth)

• changing fire timing helps offset emissions

  • Indigenous helping to manage fire timing and approach —> restoration the health and wellbeing of the forest and Aboriginal people

insect mouthparts (5)

1. chewing — beetles

2. piercing — mosquitoes

3. carving — flies

4. siphoning — butterflies

5. sponging — flies

urban flooding and rain gardens

• if rain is directed directly into waterways this results in more pollutants and can end up in flash flooding when there is too much water

• creating rain gardens can help to capture water as more water is absorbed into the soil — this helps to reduce flooding

the extinction of experience

• loss of contact between people and nature

• loss of willingness of people to protect nature

—> hampers conservation efforts

eating large prey

dragonfish and dragonfly larvae

• hinged mouthparts, able to open mouth very wide (fish has space behind brain for head to tip back)

tooth comb

used for bark scraping (lemur)

introduced Australian species

• Rabbits are the most destructive — lead to declines in native animals, change in habitat structure

• Feral cats have the largest impact on native animal numbers — eat billions of native animals

heterothermic ectotherm

heterothermic = variable temp, ectotherm = body temp varies with ambient temperature

• body temperature increases with the ambient temperature in 1:1 relationship

• metabolic rate will increase with ambient temperature in an exponential-style relationship where it is much higher when hotter (behaviours to reduce heat)

bony fish movement

• swim bladder for buoyancy (related to lungs)

• fins of rays or bone or bone lobes

  • precursors to legs

conflict between offspring and parents

Conflict if parents produce offspring in subsequent years, and need to balance between caring for current and past offspring.

atmospheric O2 and insect size

• when the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere is high, the insect needs smaller quantities of air to meet its oxygen demands.

• The tracheal diameter can be narrower and still deliver enough oxygen for a much larger insect

mechanical isolation

reproductive parts do not fit

• a type of pre-mating reproductive isolation

assumptions of the hardy-weinberg theory

• no migration

• no natural selection

• no mutation

• infinite population size (less genetic drift impact)

• random mating

movement from quadruped to biped

• big toe reduced

• pelvis shortened

• legs straightened

• less robust arms

• greater dexterity and tool use

cartilaginous fish

large liver with oil to remain buoyancy

cartilage lighter than bone, pectoral fins

diploid

two sets of chromosomes in an organism’s cell(s)

fission

division of a unicellular or multicellular organism into two or more separate daughter cells of equal size

• binary and multiple fission

binary fission

division which results in two cells or organisms of equal size

meta communities

groups of local communities occupying a set of habitat patches that are linked by the dispersal of multiple, potentially interacting species

multiple fission

division which results in more than two cells or organisms of equal size

budding

the parent cell divides itself into two unequal parts

• found in all domains and kingdoms, unicellular and multicellular organisms

fragmentation

where a fragment of a multicellular organism breaks off and forms a new organism

vegetative propagation

where a new plant grows from part of the parent plant

runners

stem which grows along the ground and branches into roots and branches along the nodes

bulbs

underground storage structure which can store a plant throughout its complete life cycle

tubers

grow beneath the soil, and look like a bulb branching off of the roots e.g. potatoes

suckers/basal shoots/root sprouts

a separate plant which grows from the meristem of a root at the base of the plant

parthenogenesis

when an unfertilised egg can develop into an individual, allowing the female organism to reproduce without a male

archaea

similar to bacteria, tend to live in extreme environments

domain

highest order of life: archaea, bacteria, Eukarya

kingdom

above phylum, below domain, five kingdoms (prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants and animals)

dioecious

male and female reproductive organs found in separate individuals e.g. humans

monecious

an individual has both male and female reproductive systems

hermaphrodite

an individual has both male and female reproductive systems

oviparous

lay eggs

viviparous

embryo develops internally, live young

ovoviviparous

fertilised eggs remain in the parents’s body until they hatch but the offspring’s nutrients comes from the egg not the mother’s placenta

• e.g. seahorses, some shark species

alternative generations

subsequent lifecycles alternate between diploid and haploid organisms

• occurs in all land plants

plasmogamy

fusion of two cells brings together two compatible haploid nuclei, but they don’t fuse so two nuclei types are present

karyogamy

fusion of the two nuclei of haploid eukaryotic cells

dikaryotic

organisms which contain two genetically distinct cell nuclei in the same cell

stamen — male reproductive part of the flower, long slender stalk with the anther at the tip

stigma — the tip of one or several carpels — the part at the highest point above the ovary)

actinomorphic flowers

more than one plane of symmetry

zygomorphic flowers

one plane of symmetry

carpel — seed-bearing structure which includes the whole middle part of the flower

sepal — the little leaves at the bottom which protect the bud

anther — the yellow part which holds the pollen for fertilisation of another flower

style — stalk which connects the stigma to the ovary. assists with fertilisation as it is the tube pollen follows to the egg.

anaerobic cellular respiration

organisms do not use oxygen to extract energy from food and use a different compound instead

when did respiration evolve

aerobic respiration evolved 3 billion years ago
(though anaerobic respiration evolved first)

obligate aerobic bacteria

cannot survive without oxygen

obligate anaerobic bacteria

cannot survive in the presence of oxygen

facultative anaerobic bacteria

can grow without oxygen but use oxygen if its present

hyphae

fungi in soil which absorb oxygen from air spaces in between soil particles

• the main mode of vegetative growth in fungi

• Hyphae secrete digestive enzymes which break the substrate down making it easier to absorb.

lenticels

act like stomata by moving air through the stems of woody plants and some roots

aerial roots

useful in environments with anoxic or waterlogged soils e.g. mangroves

aerenchyma

small air pockets in plant tissue which allow for exchange of gases from exposed parts of the plant to submerged parts e.g. mangroves

direct diffusion as respiration

small animals (<1mm diameter) can obtain O2 from diffusion across body surface

integumentary exchange

skin as gas exchange surface where gasses diffuse directly into circulatory system

e.g. earthworms and amphibians

only works in moist environments

trachea

tubes in insects which provide oxygen through living material e.g. body and wings

some insects ventilate the tracheal system with muscle contractions

• open to the environment through spiracles

• separate to circulatory system

spiracles

the openings to trachea — opened and closed when needed

gills

found in a cavity or externally

highly branched and folded filaments which water passes over and oxygen rapidly diffuses into the circulatory system or coelomic fluid

• many gills use a counter current system to gain oxygen and lose CO2

amphibian lungs

simple sac like lung

reptile lungs

sac-like, sometimes subdivided

chemoautotrophs

bacteria which synthesise their own organic molecules using the oxidation of inorganic compounds rather than sunlight

photoautotrophs

manufacture their organic molecules from simple inorganic molecules using sunlight as the energy source for photosynthesis

anoxygenic photosynthesis

pathway which does not generate oxygen

• Anoxygenic photoautotrophs use H2S as a source of electrons and have bacteriochlorophylls rather than chloroplasts

bacteriochlorophylls

hotosynthetic pigments found in some phototrophic bacteria and act similarly to chlorophylls

oxygenic photosynthesis

photosynthesis which generates oxygen (what we usually see today)

cyanobacteria

the earliest oxygenic photoautotrophs

scavengers

eat remains of food left by carnivores and herbivores

radula

structure in mollusc mouths for feeding which is a toothed, chitinous ribbon used for scraping or cutting food

labium

forms the floor of the mouth of an insect

labrum

helps hold food in position when the insect feeds