Plant and Animal Responses Vocabulary Flashcards

A set of 100 vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts of plant and animal responses, innate and learned behaviors, migration, orientation, biological rhythms, plant growth hormones, tropisms, and nastic responses.

Stimulus

Any detectable change in an organism's internal or external environment that causes a reaction or response.

Response

An action or change in an organism caused by a stimulus.

Receptors

Specialised cells, proteins, or sensory organs which detect a change or stimulus in the environment.

Thermoreceptors

Sensory receptors located in the skin that detect temperature changes.

Photoreceptors

Sensory receptors located in the retina of the eye that detect changes in light.

Chemoreceptors

Sensory receptors located in the nose and tongue that detect chemical stimuli.

Magnetoreceptors

Receptors that detect changes in Earth's magnetic field, enabling an organism to sense direction.

Mechanoreceptors

Receptors that detect physical forces and mechanical stress such as touch, pressure, and vibrations.

Innate Behaviours

Behaviours an animal is born knowing how to do, controlled by genes and occurring automatically without being taught or practised.

Heritable Behaviour

A feature of innate behaviour indicating it is genetically inherited from parents.

Stereotypical Behaviour

A feature of innate behaviour where it is performed in the same fixed, predictable manner each time.

Consumatory Behaviour

A feature of innate behaviour where once triggered, the behaviour is carried to completion.

Intrinsic Behaviour

An internally programmed behaviour that does not need to be learned and develops or occurs even in isolation from others.

Inflexible Behaviour

A characteristic of innate behaviour meaning it cannot be changed or easily modified.

Learned Behaviours

Behaviours developed through experience, practice, or being taught that change based on an animal's environment.

Non-Heritable Behaviour

A feature of learned behaviour indicating it is not genetically inherited from parents but learned through experience.

Permutable Behaviour

A feature of learned behaviour meaning it can be modified or changed with experience.

Progressive Behaviour

A feature of learned behaviour meaning it can develop, improve, or be refined with practice.

Extrinsic Behaviour

Behaviour driven by external factors or experience rather than being internally programmed, failing to develop in isolation.

Adaptable Behaviour

A feature of learned behaviour where it changes or adapts in response to environmental conditions.

Habituation

A type of learning where an organism stops responding to a recurring stimulus that is harmless and has no important consequence.

Classical Conditioning

A form of learning where an animal associates two stimuli, causing a previously neutral stimulus alone to produce the learned response.

Insight Learning

Problem-solving by using previous experience or knowledge to suddenly arrive at a solution rather than through gradual trial and error.

Imprinting

A form of rapid learning during a sensitive or critical period of early life where an animal forms a social bond with the first suitable moving object it sees.

Orientation Behaviours

The ways in which animals position or move themselves in response to a stimulus.

Taxis

The directional movement of an animal in response to a stimulus.

Positive Taxis

Directional movement of an animal towards a stimulus.

Negative Taxis

Directional movement of an animal away from a stimulus.

Thigmotaxis

Directional movement of an animal in response to a touch stimulus.

Phototaxis

Directional movement of an animal in response to a light stimulus.

Gravitaxis

Directional movement of an animal in response to a gravitational stimulus.

Chemotaxis

Directional movement of an animal in response to a chemical stimulus.

Hydrotaxis

Directional movement of an animal in response to a water stimulus.

Thermotaxis

Directional movement of an animal in response to a temperature stimulus.

Rheotaxis

Directional movement of an animal in response to a current stimulus.

Trophotaxis

Directional movement of an animal in response to a food stimulus.

Aerotaxis

Directional movement of an animal in response to an oxygen stimulus.

Pheromone

A chemical produced by an animal and released into the environment that affects the behaviour of members of the same species.

Bombykol

A sex pheromone released by female silk moths that male silk moths detect using sensitive antennae to navigate towards her.

Kinesis

The random, non-directional movement of an animal in response to a stimulus, changing activity rate based on stimulus intensity.

Klinokinesis

A change in the rate of changes of direction by an animal in response to the intensity of a stimulus.

Orthokinesis

A change in an animal's speed of movement in response to the intensity of a stimulus.

Migration

The regular movement of a population of animals between habitats.

Photoperiod

The length of daylight in a $24\text{-hour}$ period, acting as an external cue for migration.

Biological Clock

The body's internal timing system that regulates biological processes and helps animals time behavioral events.

Fat Reserves (Migration Cue)

An internal migration cue where high levels signal sufficient energy to travel and low levels indicate a need to migrate for food.

Sexual Maturity

The stage when an animal's reproductive organs are fully developed, releasing hormones that trigger innate migratory desires.

Gene Flow

The movement of alleles from one population to another, which can be facilitated by migration.

Homing

The instinctive ability of an animal to find its way back home over unfamiliar territory to a familiar location.

Navigation

The use of environmental cues by animals to orientate themselves and direct their path.

Sun Compass

A navigation technique where animals use the position of the sun across the sky as a reference for direction.

Star Compass

A navigation technique where night-traveling animals use specific constellations or celestial poles to orient themselves.

Celestial Pole

The point in the night sky around which all stars appear to rotate, used in star compass navigation.

Landmarks (Navigation)

Recognisable physical features in the environment, such as mountains or rivers, used as reference points during travel.

Scent Trails

Chemical cues detected by smell that animals follow to navigate to a specific place or backtrack home.

Magnetite

Mineral crystals in the sensory systems of many animals that align with Earth's magnetic field, giving a sense of direction.

Biorhythm

A cycle of events that are controlled endogenously via the internal body clock.

Endogenous Control

Internal control of biological processes by an internal body clock that occurs even in the absence of external environmental cues.

Exogenous Rhythms

Biological rhythms that depend directly on external environmental cues.

Circadian Rhythm

A biorhythm that takes about $24\text{ hours}$ to repeat, such as the sleep cycle.

Circannual Rhythm

A biorhythm that takes about $1\text{ year}$ to repeat, such as annual bird migration.

Circatidal Rhythm

A biorhythm repeating every $12\text{--}13\text{ hours}$ ($2\text{ cycles per day}$) that follows the rise and fall of ocean tides.

Zeitgeber

An external environmental cue that resets or synchronises an animal's biological clock with the environment.

Entrainment

The process by which a zeitgeber resets or synchronises an internal biological clock to align with the environment.

Melatonin

A hormone produced by the pineal gland in excess during darkness and reduced in light to signal the dark or day phase.

Actogram

A graph or activity diagram used to show an animal's activity patterns over time.

Free-Running Period

The amount of time it takes for an endogenous biological rhythm to complete one cycle when environmental cues (zeitgebers) are removed.

Phase Shift

A change in the timing of a biological rhythm.

Phase Delay

A phase shift where activity starts progressively later each cycle during a free-running period.

Nocturnal

An activity pattern where an organism is active during the night and rests during the day.

Diurnal

An activity pattern where an organism is active during the day.

Crepuscular

An activity pattern where an organism is active during twilight.

Apical Meristem

A region of unspecialised cells at the tip of a plant shoot or root responsible for primary growth through mitosis.

Zone of Cell Division

The apical meristem area where unspecialised plant cells replicate via mitosis.

Zone of Cell Elongation

The meristem region where plant cells grow in size as water fills the vacuole and elastic walls stretch.

Zone of Differentiation

The meristem region where expanding plant cells become specialised for specific structures like leaves or root hairs.

Plant Life Cycle

The complete cycle of plant growth stages from seed, germination, seedling, young plant, to mature plant with pollination and fertilisation.

Germination

The process where a seed absorbs water and begins to grow, sending roots down into soil and shoots upwards.

Dormancy (Plants)

A period of reduced growth where a plant temporarily stops growing to conserve energy until optimal conditions return.

Vernalisation

Exposure to a period of cold temperatures that enables or promotes flowering later, preventing early flowering in autumn or winter.

Abscission

The natural detachment of a part of a plant, such as a leaf, flower, or fruit.

Auxin

A plant growth hormone in meristems that drives cell elongation by stimulating water uptake in cells.

Gibberellin

A plant growth hormone responsible for stem elongation and breaking seed dormancy to initiate germination.

Cytokinin

A plant hormone produced in roots that travels up the xylem to stimulate cytokinesis (cell division) in actively growing target areas.

Abscisic Acid

A plant hormone that inhibits growth, promotes seed dormancy, and causes stomata to close during drought to reduce transpiration.

Ethylene

A gaseous plant hormone that stimulates fruit ripening and initiates the abscission of fruits and leaves.

Tropism

The directional growth of a plant in response to a stimulus, which is slow, gradual, and irreversible.

Positive Tropism

Directional growth of a plant towards a stimulus.

Negative Tropism

Directional growth of a plant away from a stimulus.

Phototropism

Directional growth of a plant in response to light, controlled by the redistribution of auxin to shaded cells.

Thigmotropism

Directional plant growth response to physical touch, causing tendrils or roots to curve around solid objects.

Nastic Responses

Non-directional plant movements in response to stimulus intensity, caused by rapid, reversible turgor pressure changes.

Turgor Pressure

The pressure exerted by water inside a plant cell against the cell wall, keeping the cell firm and turgid.

Pulvinus

A swollen region at the base of a leaf containing specialised motor cells that alter turgor pressure to cause leaf movement.

Photonasty

A non-directional nastic plant movement in response to light stimulus intensity, such as flowers opening in daylight.

Thermonasty

A non-directional nastic plant movement in response to temperature changes, such as tulips opening in warm conditions.

Thigmonasty

A rapid non-directional nastic plant movement in response to touch, such as leaf folding in Mimosa pudica.

Nyctinasty

A non-directional nastic plant movement in response to the daily light-dark cycle, causing leaves or flowers to fold at night.

Photoperiodism

The physiological response of an organism to the relative length of daylight and darkness over a $24\text{-hour}$ cycle.

Critical Day Length

The day-length threshold that determines whether flowering occurs in short-day or long-day plants.