diversity & evolution

• What does "bio" mean in biodiversity?

  Life
• What is biodiversity?

  Variety of life and interdependence of living things
• What are the three components of biodiversity?

  1. Diversity of Genes
  2. Diversity of Number of Species
  3. Variety of Ecosystems
• What does "diversity of genes" refer to?

  Same species with genetic variety
• What are freshwater ecosystems?

  Lakes, ponds, and rivers
• What are marine ecosystems?

  Rocky coasts, salt marshes, and coral reefs
• What is an ecosystem?

  Self-contained community of organisms
• What are biotic factors?

  Living things in an ecosystem
• What are abiotic factors?

  Non-living things in an ecosystem
• What is a habitat?

  Physical and chemical description of a creature's home
• What defines a threatened species?

  Population declining rapidly
• What defines an endangered species?

  Population very low with few remaining
• What is extinction?

  Last representatives of a species die
• What is speciation?

  Emergence of new species
• What are the natural causes of extinction?

  1. Global cooling & warming
  2. Major glaciations
  3. Fluctuations in sea level
  4. Global reduction of oxygen levels
  5. Volcanic eruptions
  6. Plate tectonics
  7. Gamma radiation
  8. Asteroid impacts
  9. Diseases
• What is background extinction?

  Normal rate of extinction before humans
• What is mass extinction?

  Widespread and rapid decrease in biodiversity
• What is habitat destruction?

  Land/water becomes unusable habitat
• What is habitat fragmentation?

  Large habitats broken into smaller patches
• What is the introduction of new species?

  Non-native species transported to new habitats
• What is pollution?

  Changes in air, soil, and water composition
• What is bioaccumulation?

  Pollutants enter food chain through organisms
• What is biomagnification?

  Increase in pollutant concentration in food chains
• What are direct causes of extinction?

  Overexploitation and deliberate extermination
• Who was Jean Baptiste Lamarck?

  First evolutionist to believe in change over time
• What is Lamarck's Theory of Need?

  Organisms change in response to their environment
• What is Lamarck's Theory of Use and Disuse?

  Organs in use develop, others disappear
• What is Lamarck's Theory of Acquired Characteristics?

  Changes are inherited by offspring
• What disproved Lamarck's theories?

  Petals on flowers and corsets
• Who proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection?

  Charles Darwin
• What was the HMS Beagle's role in Darwin's research?

  It was the ship he traveled on
• What is the title of Darwin's book?

  The Origin of Species
• Who was Alfred-Russel Wallace?

  Co-discoverer of the theory of evolution
• What is natural selection?

  Process through which species adapt to environment
• What are adaptive traits?

  Traits that give survival advantages
• What is variation in a population?

  Different individuals with different characteristics
• What is adaptation?

  Ability to adjust and thrive in environment
• How do biologists define evolution?

  Change in heritable genetic makeup over time
• What are the two scales of evolution?

  1. Macroevolution - large-scale changes over time
  2. Microevolution - small-scale changes affecting few genes
• Why is evolution considered a unifying key in biology?

  It explains the diversity of life forms