variety of life (classification and biodiversity)

• what is classification?


  the organisation of living things into groups according to their similarities
• what are the scientific classifications?

  Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
• kingdom 1 = plants, feature

  (nonflowering/flowering)

  -make their own food through photosynthesis
• kingdom 2 - animals, feature

  (vertebrates /invertebrate)

  -feed on other organisms

  -no cell walls
• kingdom 3 - fungi, feature

  - makes spores instead of seeds to reproduce
• kingdom 4 - bacteria, feature

  -one celled organism (unicellular), without a nucleus in the cell, single looped DNA is free in the cytoplasm.
• kingdom 5 - algae, feature

  (single celled animals found in chains, balls or sheets)

  -can feed or make their own food
• classifying vertebrates

  amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, reptiles
• what is adaptations?

  process of change where an organism/species becomes better suited to its environment allowing it to survive and pass on its genes
• adaptations - effect of ears and head

  small - reduce heat loss

  large - to release heat
• adaptations - fur

  thick - traps air = good insulator

  thin - aids heat loss = keeps them cool
• adaptations - layer of fat

  thick - insulates against heat loss acts as a food reserve during hibernation
• adaptations - colour of fur

  camouflage
• adaptations - camel

  fatty hump - metabolic source of water

  long + thick eyelashes - prevent sand entering eyes
• adaptations - cactus

  swollen stem - stores water

  leaves reduced to spines - to reduce water loss through stoma
• non- flowering plants

  does not produce flowers
• flowering plants

  produces flowers
• invertebrate

  does not have a backbone
• vertebrate

  does have a back bone
• what could classification be based on?

  physical traits, morphological features, behaviour traits, DNA analysis, diet
• how are organisms named?

  Binomial nomenclature (system) devised by Carl Linnaeus, each organism has its scientific name to aid its identification and classification
• advantage of using scientific name?

  >the name is the same in all languages and there for the same all over the world, this avoids confusion and duplication
• what is population size?

  how many of one type of species there is in a given ecosystem
• what can animal population be affected by?

  competition, number of predator, disease, pollution
• what can plants populations be affected by?

  competition, number of herbivores, disease, pollution
• what is competition?

  all living need natural resources, but there is not enough for everyone, meaning individuals have to fight for them in order to survive.
• interspecific competition

  competition between members of different species
• intraspecific competition

  competition between members of the same species
• what do animals compete for?

  food and water resources, mates and territory
• what do animals compete for?

  light, water, minerals and space
• what are examples of ecosystems?

  seashores, forests, lakes, coral reefs, deserts
• what can each ecosystem be divided into?

  habitat = abiotic part, physical place they live

  community = biotic part, the organisms living in the habitat
• predator V prey

  the predator is an animal that hunts and kills other animals for food, the animal that is eaten is the prey
• what is biodiversity?

  The variety and number of life/species in a particular habitat or ecosystem.
• what are the 3 components of biodiversity?

  Genetic diversity (variation of species), species diversity (number of species), ecosystem diversity (variety of habitat)
• what is biological control?

  The process when another organism is used to kill and control pests this is through the use of natural enemies such as predators
• advantages of biological control

  it is specific to a particular pest, once the predator is established there is no need to re-introduce it related date, it prevents bioaccumulation as chemicals does and pesticides does not need to be used.
• disadvantages of biological control

  introduce species may compete with native species it may spread disease to native species, and they may predate upon them
• what is an invasive/alien species?

  an animal or plant that has been introduced into a country that it does not originate from
• examples of alien species

  japanese knotweed and giant hogweed