Topic 4 - Biodiversity and Natural Resources

• Biodiversity is a measure of the variety of living organisms there are within a particular habitat
• A habitat is an area where one or more organisms live
• Species diversity is the number of species in an area
• Habitat diversity is the number of different habitats within an area
• Intra specific genetic diversity the diversity of genes within a species
• Inter specific genetic diversity is the diversity of genes between species
• Biodiversity helps to maintain stability as well as making populations more adaptable to change]
• Species richness is the number of species in an area
• A species is a group of organisms with similar morphology, physiology, and behaviour which can interbreed to produce fertile offspring
• Species evenness is when all species have similar numbers
• Causes of biodiversity loss include:

  • Human activities i.e. deforestation
  • Natural activities such as volcanic eruptions
  • Introduction non-native species
• Eutrophication

  1. Fertilisers are used by farms
  2. Fertilisers are carried by rain water
  3. Fertilisers enter lakes and rivers
  4. Nitrogen spike kills aquatic animals
  5. Overgrowth of plants
  6. Large loss of aquatic animals
• A species is endemic when it can only be found in one area of the world and nowhere else
• Ecosystem diversity is the variety of habitats within an ecosystem
• An anatomical adaptation is any structure the organism has to survive
• A physiological adaptation is an internal body process that helps the organism survive
• A behavioural adaptation is something an organism does to survive i.e. hunting at night
• The higher the number of heterozygotes, the higher the genetic diversity
• Simpson's diversity index:

  D= N(N-1)/∑(n-1)
• A selection pressure causes species to adapt faster
• Allotropic speciation is when a species is separated by a physical barrier until they become so different they can no longer interbreed to produce fertile offspring
• A niche is an organisms role in an ecosystem
• Binomial is an organisms name by species and genus
• The 5 kingdoms are:

  • Prokaryotae
  • Protocysta
  • Fungi
  • Plantae
  • Animalia
• Phylogeny is the study of evolutionary relationships of organisms
• The 3 domain system is based on ribosomal RNA
• Bacteria have significant differences to archae
• When Carl Woese proposed the idea of archae, he was doubted by the scientific community until he did additional research and presented his work at conference
• Allele frequency is how often an allele occurs and is usually given as a decimal or percentage
• The gene pool is the total genetic information of a population of interbreeding organisms
• Hardy Weinburg equation only works if:

  • The population remains stable
  • There are no mutations
  • There is no immigration
  • There is no selection
  • Mating is random
  • There is a large population
• The two Hardy Weinburg equations are:

  $p^2+$$2pq+$$q^2=$$1$

  $p+$$q=$$1$
• A niche is a species' role in a community
• Two species can't occupy the same niche because there will be competition and one will have to change
• When two organisms have adaptations that rely on eachother, this is called co-adaptation
• Organisms whose phenotypes are better suited to the environment are described as being at a selective advantage
• Over time, the best suited variants will predominate and allele frequencies will change
• Balanced polymorphism is where both homozygous have a disadvantage so heterozygosity is preferred
• Molecular phylogeny is the comparison of the nucleotide sequences of genes in organisms
• Tonoplast is the membrane that surrounds the vacuole