Biology 4.1

• Taxonomy


  The process of classifying living things into groups to help us understand and locate them easily
• Taxonomic groups


  • Kingdom
  • Phylum
  • Class
  • Order
  • Family
  • Genus
  • Species
• Kingdoms


  • Animalia (animals)
  • Plantae (plants)
  • Fungi
  • Protista (single-celled eukaryotes)
  • Prokaryotes (monera)
• Binomial nomenclature


  The scientific name of an organism consisting of the genus and species name, written in Latin to avoid confusion with common names in different languages
• When writing scientific names, the genus name must have a capital letter and the species name must be lowercase
• Vertebrates vs Invertebrates


  The main split between animals is whether they have a backbone (vertebrates) or not (invertebrates)
• Morphological adaptations


  Physical features/characteristics of an animal that help it survive in its environment
• Behavioural adaptations


  Actions/habits of an animal that help it survive in its environment
• Resources needed by living organisms

  • Light
  • Food
  • Water
  • Oxygen
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Minerals
• Reasons for competition between species

  • Disease
  • Predation
  • Pollution
• Interspecific competition


  Competition between different species for resources
• Intraspecific competition


  Competition within the same species for resources
• Biodiversity


  The number of different species in a particular area
• High biodiversity provides more options for each species if a food source is wiped out, making the environment more stable
• Methods to maintain biodiversity

  • Breeding and release programmes
  • Active conservation of habitats
  • Recreation of declined habitats
  • Control of invasive species
  • Legislation to protect habitats and species
• Quadrat


  A square grid used to sample an area and estimate the number of organisms in the whole habitat
• Capture-recapture technique


  1. Capture and mark animals in the first sample

  2. Recapture animals after a few days

  3. Count marked and unmarked animals in the second sample

  4. Use the formula N=MC/R to estimate the total population size
• Alien species


  A species that is not normally found in a country or geographical area, but has been introduced from a different part of the world
• Alien species can have problems like having no predators, competing with other species, and carrying diseases that native species are not immune to
• Biological control


  Using living organisms to control a pest species, instead of using chemicals
• Careful research and testing is required before introducing a biological control agent to a new area, to understand all the potential problems it could cause