biology

• What are the 2 major groups of plants?

  Flowering and non-flowering
• Give 2 examples of non-flowering plants.

  Ferns and mosses
• What are the 2 main groups of animals?

  Vertebrates and invertebrates
• Give 2 examples of invertebrates.

  Insects and earthworms
• What is the definition of classification?

  The placing of organisms into groups based on similar features and characteristics.
• What is the classification system based on?

  Morphology (appearance) or DNA analysis
• Name the 5 kingdoms.


  Animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, single-celled organisms.
• Name the hierarchical groups within the classification system, from largest to smallest?

  Kingdom

  Phylum

  Class

  Order

  Family

  Genus

  species
• What is a hierarchy?


  Group within a group.
• What is the general term given to the groups in the classification system?

  Taxon (plural = taxa)
• Which 2 taxa are used in a scientific name?

  Genus and species

  
• Why are scientific names used?

  They areuniversaland avoid confusion in different languages.
• What is an adaptation?


  A feature which enables an organism to survive in its environment.
• What are the 2 different types of adaptation?

  Morphological (structural)

  Behavioural (e.g. huddling)
• Why are small ears beneficial in cold environments?

  They reduce heat loss.

  
• Why do arctic foxes have white fur?

  To be camouflagedagainst the snow.

  
• What resources do plants compete for?

  Light

  Water

  Nutrients

  Space
• What resources do animals compete for?

  Food

  Habitat

  Mates
• What is the name for competition between members of the

  samespecies?Intraspecific competition
• What is the name for competition between

  differentspecies?Interspecific competition
• What happens when you have 2 species competing for the same resource in the same area?

  One will outcompete the other for food, space, nutrients, light etc.
• What is a population?

  A group of thesamespecies living in an area.
• Apart from competition for resources, what else can reduce the size of a population?

  Predation

  Disease

  Pollution
• What is a community?

  All the different populations that live together in an area
• What is the definition of biodiversity?

  The variety of different species and numbers of individuals within those species in an area.
• Why is biodiversity important?

  Food

  Potential foods

  Industrial materials

  New medicines

  Human well-being
• What are the main threats to biodiversity?

  Habitat destruction

  Alien species

  Hunting

  Invasive species
• How can biodiversity be conserved?

  CITES (ban on international trade)

  Sites of Special Scientific Interest

  Captive breeding programmes

  National parks

  Seed and sperm banks

  Local biodiversity action plans

  Education
• What can be used to estimate the abundance of species?

  A quadrat

  
• Why must quadrats be placed randomly?

  To avoid bias.
• How can the validity of quadrat data be improved?

  Carry out a suitable number of repeats.
• How do you estimate numbers of flowers in a large field.

  Create a grid

  Place quadrats randomly by using a dice to generate random coordinates

  Count the number of flowers in the quadrat

  Calculate the mean number per quadrat

  Multiply the mean by the total number of quadrats in field

  
• How do you measure changes in distribution of species?

  Line transect

  
• What 2 pieces of equipment do you need to carry out a line transect?

  Tape measure and quadrat
• What is an alien species?


  Species brought into areas where they don't naturally occur.

  
• Why do alien species sometimes become invasive?

  They outcompete other native species and grow faster.
• What is a biological control agent?

  Aliving organismused to limit the population size of another species which has become apest
• Why is it not in the interest of a biological control agent to kill its host?

  It will lose its food source.
• What must be carried out before biological control agents are used?

  Widespread research and trials on non-targeted species.
• What assumptions are made using capture-recapture data?

  Numbers don't change between captures:

  No death or emigration

  No births or immigration

  Marking does not affect the chances of survival