biodiversity and classification

• Biodiversity


  • Species diversity (variety of living organisms)
  • Genetic diversity (number of different genes)
  • Ecosystems diversity (range of ecosystems)
• Biodiversity


  • Safeguards future food supplies
  • Many plant species yet to be discovered contain chemicals used in future medicine
  • Reduces damage to food chains
  • Protects valuable resources
  • Creates stable ecosystems that are more likely to adapt to future environmental change
  • Aesthetic reasons
  • Ecotourism benefits communities
• Maintaining biodiversity


  1. Protection of endangered species

  2. Conservation schemes to protect entire ecosystems

  3. Reforestation

  4. Sustainable farming

  5. Minimising global greenhouse gas production

  6. Legislation to protect a single species or an entire habitat

  7. Protecting seed banks
• It is important to balance the need for resources with the need to preserve the biodiversity of ecosystems
• Quadrat


  A square frame divided into smaller square sections, used to investigate the biodiversity of an area by counting members of each species present or estimating the percentage coverage of each species
• Classification


  The organisation of organisms into groups
• Main groups of organisms

  • Plants (flowering and non-flowering)
  • Animals (vertebrate and invertebrate)
  • Fungi
  • Protoctists (single-celled organisms)
  • Bacteria
• Scientific name


  Given in two words, with the first name beginning with a capital letter and the second name written in italics
• Adaptations


  • Morphological (structural adaptations)
  • Behavioural (adaptations in behaviour that aid survival)
• Competition occurs between members of the same species and also between members of different species
• Competition limits population sizes within a community and is an important driving force of evolution by natural selection
• Domains are the highest level of classification, followed by kingdoms, phyla (or divisions), classes, orders, families, genera, species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and populations.
• Classification helps us understand how different groups of living things have evolved from common ancestors over time.
• The Linnaean system was developed to classify living things based on their physical characteristics.
• What is biological control


  the use of a living organism to control a pest species