Biodiversity and Taxonomy

• BIODIVERSITY - existence of many species of plants and animals in a specific environment
• THREE LEVELS OF BIODIVERSITY

  genetic diversity

  ecosystem diversity

  species diversity
• GENETIC DIVERSITY - pertains to the difference in the genetic composition of each organism
• SPECIES DIVERSITY - refers to the number of different kinds of living things that can be found in a particular place at a given time.
• ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY - different kinds of places where organisms live and the interconnections that bind these organisms together,, such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, etc.
• TAXONOMY - is the science of naming, classifying, and identifying organisms based on their characteristics; branch in biology that classifies all living things
• • Any species that are becoming rare and that may become in danger of extinction and can be categorized into:
  • Critically endangered
  • Endangered
  • Vulnerable
• • CRITICALLY ENDANGERED - when there are fewer than 250 mature individuals left or if population has declined by more than 90% over the past decade or three generations; are species in extremely high risk of extinction.
• ENDANGERED - when there are between 250 and 1,000 mature individuals left or if population has declined by more than 70% over the past decade or three generations; considered critically endangered but whose survival in the wild is unlikely.
• • VULNERABLE - when there are between 1,000 and 10,000 mature individuals left or if population has declined by more than 30% over the past decade or three generations; are species not critically endangered but is under threat
• CAROLUS LINNAEUS - the father of taxonomy, developed the hierarchal  classification system and binomial nomenclature
• BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE - A system of naming organisms that use of two terms: genus and species. Eg. Homo Sapiens
• GENUS - The first word in the scientific name of an animal or plant. It refers to the grouping of similar animals or plants with common characteristics. Eg. Homo (human)
• SPECIES - The second part of the scientific name of an animal or plant. It identifies the specific type within its genus. Eg. sapiens (wise)
• TAXONOMISTS - scientists who classify living things according to their physical features and evolutionary relationships. They also determine whether new species have been discovered.
• HEIRARCHAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM - A classification system that organizes organisms into groups based on their evolutionary relationships; The organization from larger to smaller or more specific categories
• HEIRARCHAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

  domain

  kingdom

  phylum

  class

  order

  family

  genus

  species
• DOMAIN - The largest category used in taxonomic classification, which includes all life forms. There are three domains: Archaea, Eukaryota, and Bacteria.
• Archaea and Bacteria are both prokaryotes, as they are unicellular and lack a nucleus. They also look similar (even under a microscope). 
• Eukaryota or Eukarya includes organisms that has a membrane-bound organelles and has a true nucleus.  This domain consists of "Protista," Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia. 
• KINGDOM - the second highest or largest rank of organisms. 
• THREE DOMAIN:

  archaea

  bacteria

  eukarya/ eukaryota
• 6 KINGDOM

  archaebacteria

  eubacteria

  protista

  fungi

  plantae

  animalia
• PHYLUM - A grouping of related classes within a kingdom; specific than kingdom but less than class. Some of the phyla of kingdom Animalia are Chordata and Porifera.
• CLASS - A grouping of related orders within a phylum, including Mammalia (mammals), and Aves (birds).
• • ORDER - is more specific than class. Some orders of class Mammalia are Cetaceans(Whales) and Carnivora (large carnivores/ omnivores).
• FAMILY - is more specific than order. Some families of class mammalia are Felidae (cats) and Canidae (dogs)
• GENUS - is more specific than family. Some genera of family felidae are Panthera (lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards) and Acinonyx (cheetahs)
• GENUS - the first part of an organism’s scientific name using binomial nomenclature.
• SPECIES - is the most specific rank and the lowest level. Species are sometimes divided into subspecies. The the second part of an organism’s scientific name. Eg. sapiens
• BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE - the system of giving each type of organism a genus and species name; Refers to scientific name
• prokaryotic - a type of cell which do not contain nucleus and other membrane bound organelles. They are unicellular
• eukaryotic - contains nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles; they are either unicellular or multicellular
• The cell wall is the outer covering of a cell, present adjacent to the cell membrane, which is also called the plasma membrane.
• unicellular organism - also known as a single-celled organism, is an organism that consists of a single cell
• Multicellular organisms - are composed of more than one cell, with groups of cells differentiating to take on specialized functions.
• Autotroph is an organism that can produce its own food using photosynthesis
• heterotroph - is an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter.
• Biodiversity comes from the greek word "bio" means life and "diversitas" means variety or differences
• SPECIES - a group of organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding