Biology B Unit 3: Biodiversity
What is a common ancestor?
A common ancestor is an organism that was alive in the past that shares traits with modern species.
What would be a short-term cause for a decrease in biodiversity?
A hard, but temporary winter freeze of a small pond could cause the biodiversity of that ecosystem to decrease. However, once the water and air temperatures increased, the ice would melt and the pond would spring to life again.
How do the limiting factors of a pond compare with those of the ocean?
A pond is much smaller, so space would limit the carrying capacity. Additionally, nutrients in the pond would be more limited. The temperature would also be a factor in both locations, with the changes in the pond having a greater impact.
What is a population?
A population is all of the organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time.
What is a species?
A species is a group of potentially interbreeding individuals.
Which factors can impact the carrying capacity of a forest?
Air temperature, water, sunlight, and space are all things that can affect a forest ecosystem.
How would habitat availability, presence of predators, and food resources all affect the carrying capacity of an ecosystem?
All three of these factors can limit the carrying capacity. If these resources are plentiful (in terms of habitat and food) and small (for predators), then the population will be able to grow. There will be a high carrying capacity. On the other hand, if space and food are limited and predation is high, the population size will be smaller and the environment will not be able to support as many individuals.
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is all of the living and nonliving things in an area.
What makes an ecosystem different from a community?
An ecosystem refers to all of the living and nonliving parts of an area, while the community just refers to the living parts.
What makes an ecosystem different from a community?
An ecosystem refers to all the living and nonliving parts of an area, while the community just refers to the living parts.
How does the introduction of a new species impact the biodiversity of an ecosystem?
An introduced organism would most likely decrease the biodiversity of an ecosystem. This is because the organisms are often better competitors and/or do not have any local predators. As such, the population size of the introduced species increases dramatically, while that of the native species decreases.
Select any living species of plant and animal, and research its taxonomic classification.
Answers should include the selected organism's kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
Use the internet to find a species that was discovered, classified, and named in the last 10 years. Give the common name, scientific name, and description, including its habitat and details about its appearance and behaviors.
Answers should include the selected species' genus and species name, common name, description, and a sentence or two about its appearance and behaviors.
What is the advantage of using binomial nomenclature?
Binomial nomenclature is the two-word naming system used to classify all life on Earth. By using the organism's genus and species it removes any question as to which organism is being discussed. This is because only that particular organism has that specific scientific name.
What conclusion can be made about the impact of penicillin on the biodiversity of the Petri dish?
Biodiversity decreased as the amount of penicillin production increased. This is evident from the large decrease in the respiration rate of the mold.
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the total number of, and different kinds of organisms living in a given area.
What is meant by the biodiversity of an ecosystem?
Biodiversity refers to the variation among the organisms living there. It could refer to the number of different types of organisms or the number of each type.
What factors can influence the carrying capacity of birds on a seashore?
Birds on the seashore are limited by food, mates, and predation. Space is probably not an issue.
How is a phylogenetic tree similar to a dichotomous key?
Both focus on illustrating taxonomic relationships between organisms.
How will you help your pandas?
Build a bridge over the highway in the forest. Building a bridge may help your giant pandas safely reach one another during mating season. This could restore the population's carrying capacity without causing harm to the red pandas or the snow leopards.
How is climate change affecting the biodiversity of coral reefs?
Climate change is causing the oceans to increase in both temperature and acidity. As a result, the photosynthetic algae that live within the coral polyps are being expelled from the coral. This causes the corals to bleach. Without a robust reef to support other organisms, biodiversity decreases.
What type of disturbance could cause a permanent decrease in biodiversity?
Damming a river or a catastrophic storm that destroys a lot of habitats could change an ecosystem forever. Damming a river, for example, floods surrounding areas above the dam. These areas, which used to be fairly dry, are now saturated. Those organisms that cannot tolerate the new water conditions would be forced to move elsewhere, reducing the biodiversity of the area.
How does extreme weather, such as tornadoes and hurricanes, impact the carrying capacity of an ecosystem?
Extreme weather, such as a hurricane, can have a dramatic impact on the carrying capacity. Storms like this can destroy habitats or other required resources, so competition for them increases. Since resources are in short supply, fewer individuals will be able to survive.
How can one factor influencing carrying capacity influence another factor? Give an example, and provide two scenarios how those factors might influence each other.
Food can affect mate availability. With excess food, many individuals can be fed and survive to reproduce, which means many mates to choose from. With limited food, fewer individuals survive, which reduces the number of mates available for reproduction.
An unhealthy ecosystem is one that is out of balance. When an ecosystem returns to balance, that is called:
Homeostasis
How would the look of a population graph change if resources were always plentiful?
Hypothetically (because this is never the case), the graph would show a straight vertical line. The population would continue to grow because there would be no carrying capacity.
What is the relationship between food and space as limiting factors?
If a population lives in an area where there is a lot of space, there will most likely be a lot of food available. This will allow the population size to be large. Conversely, a small habitat limits the amount of food available, so the population size will be small.
What would the graph look like if only 10% of the forest were cut down?
If only 10% of the forested area were lost, the graph of the biodiversity of the ecosystem would probably not show much change at all. If anything, it might show a slight decrease, but the loss of habitat of only 10% is not large enough to result in widespread losses.
What other factors might contribute to the decrease in monarch carrying capacity?
In addition to the loss of a food source, a loss of suitable climate might also reduce population sizes. If it is too warm or too cold, the caterpillars and/or adults will not survive.
Why is taxonomy important?
It allows us to identify species, make important decisions about conservation, and discover new resources.
Why is space such a limiting factor to the carrying capacity of an ecosystem?
Living things need space to live. They need it to build shelters, to find food, and to find mates. Without a safe place to live, an organism cannot survive. If space is limited, then the total number of individuals the environment can support is going to be very small.
How do the findings of this experiment relate to the loss of biodiversity on a larger scale?
One of the conditions that can change to cause a loss of biodiversity is the introduction of toxic chemicals into the ecosystem. The penicillin represents how chemicals could be added through some form of disturbance (sewage leak or dumping) and the response of the mold parallels what would happen to organisms in the ecosystem.
How could these trends in the data be reversed? What would happen if these trends were reversed?
One way to reverse the trends seen in the data is to limit the destruction of the meadows, and hence, the destruction of the milkweed the caterpillars need for food. If there are suitable habitat and resources, then the carrying capacity will increase, and so will the population size.
What is the relationship between Order and Family?
Organisms that are in the same Order are not necessarily in the same Family. However, organisms in the same Family are in the same Order.
What is the relationship between genus and kingdom?
Organisms that are in the same genus are in the same kingdom, phylum, class, order, and family. Those in the same kingdom are only in the same domain. The rest of their taxonomy could be different.
What factors are used to determine how biodiverse an ecosystem is?
Scientists measure how many different types of species are in a given area, as well as how many of each species there are.
Why do scientists use taxonomy?
Scientists use taxonomy because it makes organizing living things a lot easier. By classifying according to similar traits it allows for relationships between the organisms to be seen.
Why do scientists use taxonomy?
Scientists use taxonomy because it makes organizing living things a lot easier. By classifying according to similar traits, it allows for relationships between the organisms to be seen.
How could a disturbance, such as seasonal flooding, change the biodiversity of an ecosystem?
Seasonal flooding, like melting snow or rains, can change an ecosystem temporarily. This type of disturbance changes the environment so organisms can reproduce or feed, and then changes back to the way it was once the water has subsided.
How can severe weather events limit the carrying capacity of an ecosystem?
Severe weather can damage habitat, food supplies, and alter the environment (temperature, water chemistry, etc.). This results in a ripple effect, causing fewer individuals to survive, lowering the carrying capacity.
What could occur that would reduce the biodiversity of an ecosystem at the community level?
Since a community is all of the living organisms in an ecosystem, a large change that impacted all of them would have to occur. This could include a severe storm or large oil spill.
What is taxonomy?
Taxonomy is the science of classification.
Name at least four factors that can impact the carrying capacity of a coral reef ecosystem.
Temperature, water chemistry, predation, food availability, and space are all things that can change the carrying capacity of a coral reef.
What is the Linnaean classification system?
The Linnaean classification system, created by the Swedish botanist Linnaeus, is the system used to name and classify all living things on Earth.
How are the basking shark and the humpback whale related in terms of taxonomy?
The basking shark and the humpback whale are both in the same domain, kingdom, and phylum. After that, they fall into different groupings.
What is an ecosystem's carrying capacity?
The carrying capacity is the total number of individuals an ecosystem can support at any given gime.
What is a carrying capacity?
The carrying capacity is the total number of individuals an ecosystem can support at any given time.
Which of these traits makes the monarch butterfly a specialist?
The caterpillars only eat milkweed plants.
Why is a dichotomous key useful in classification?
The dichotomous key is designed to classify organisms by their traits. Scientists can use a key to try to identify unknown organisms based on their traits.
Why were the imported wasps a more effective control of the emerald ash borer than the predatory wasps native to North America?
The emerald ash borer was the natural prey of the imported wasps since they had evolved together. The native wasps, while they did prey on other beetles, did not naturally target the emerald ash borer.
Predict what might happen because of this restoration effort.
The entire community's food supply increases which will help increase their population's carrying capacity. Also, the giant pandas might have an easier time finding mates with the more available territory. With more pandas around, the snow leopards will also have more to eat. The red pandas could become established in this new environment and would stay instead of returning to their original home.
What would the graph look like if the disturbance were only temporary?
The graph of the biodiversity of the ecosystem would probably not show much change at all. It would return to normal soon after the disturbance went away.
Based on the graph, what is the advantage of protecting natural areas? What might account for the results shown in the graph?
The graph shows a direct correlation between the amount of land protected and the biodiversity of those areas. This is because the organisms have the space they need to survive.
What would a graph of the biodiversity of an ecosystem look like if there were a permanent disturbance, like damming a river?
The graph would show the number of species and the types of species drastically changing. Over time, new species would move into the area and the ecosystem would become more stable.
A forest is cut down to make room for a new residential neighborhood. The area of the land is reduced by 90%. What would a graph of the biodiversity of the ecosystem look like?
The graph would show very low numbers in terms of different species and numbers of each species. Additionally, the graph could show these numbers getting lower due to the loss of habitat.
What limiting factor most affects the population of plants living in the forest?
The limiting factor that has the greatest impact is sunlight. Without it, plants are unable to photosynthesize.
What conclusion can be made from these data?
The population size of monarchs has been decreasing because the amount of suitable habitat available to them has also decreased.
What would happen to a population if a new dominant predator were introduced into the ecosystem?
The population size of the prey species would decrease dramatically. Not all of them would disappear, but the new predator would definitely cause a large decrease.
If environmental conditions remain the same for a long time, what impact would this have on the population size?
The population size would not change much at all if the environmental conditions remained the same. This is because all of the individuals in the population would have all of the resources they needed.
In what ways can the presence of another species change the carrying capacity of a population?
The second species may compete with the population for resources, decreasing its carrying capacity. It may become a food source for the population, increasing its resources and potentially its carrying capacity. It may enter a beneficial relationship with the species in which each gains necessary resources from the other, increasing the carrying capacities of both.
The meadows are where monarchs find the food they need to survive. How do the data show the carrying capacity for the monarchs is decreasing?
There are fewer meadows where the monarchs can find food for their offspring. As such, the environment cannot support a large number of monarch caterpillars. The carrying capacity of the population has decreased.
What types of things impact the biodiversity of a community?
There are several things that can impact the biodiversity of a community. These include the introduction of a new predator, lack of food and space, weather events, and changes in environmental conditions.
What types of things impact the growth of a population?
There are several things that can limit the size of a population. These include the availability of food and shelter, mates, predation, weather, and things such as temperature, pH, salinity, and turbidity.
Other than removing protected lands, what could change the shape of the graph to a more negative curve?
There are several things that could change the curve to more negative. A severe weather event that destroys much of the habitat would reduce biodiversity. Additionally, deforestation would also reduce it because there were be fewer places for the animals to live.
The lab's documentation package can be peer-reviewed and, if necessary, duplicated exactly. Do you think this degree of precision is possible for investigations conducted at large scales (as with the field investigation discussed earlier)? Why or why not? What, then, is the value of experiments conducted on an ecosystem-wide scale?
There is no way you could duplicate lab precision in field research, especially not on a scale as large as discussed earlier. The number of variables is simply too large under field conditions. The value of field research is that not all problems are small scale and many of those problems are just as relevant as those studied on smaller scales in labs.
If two organisms are in the same class how else are they related?
Two organisms in the same class are also in the same domain, kingdom, and phylum.
What happens to the carrying capacity under stable conditions?
When resources are stable, the carrying capacity will also remain fairly stable. There will always be slight increases and decreases because the environment is not static, but in general, the overall carrying capacity will remain constant.
Why would access to mates be a limiting factor to a population?
Without access to enough mates, levels of reproduction would be low. This would prevent more offspring from being born, which in turn, lowers the overall population size. This would then impact the food supplies and other resources, which brings down the carrying capacity.
Would a road be included as part of an ecosystem?
Yes. An ecosystem is all the living and nonliving things in an area.
phylogenic tree
a diagram that shows the evolutionary relationships between different species that share a common ancestor
eukaryotic
a eukaryotic cell is one which has a defined cellular nucleus surrounded by a nuclear membrane. Eukaryotic cells can be found in both single- and multi-celled organisms.
species
a group of potentially interbreeding individuals
Which possibility would have a large impact on the environment?
a population of robins die.
prokaryotic
a prokaryotic cell is one which does not contain a defined nucleus. Prokaryotes are single-celled organisms, such as bacteria, who do not possess a nucleus
dichotomous key
a tool that allows its user to classify unknown items. When using a dichotomous key, the user observes her item, then describes its characteristics using a series of choices with two possible answers. Each choice leads the user to another step in the key, until her item is identified.
What is the definition of population?
all members of a particular species in a specific area at a certain time
population
all members of a species in a given area at a given time
community
all members of all species in a given area
ecosystem
all the organisms in a given area along with the nonliving things with which they interact
common ancestor
an ancestor that two or more descendants hold in common.
Finish the sentence: When investigating at a scale that includes both biotic and abiotic factors, scientists are studying an ______.
ecosystem
Due to regular changes in the environment, an ecosystem at carrying capacity could be described as
fluctuating slightly over time.
Please rank the following ecological levels of organization in ascending order.
individual → population→ community→ ecosystem
A dichotomouys key is used to identify a plant. 1a. Leaves are spiny ......................Pinus taeda 1b. Leaves are broad..................... Go to 2 2a. Single leaf..........................Go to 3 2b. Many leaves....................... Go to 4 3a. Leaf edge is smooth..............Cornus florida 3b. Lead edge is rough...............Ulmus americana 4a. Leaflet edges are smooth........Albizia julibrissin 4b. Leaflet edges are rough.........Juglans nigra A plant has many broad leaves with rough edges. What type of plant is this?
juglans nigra
systematists
people who specialize in taxonomy, taxonomists
taxonomy
the branch of science concerned with naming, classifying, and describing the relationships between all living things on Earth
taxonomy
the branch of science concerned with naming, classifying, and describing the relationships between all living things on earth
carrying capacity
the maximum number of individuals of a particular species that an ecosystem can support at a given time
biodiversity
the variety of life within a species, a community, or an ecosystem.
direct competition
two or more species that require the same resources and need to compete for them
