Describing Biodiversity
The two main components of biodiversity
Species diversity and ecosystem diversity
Define carrying capacity
The maximum size a population can be and still be sustained by the environment
The type of bond that holds the two complementary DNA strands together
Weak hydrogen bonds
A sharp reduction in population due to a random or chance event
Population bottleneck
This Marvel superhero was bitten by a radioactive spider and gained wall-climbing abilities
Spider-Man
Define clade
A clade is a grouping that includes a common ancestor and all the descendants (living and extinct) of that ancestor
The difference between primary and secondary succession
Primary succession is the process in which plants and animals first colonize a barren habitat.
Secondary succession begins after a major disturbance—such as a devastating flood, wildfire, landslide, lava flow, or human activity (farming, road or building construction, or the like)—wipes away part of a landscape.
What is the role of helicase and DNA polymerase in DNA replication?
Helicase unwinds and separates the DNA strands; DNA polymerase adds nucleotides to form new complementary strands
This term refers to large-scale changes that occur over long periods, leading to new species or higher taxa
Macroevolution
The dot over the letter “i” has this unusual name
Tittle
Two measures used to determine species diversity, one focusing on the number of species and the other on their relative abundance
Species richness and species evenness
A volcanic island forms with bare rock. Which type of succession will occur, and which community will establish first?
Primary succession; pioneer community.
Define polygenic inheritance
Inheritance of a trait/characteristic that is influenced by 2 or more genes
This mode of speciation occurs when species in the same geographical location become isolated
Sympatric speciation
This animal can survive without its head for several days because its brain is not vital for basic body functions
Cockroach
What are r-selected and k-selected species
r-selected species have a high growth rate but low survivability (“cheap” offspring)
K-selected species have a low growth rate but high survivability (“expensive” offspring)
Why might removing a keystone species, such as the dingo in Australian ecosystems, lead to a collapse in biodiversity?
Keystone species maintain community structure by regulating prey populations and competition; without them, ecosystems become unbalanced and species diversity declines.
This technique is used to amplify DNA, creating millions of copies of a specific DNA segment.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
This process is when individuals move in or out of a population, altering allele frequencies
Gene flow
It is believed that this famous scientist invented the cat door
Isaac Newton
Using Simpson’s Diversity Index, explain what it means if the value of D is close to 1 compared to when it is close to 0
A value close to 1 indicates high biodiversity (many species, evenly distributed), while a value close to 0 indicates low biodiversity (few species, or one species dominates)
A population of kangaroos starts with 500 individuals. During one year, there are 120 births, 30 deaths, 20 immigrations, and 10 emigrations. What is the population growth rate (%) for that year?
20%
If two heterozygous parents for a trait (Ee × Ee) reproduce, what is the probability that their child will express the recessive phenotype?
25%
A population of 200 plants has the following genotypes: 80 TT, 100 Tt, and 20 tt. Calculate the allele frequency of T
0.65 or 65%
The world record for the longest pizza ever made was over this many meters long (closest guess wins)
~1,930 meters