Biodiversity

Question 1

What is meant by a hierarchy?

Answer 1

1. Groups within groups;

2. No overlap (between groups);

Question 2

what is a phylogenetic group?

Answer 2

organisms grouped according to evolutionary ancestry;

Question 3

what is meant by genetic diversity

Answer 3

Difference in alleles

Question 4

Describe how different species may be distinguished.

Answer 4

• do not interbreed to produce fertile offspring
• different DNA base sequences
• have similar appearance, behaviour and bochemistry

Question 5

List 4 practices hat have directly removed habitats and reduced species diversity

Answer 5

1. removal of hedgerows and grubbing out of woodland
2. creating monocultures
3. filling in ponds and draining marsh and other wetlands
4. over-grazing of land, thereby preventing regeneration of woodland

Question 6

List 3 indirect ways of removing habitats and reducing species diversity

Answer 6

1. use of pesticides and inorganic fertilisers
2. escape of effluent from silage stores and slurry tanks into water courses
3. absence of crop rotation and lack of intercropping or undersowing

Question 7

Give 5 ways of INCREASING species and habitat diversity

Answer 7

1. use crop ratation that includes a nitrogen-fixing crop, rather than fertilisers to improve soil fertility
2. maintain existing ponds and create new ones
3. plant native trees on land with low species diversity rather than in species-rich areas
4. reduce the use of pesticides - use biological control where possible
5. use organic rather that inorganic fertilisers

Question 8

Name 2 financial initiative groups that encourage farmers to produce crops even though may be expensive to produce

Answer 8

1. DEFRA

2. European union

Question 9

How can food production be increased?

Answer 9

1. use of improved genetic varieties of plant and animal species
2. greater use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides
3. greater use of biotechnology
4. changes in farm practices, leading to larger farms

Question 10

How could the sequence of amino acids provide evidence that two species are different

Answer 10

1. Different species would have different
   amino acid sequences;
2. Amino acid sequence is the result of alleles / DNA base sequence

Question 11

Explain the effect planting hedges could have on the index of diversity for animals

Answer 11

1. Greater variety of plants;
2. Another habitat
3. Another food source

Question 12

Give ethical arguments for maintaining biodiversity

Answer 12

1. Prevent extinction
2. Prevent loss of populations
3. Prevent reduction in populations
4. Prevent loss of habitats
5. save organisms for future generations

Question 13

Give economic arguments for maintaining biodiversity

Answer 13

1. medical / pharmaceutical uses;
2. commercial products ;
3. tourism;
4. agriculture;
5. saving local forest communities;

Question 14

State one thing that all species have in common

Answer 14

canbreed and produce fertile offspring

Question 15

list 3 featuresof a phylogenetic system of classification

Answer 15

1. based on evolutionary relationships between organisms and their ancestors
2. it classifies species into groups using shared characteristics derived from their ancestors
3. it is arranged in a hierarchy in which groups are contained within groups with no overlap

Question 16

Explain why species recogntion is important in courtship

Answer 16

to ensure mating only takes place between members of the same species as only they can produce fertile offspring

Question 17

How can courtship behaviour be used to determine which male is more closely related to the female of similar species

Answer 17

whichever is resembles the courtship display of the female the most

Question 18

What is meant by species diversity?

Answer 18

1. the number of different species

2. and the proportion of eachspecies within in a give area

Question 19

Explain why it is more useful to calculate the species diversity index than to record the number of species present.

Answer 19

it measures both the number of species and the number of individuals. It therefore takes account of species that are only present in small numbers