Module 2

Question 1

What is Taxonomy

Answer 1

classification, description and naming of organisms

Question 2

Linneaus crested binomial & hierachial classification. How is binomial structurured?

Answer 2

First Genus, then Species. E.g. Dasyurus hallucatus which is the northern quoll.

Question 3

Names ending in ‘idae’ generally refers to?

Answer 3

Family

Question 4

List a basic structure of Hierarchical classification.

Answer 4

Species (Dasyurus hallucatus), Genus (Dasyurus), Family (Dasyuridae), Order (Dasyuromorpha), Class (Mammalia), Phylum (Chordata), kingdom (Animalia), Domain (Eukarya)

Question 5

What does a taxon (plural taxa) refer to?

Answer 5

A named taxonomic unit in any level
of the hierarchy– Species, Genus, Family, Order, etc… these are all taxa

Question 6

Describe evolution

Answer 6

• Evolution explains patterns of unity and diversity in living organisms.
• Similar traits among organisms are explained by descent from common ancestors
• Differences among organisms are explained by the accumulation of heritable changes

Question 7

Describe Natural selection

Answer 7

The overrriding mechanism/process of evolution, which is behind Darwin’s “descent
with modification”

Question 8

What are traits?

Answer 8

• Traits are characters such as colour, limb length, size, speed, longevity.
• Traits are derived from genes, but more than one gene is usually associated with each trait

Question 9

What is the difference, homology & analogy?

Answer 9

Similarity arising from common ancestry is referred to as homology.

Similarity arsing from convergent evolution results in analogy.

Question 10

Describe adaptation?

Answer 10

Adaptation refers to inherited characteristics (= traits) of organisms that enhance their survival and reproduction in specific environments, and has arisen as a result of
natural selection.

Question 11

Give some examples of convergent evolution?

Answer 11

Flying fox (mammal) & magpie (bird) - both have wings & can fly.
Thylacine (marsupial) & grey wolf (placental) - both similar size and similar traits carnivourous mammals.

Question 12

What is the biological species concept?

Answer 12

A species includes members of populations that actually or potentially interbreed in nature and produce viable, fertile offspring.

Question 13

Mention 2 other species concepts apart from biological?

Answer 13

1. Morphological species concept
   * Distinguishes species by body shape and other structural
   features
   * Important in palaeontology
2. Phylogenetic species concept
   * Smallest group of organisms that share a common ancestor
   * Phylogenetic history can be traced using a range of traits (morphology, molecular data, etc)

Question 14

What is phenotype & genotype?

Answer 14

Phenotype: An organism’s appearance or observable traits
Genotype: An organism’s genetic makeup (i.e., its DNA)

Question 15

What are life history traits?

Answer 15

They relate to an organism’s physiology or behaviour that could influence its survival
* e.g., offspring – how often does the organism reproduce; in what numbers?
* e.g., parental care — how much care is needed to ensure offspring survival?

Question 16

Give examples of reproductive isolation?

Answer 16

Some mechanisms that drive speciation:
* Habitat or geographical barrier
* Timing – day/night, season
* Behavioural – mate song
* Mechanical – genitalia don’t fit

Question 17

Give an example of speciation?

Answer 17

Quolls: Once widely distributed across Australia and New Guinea, populations have shrunk due to habitat loss, disease and competition from introduced foxes and cats. Now under threat from cane toads too. Each of the six quoll species inhabits a ­distinct range: the northern quoll prefers tropical regions with high rainfall, the western quoll has adapted to the arid regions across the inland south-west, and the tiger and eastern quoll live only in mesic zones.

Question 18

Mention examples of challenges to be considered when conserving species.

Answer 18

• Which population is the most important?
• How do we manage the threats in each area?
• Captive breeding? Re-wilding? Toad sausages?
• Habitat management?
• How should funding be allocated?
• Who is responsible?

Question 19

Define the fields of macroecology and biogeography?

Answer 19

Ecology is the field of biology that aims to understand how environmental factors (biotic and abiotic) limit the distribution and
abundance of species.
- Macroecology = global ecology (broad scale ecological patterns and processes)
- Landscape ecology = biogeography (patterns of geographic distribution of organisms and the factors that determine those patterns.)

Question 20

What environmental factors limit the distribution of organisms?

Answer 20

• controlled by climate
• Species adapt to specific environments.
• The natural range of a species is often
  limited to type of habitat it occurs in.
  – Disturbance to habitat can inhibit a
  species capacity to disperse.
• e.g. northern quolls prefer rocky habitats or heavy vegetation, hence this must be the focus of conservation efforts.

Question 21

What influences Net Primary Productivity on Earth?

Answer 21

temperature, solar energy and water availability. also oxygen.

Question 22

How does weather and climate create different biomes across Australia?

Answer 22

Hadley cells:
- ITCZ (low pressure around equator). Sun heats water around the equator, evaporation forms clouds that then rains as it cools.
- High pressure belt (high pressure 30 degrees polewards from equator). countries such as Australia under the high pressure belt experience more hot, arid climate.

Local topography: interacting with global
scale tropospheric circulation to create
localized climate patterns (e.g. orographic rainfall in great dividing range in Aus).

• El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
• Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)
• Australian monsoon

Question 23

Describe the relationship between net primary productivity patterns and species richness patterns?

Answer 23

NPP decrease as latitude decreases, but
species richness (SR) also.
NPP (Biomass growth) is highest around the equator and supports more biodiversity from having more energy in the system, more growth, primary consumers and secondary consumers (10% rule). Also climate is more stable around the equator so species experience less disturbance. more niches develop. more competition, adaptation, speciation.

Question 24

What drives global climate?

Answer 24

• The earth’s climate varies by latitude, season and the distribution of landmasses and oceans
• A basic imbalance in energy distribution across the Earth is the main driving force behind Global tropospheric circulation.
• The thermal equator moves from north to south with the seasons because of the tilt on the Earth’s axis.

Question 25

Give examples of abiotic drivers that shape distribution of terrestrial biomes:

Answer 25

* Geomorphology * Soils and topography * Fire regimes * Salinity * Sunlight * Pathogens * Human induced disturbance

Question 26

Define 'ecosystem'

Answer 26

Communities of organisms (biotic), and the physical environment around them (abiotic), and the functional traits of the ecosystem (meaning what happens when organism/abiotic elements interact, e.g. O2 production).

Question 27

Explain how and why biomes contain a variety of ecosystems?

Answer 27

Diversity of ecosystems exist due to infinite combinations of biotic and abiotic factors at different scales. E.g. large like a desert or small like a pool inside a cave.

Question 28

Explain how ecosystems are characterized /described?

Answer 28

Ecosystems are characterised by scale, vegetation, topography and location.

Question 29

Discuss the value of conserving ecosystem diversity?

Answer 29

Conservation aims to preserve diversity of ecosystems to provide functions, plus ecosystems of special value – examples: 1. Forests provide: carbon sequestering, erosion prevention, oxygen production etc. 2. Wetlands provide food, recreation, nutrient regulation, water. More biodiverse areas generally provide more functions & more value, also has value in preserving larger number of species. Examples of ecosystem functions: - Carbon sequestering - Nitrogen cycle - Detoxification - Decomposition - Growth - Water cycling - Oxygen production

Question 30

Three levels of biodiversity

Answer 30

Ecosystem Species Genetic

Question 31

Explain why most conservation focuses on species?

Answer 31

- Most people have a sense of what a species is - Measurable - Objective: easy to determine whether there are increases or decreases

Question 32

How do we identify conservation priorities?

Answer 32

* economic value e.g. fishing * utilitarian value e.g. pollination * instrumental value (i.e. high genetic diversity or evolutionary distinctness) * cultural value e.g. totem animals * intrinsic value (i.e. all species deserve to be conserved) * Keystone species * Umbrella species * Flagship species

Question 33

Explain Fundamental vs realised niche?

Answer 33

-Fundamental niche is the distribution a species can survive in, needs are met in terms of temperature, water, etc. -Realised niche is the actual distribution of species when factoring in competition with other species and other disturbances.

Question 34

Explain why having precise definitions of biodiversity is useful?

Answer 34

Defining parts of it helps us sort out the complexity. Defining it helps us measure its components and monitor changes. These things combined help us to identify and understand interactions.

Question 35

Explain what is sampling, why it is used to measure biodiversity, benefits and limitations of sampling, a variety of techniques?

Answer 35

-Sampling – uses a sub-set to estimate the whole. Lets us measure biodiversity to understand status & trends. Often looking at species richness & Relative abundance. -Varying accuracy. Replicate samples increase accuracy. -Can be large scale e.g. aussie bird count or small scale like counting trees in an individual forest patch. Depends on objective of sample. -Techniques: physical counting, use of random quadrants, videos, bioacoustics monitor soundscapes, remote sensing, DNA sampling.

Question 36

Present an argument for why monitoring biodiversity is important?

Answer 36

Biodiversity monitoring is the repeated observation or measurement of biological diversity to determine its status and trend. Enables evidence based approaches to influence decision making. Monitoring lets us be on top of the health of a habitat and allows us to repond to any detected changes that may ultimately affect us. E.g. might notice reduced number of fish in a lake and we can then invesitage and find that runoff from a nearby plant is polluting the lake, and make changes so that biodiversity is retained and humans are not affected by the polluted fish & water.

Question 37

What is EDGE?

Answer 37

EDGE species - evolutionary distinct, globally endangered e.g. rhinos and echidnas.