Just to have some clarity between the answers, questions, etc.
Questions in BLACK
Answers in BLUE
Side Questions in RED
Explanations/Answers to side questions in ORANGE
Other comments in ANY COLOR
Unanswered study questions in GREEN
Study Questions for Lectures 1-5
1. Give 2 definitions of “species” and explain the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Morphological “species”: individuals grouped into species based on their similar physical appearence.
Strength: Easy to apply when species’ traits are defined and don’t overlap.
Weakness: Hard to apply when there are morphological difference within species, such as in between male and female birds (males tend to be brighter colored and females are usually dull). Changing morphology in response to the environment (plasticity)
Biological “Species”: groups of actually or potentially interbreeding individuals that are reproductively isolated from other such groups.
Weakness: Can’t apply it to asexual organisms. Potential interbreeding doesn’t mean interbreeding is actually happening. Reproductive isolation factors may be hard to define (2N and 4N buttercup flowers from lecture). which lecture was this? First lecture
2. Which of the following orders the levels of biodiversity from one that encompasses the MOST variation in organismal characteristics to one that encompasses the LEAST amount of variation?
(a) species, genetic, functional group
(b) species, genetic, phenotypic Is the end of this supposed to be plasticity? to match with lecture slides yes < agree
(c ) functional group, ecosystem, species
(d) species, functional group, ecosystem
3. Compare and contrast the following terms: species richness, species evenness, and species diversity.
-Species evenness: degree to which species are equally abundant, measure of species diversity that reflects the distribution of the species’ abundances