GRADE 9 SCIENCE

BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
FINAL EXAM PREPARATION

Name: ____________________________ Homeroom: ______

STUDY GUIDE

SPECIES DIVERSITY (Textbook pages 10-23)

Variability

 Diversity refers to differences, in this case differences in living things (biodiversity). The
greater the diversity, the healthier the ecosystem.
 A species is a group of organisms that have the same basic structure and can reproduce with
one another. Organisms not of the same species cannot create fertile offspring.
 Variability refers to the differences in structure and behavior that distinguish one living thing
from another. Variability can exist between species (one species looks different from another)
but can also exist within a species (a black bear may be black, brown, or even tan).
 Sometimes these variations are subtle. For example, dogs, wolves and coyotes are each a
distinct species yet they are very similar.
 Probably the best known example of species variability is
Darwin’s finches. Over years of having to adapt to a variety Sharp, probing bill of an
of environments and food sources on the Galapagos Islands, insect eater

the bird’s beaks changed in order to allow them to

successfully survive. This was through natural selection. Sharp, probing bill of an
Whereas all of the finches on the islands originally were insect eater but this one
seed eaters, they slowly adapted to other food sources uses cactus spine as a tool

such as leaves, insects, fruit and grubs. The structure of

their beaks allows you to infer what their major food
source would have been. The number of different dog Grasping bill of an insect
eater that feeds on larger
breeds is another excellent example of variation within a insects in trees
species, although this has been through artificial selection
rather than natural selection.
Crushing bill of a cactus
seed eater.

Niches

 The niche of an organism describes its role. If, through natural selection, an organism can adapt
to a niche that others have not, it will have a much better chance at survival. Also, if organisms
can adapt to a broader environment (less specified) it increases their chance for survival.
Examples of niches are shown below.
Organism Where it lives What it consumes Affect on other organisms
Rabbit Burrow Water, grass Feeds coyotes and hawks
Tree Soil Water, nutrients Feeds consumers and gives 02

 Birds in a park ecosystem may have the following niches – seagulls eat the left-overs, ducks
have a bill and webbed feet so will stay near a park pond, robins will eat the worms, sparrows
will eat seeds, woodpeckers will eat insects from the trees, etc. Adaptations to beaks, feet,
flight and nesting behaviour allow the birds to fill different niches.
 Resource partitioning (i.e. sharing the same niche for food and habitat) also allows more species
to survive and thus increases the biological diversity of an ecosystem.
Several different species may share a tree by feeding or nesting at different levels.
 If all organisms wanted the same food source, same habitat, same light, etc. there would be a
great deal of interspecies competition and this would lead to less diversity.
Interdependencies

 Food webs or food chains – producers (plants), consumers (animals) and decomposers.
 Source of oxygen and food – animals need plants which produce oxygen and food (glucose)
through photosynthesis and plants need animals for carbon dioxide and organic material for soil.
 Interdependent organisms are symbiotic which means they depend on each other for one or
more parts of their survival. Types of symbiosis include:
o Commensalism (+/0) One benefits, other doesn’t notice. Birds nest in trees, fish live in
poisonous corals, remora catch a ride on sharks
o Mutualism (+/+) Both organisms benefit. Algae and fungus live together as lichen, flowers
and pollinators, humans and domesticated animals
o Parasitism (+/-) One benefits, the other is harmed. Tapeworms, mosquitoes...
o Predation (+/-) Carnivore captures and feeds on prey.
o Competition (-/-) when organisms complete, neither benefits. Hawks and coyotes
compete for rabbits. The hawk is more successful and the coyote leaves, decreasing
biodiversity and making the ecosystem less healthy.

The graph below shows a typical predation relationship. If the hare population decreases there will be
fewer predators in the future. If the hare population increases, the predator population will begin to rise
again.

Legend: Hare (prey)

Flower
Population Number

Butterfly
Coyote (predator)

Time
Years

Adaptation

 Variation enables different species to survive in an ecosystem. In Darwin’s finches, those

able to adapt survived because they developed beaks that allowed them to find new food
sources. Darwin theorized that living things that could adapt new structures to meet their
needs in a new environment would be the ones that would survive long enough to reproduce.
This is the basis for Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
 Natural selection in banded snails allows yellow snails to survive in sand while others would
be picked off. Of the snails living in the ground, brown would have the best chance of
survival. This adaptation was brought about by natural selection and increased the
 variability of this particular species, making it much more likely to survive, especially if one
group was wiped out through a natural disaster or disease.
 An ecosystem is an area where living organisms interact with non-living components. All of
the different species together in the ecosystem make up the community. All of the
members of one particular species makes up a population.
 Variation plays a role in allowing species to survive under changing environmental conditions.
For example, bacteria quickly develop a tolerance to antibiotics because those with immunity
survive and reproduce, passing their immunity down to their offspring. In another example,
Magpies are being killed off by West Nile Virus. If some Magpies are more immune, they
will reproduce and their offspring will be immune, making the species stronger.

REPRODUCTION (Textbook pages 27-33, 43-45, 50-54)

Asexual Reproduction

 Asexual reproduction involves only one parent so all offspring are identical - an exact duplicate
of the parent. There are several types of asexual reproduction:
 Binary fission – single celled organisms such as bacteria, amoebas, some algae.
Cell splits in two to make exact duplicate. This is the same process as mitosis
in multi-cellular organisms.
 Budding – organisms such as hydra and yeast. Parent produces small bud which is a mini
version of itself. It may stay on the organism or it may drop off and
become a new individual. THIS IS NOT A FLOWER BUD!
 Spores (zoospores) – fungus, some algae, mould, ferns. Cell in one parent divides multiple
times to produce an individual exactly like the parent. When conditions are right, the
spores burst out and are usually carried by the wind or water to a place where they will be
able to grow.
 Vegetative reproduction – most plants are capable of vegetative reproduction where a part
of plant can be cut or separated, and a new plant will develop from it without any outside
fertilization source. Includes suckers (new tree from tree root), runners (above ground root
grows away from plant) or bulbs (underground growth on root).

Sexual Reproduction in Animals

 Sexual reproduction - must be a male and a female involved. Most plants and animals can
reproduce sexually. Offspring have a mix of characteristics allowing an increase of variability
within a species. Offspring will be different than either parent but will have traits inherited
from both parents. There must be two specialized cells called gametes. Male gamete is the
sperm, female gamete is the egg (ova). Sperm and egg each have half the normal number of
chromosomes. When a sperm and egg combine, it is called fertilization and the resulting zygote
has the full compliment of chromosomes for that species.
 Sexual reproduction in animals includes the following steps:
Sperm penetrates egg (fertilization) forming the single-celled zygote.
The zygote cell begins to divide through cleavage.
 Cells continue to divide and grow
Multicellular embryo develops.

   

Sexual Reproduction in Plants

 The male structure is the stamen which consists

of the anther and filament. The anther produces
the pollen which is the male gamete. The
filament holds up the anther so pollinators can
reach it. The female structure is the pistil which
consists of the stigma, style, ovary and ovules
(female gametes). The stigma is sticky so pollen
can stick to it. The style leads the growing pollen
tube down toward the ovary. The ovary contains
and protects the ovules and the ovules are the
eggs waiting to be fertilized by the pollen.
 Pollination occurs when pollen is transferred from
the anther to the stigma. Flowers may pollinate themselves or pollen may be carried by
butterflies, bees or wind from other flowers. This is called cross-pollination and it helps
increase variability within the species of flower. Fertilization occurs when the pollen tube
reaches the ovule. A zygote
is formed and divides to become an embryo. The embryo is protected inside of a seed.
 Many plants can reproduce through both vegetative reproduction and pollination, but pollination
is the preferred method since it leads to increases diversity of the species. Some animals, such
as the hydra, can also reproduce sexually or asexually. Yeasts can also reproduce by both
budding and sexual reproduction.

Discrete and Continuous Variation

 Discrete variations do not have a range. The characteristic is defined as “either/or”.

 Continuous variation characteristics can occur over a wide range.

Discrete Variation Continuous Variation

Right OR left hand clasp Mass – bone structure from small  large
Straight OR Curved thumb Height – short tall
Straight OR Pointed hairline (widow’s peak) Length of arms, legs, hand - short  long
Blood type – A or B or O or AB IQ - from 0  150+
 Yes No
Attached Earlobe

Heritable Versus Non-Heritable Traits

 Some characteristics are heritable (can be inherited from parents) and some are non-heritable
(cannot be inherited from parents).
 T
Examples of Heritable Characteristics Examples of Non-Heritable Characteristics
he
Eye colour Ability to play instruments
envi
Skin colour Scars
ron
Height Dyed hair colour men
Bear hibernation Seagulls hanging around dumpsters to feed t
can play an important role in certain characteristics (not things like eye colour or blood type
since those are independent of environment). Even if you inherited average height and bone
structure from parents, you will not attain these averages if you are severely malnourished as
are many children in third-world countries. A plant that is kept in the dark will not have a
chance to grow to its potential even if it inherited very strong traits from its parents. Weight
(mass) is not an inherited trait but is very reliant on environment (you eat too much, you gain
weight).

How Traits are Inherited

 Traits are characteristics that are heritable – they can be passed down from generation to
generation. Traits include things such as fur colour, eye colour, and skin colour.
 Genes are responsible for inherited traits. A single gene controls a single trait.
 Alleles are the “versions” of genes. If there was a jello gene, alleles would determine the
flavour of the jello.
 Some alleles for traits are dominant and some are recessive. Dominant traits show up far
more often in the offspring than recessive traits because the presence of a dominant allele
 always masks the recessive one. Dominant alleles are represented by a capital letter (i.e. A)
and recessive by lowercases (i.e. a).
 Organisms that have inherited the same allele from both parents are called purebred or
homozygous dominant (AA) or recessive (aa). If the offspring receives different kinds of
alleles from each parent, they are said to be hybrid or heterozygous (Aa).
 Incomplete dominance occurs when neither trait shows up – instead, the offspring has a
combination of the parent traits. For example, if you cross a red sweet pea flower with a
white sweet pea flower, the offspring may have pink flowers.
 Offspring may not have characteristics of either parent. For example, two blue-eyed
parents can have a brown-eyed child. Scientists now realize that some inherited
characteristics are controlled by multiple genes so it is not always predictable.

The following examples show how you can use Punnett squares to determine inheritance
patterns in offspring. Genotype refers to the genetic code (alleles) for the gene and
phenotype refers to the appearance of the gene trait.

For these examples, we will use dog fur colour as the inherited trait.
The dominant fur colour is black and this allele will be represented by “F”.
The recessive fur colour is white and this allele will be represented by “f”.
The mother’s alleles will be along the top and the father’s alleles will be along the side.

Mother is homozygous dominant (two dominant

F F alleles)
Father is heterozygous (one dominant, one
F FF FF recessive allele)
(black) (black) Offspring Genotypes:
50% of offspring are homozygous dominant
f Ff Ff 50% of offspring are heterozygous
(black) (black) Offspring Phenotypes:
All offspring are black.

GENETIC MATERIALS (Textbook pages 39-48, 67-71)

DNA

 A large molecule called DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), found in the nucleus of every cell, contains
a complete set of instructions for making a new individual following the same basic blueprint as
the parent. All life is related through the DNA molecule.
 The arrangement of only four chemicals (A-C-T-G or base pairs) can be combined in billions of
different ways to create all life. These chemical molecules make up the “steps” of the DNA
 ladder and they combine to form the genetic code. This code is similar for all living things but is
unique for each individual.
 DNA is packaged into chromosomes. Chromosomes are twisted into tight coils and contain
varying amounts of the genetic code. Humans have 46 chromosomes (23 pairs), each with a set
of instructions for specific parts of the human body.
 Genes are parts of chromosomes (they are a small splice out of the coil).
 If DNA was the instruction manual for making a human, it would have 46 pages (chromosomes),
100 000 paragraphs (genes), and millions of letters (alleles).

Cell Nucleus where all

of the DNA is stored Chromosome –
“packaged DNA”

Base Pairs (A, C, T, G) are

chemical molecules that make
up the rungs of the DNA
Gene – a
ladder. Their order
segment of
determines what traits this
the
particular organism will
chromosome
exhibit.
responsible Mitosis
for a and
particular Meiosis
trait – there
 Mitosis - are 100 000 Single
celled genes in
organisms can reproduce through mitosis where a cell divides human DNA. into two
parts, replicating all of its DNA in the process so that each new organism
has a complete blueprint. Mitosis is also used by multicellular organisms for growth and repair.
 Meiosis - Only used by organisms using sexual reproduction. It results in four gametes
(sperm/pollen and egg/ova) with half the number of chromosomes as normal cells. In this way,
when an egg and sperm combine, the zygote has the correct number of chromosomes to create a
new individual. If an incorrect number of chromosomes is donated to the zygote, you end up
with genetic abnormalities such as Down’s Syndrome.
 Gametes
(eggs/ova or sperm/pollen)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Reproduction Methods

 The advantage of sexual reproduction over asexual reproduction is that it increases

variability within a species since there are two parents involved. New combinations that are
better adapted to a changing environment are possible. The disadvantages are that not
many new individuals can be produced and a male and female gamete must be brought
together before fertilization can occur.
 The advantage of asexual reproduction is that you don’t need to find a mate and a large
number of new individuals can be reproduced quickly and in great number. However, they
are all exact duplicates of the parent so this does not increase the variability of the species
or its chance to adapt to changing environments.

Artificial Versus Natural Selection

 Natural selection is the process of survival of the fittest by which organisms that adapt to their
environment survive while those that do not adapt disappear. An example would be rabbits whose
camouflage allows them to survive. Their fur is white in the winter and brown in the summer.
If it were brown in the winter, they would be easy targets for predators. Natural selection of
forearms have allowed animals to adapt to many different environments over time (whale fin,
horse hoof, lion claw, primate hand, bat wing). Natural selection increases genetic diversity.
 Artificial selection is the human answer to natural selection. It has been used for hundreds of
years by humans. Instead of waiting for the strong to survive, we decide on specific traits that
would benefit humans. For example, we want crops that taste better and are more resistant to
drought. We want cows that produce more milk and more steak. We want horses that have
more stamina and speed. When we decide what trait we want, we begin to breed plants or
animals together that possess that particular trait so that their offspring, and subsequence
generations, will display that characteristic. Because you are breeding similar traits over and
over, artificial selection reduces genetic diversity.

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is the use of new technology to produce living things that can be used to improve
conditions for human beings by manipulating genetic materials.
 Artificial insemination – any artificial method of joining a male (sperm) and female (egg) gamete.
For example, sperm from a desirable bull are artificially inserted into female cows. The bull’s
sperm can impregnate more cows this way. Leads to less diversity.
 In vitro fertilization – many eggs from a prize female and many sperm from a prize male are
both removed and placed in a Petri dish where the egg is fertilized by the sperm. The
fertilized eggs are placed in several different cows who will give birth naturally.
 Genetic engineering – any technology that alters the DNA of an organism. Often it involves
inserting a gene from one species into another species. For example, bacteria (which reproduce
rapidly) have an insulin producing gene inserted so as they multiply, insulin is quickly produced
and can be harvested for diabetics.
 Cloning – Scientist’s attempt to do what plants do naturally – enable animals to reproduce both
sexually and asexually, creating an exact duplicate of the parent. Cloning is an issue that will be
hotly debated for years to come. Some believe we do not have the right to clone (basically
create life) while others see it as a way to solve many of society’s problems.
 Problems with biotechnology in animals – reduces biodiversity so that animals are less variable.
If they do become vulnerable to a disease or environmental change, there will be less likelihood
of species survival.
 Problems with biotechnology in plants – most plants started out as weeds and they can
crossbreed back to a half-plant/half-weed form which is resistant to herbicides. Also, because
of monoculture (all the same plant grown), a disease can come along and wipe out an entire crop.
With more diversity, some of the crop could survive.

HUMAN IMPACT ON BIODIVERSITY (Textbook pages 56-71)

Relative Abundance of Species

 The largest diversity of species is among insects since they have an uncanny ability to adapt to
any environment and survive. This gives them a great deal of variability. Bacteria have the
least number of species because they reproduce
through binary fission. That means that they do not
have a chance to adapt through natural selection.
They just mutate into a new species from time to
time. Number of
different
types of
organisms

Distance from Equator

 The more favourable an environment is to survival (for example warm, moist areas with
abundant food supplies such as the rain forest or coral reefs), the greater the diversity of life
you would expect to find. It is important for a healthy ecosystem to have as many different
habitats as possible. The further away from the equator one goes, the less diverse and
hospitable the habitats become and the number of different species that can exist decreases
proportionally.

Extinction and Extirpation

 The Oldman River Dam project in southern Alberta had a significant affect on the species living
in and near the river. This area now has a large reservoir above the dam and a decreased,
intermittent water flow below the dam. Several plant and animal species that relied on a normal
river system have now had to leave the area altogether.
 The grizzly bear and wolf used to roam the Alberta Prairies but now they are completely gone
from this habitat, only existing in the Rocky Mountains. When an animal permanently disappears
from an area it is said to be extirpated. Even this range is being destroyed thanks to building
of roads, housing, and oil and gas exploration. The Y2Y project is designed to give these animals
a corridor where they can roam from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to the Yukon and
find new populations to breed with. This is vital since variability of the genetic pool improves a
specie’s chance at survival.
 Extinction is the total disappearance of a species from the face of the Earth. Extinction is a
normal part of evolution, occurring over a long period of time through natural selection as a
species simply isn’t able to adapt quickly enough to environmental changes. We have also had
several mass extinctions due to natural disasters such as asteroid hits, volcanoes and ice ages.
Some species succumb to starvation or disease. The problem is that the extinction rate is
currently increasing. This is decreasing our level of biodiversity and is largely due to loss of
habitat and pollution of breeding sites with pesticides and herbicides. Some species become
endangered (in immanent danger of extinction) because their food source becomes extirpated.
This is especially true of species that have overspecialized food or habitats so they cannot
move to another area and adapt.

Possible Solutions to Decreasing Biodiversity

 Study plots are used to calculate the populations of an area. A measured area is marked out
and number of individuals counted. This area is then multiplied by the larger area to arrive
at an estimate of species or individuals in an ecosystem.
 Canada does not allow any product made from endangered species into the country.
 In-situ conservation involves creating protected areas, such as Y2Y for species with large
ranges like bears and wolves, allowing their breeding gene pool to increase.
 Restoration of destroyed habitat – Canada is striving to restore wetlands, wildlife corridors
and natural habitats.
 Controlling spread of exotic (non-native) species – purple loosestrife is forcing out native
species and steps have been taken to eliminate it.
 Ex-situ conservation – conservation outside of a natural habitat (usually zoos). For example,
some Vancouver Island marmots (an endangered species) were recently born at the Calgary
 zoo. Seed and sperm/egg banks are now storing the gametes for most species, including
endangered and non-endangered, to ensure that genetic diversity in plants and animals can
be maintained.

Issues

 Patented crop varieties, in particular those requiring extensive chemical or genetic

treatment, are an issue for many people. Much of our food is now genetically altered
without our knowledge and there are scientists who believe we have not yet studied the long
term possible effects in enough detail. The only way to be sure your food is not altered is
to purchase organically grown produce.
 Selective breeding in game farming and in rearing fish stocks is another issue. The traits of
these animals are being artificially selected by people and the animals are then released into
the natural environment. Many scientists are concerned that this will have an unbalancing
effect on natural selection in populations that are affected.

BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY VOCABULARY WORD SUMMARY

1. Darwin is most famous for his theory of natural selection which allows an organisms to
survive long enough to pass on its traits while others die.
2. Dog breeders have influenced what characteristics dogs will have through the process
of artificial selection.
3. A species is a group of organisms that have the same basic structure and can
reproduce viable offspring.
4. A species that has a wide variety of adaptations, allowing it to live in different
environments is said to have species variability.
5. Dichotomous keys are used as a classification tool to identify species.
6. Living things interact with non-living things in an ecosystem.
7. All of the same species sharing the same resources makes up a population.
8. Different species sharing the same resources make up a community.
9. A finch and a sparrow both eating the same type of seed would be an example of
interspecies competition.
10. Interspecies competition leads to a decrease in biodiversity since a few strong species
would win out.
11. An organisms that can find a unique niche is less likely to have a problem with
interspecies competition.
12. When members of the same species have slightly different niches that allow them to
share a food source or habitat, it is called resource partitioning.
13. One of the reasons bacteria are so successful is because of natural selection.
Resistant organisms live to breed and their offspring inherit their resistance. This is
called developing tolerance.
14. A bird builds a nest in a tree which benefits the bird and does no harm to the tree.
This is an example of commensalism.
15. A parasite needs to obtain its nutrients from a host which is harmed in the process.
16. Lichen consists of algae and fungus living together. The decaying algae is a food
source for the fungus and the fungus keeps the algae moist. When two organisms
benefit from a relationship, it is called mutualism.
17. A form of reproduction that only involves one individual is called asexual reproduction.
18. Bacteria reproduce when a single cell divides and creates an exact duplicate of itself.
This form of asexual reproduction is called binary fission.
19. Yeast and hydra commonly reproduce by replicating mini versions of themselves
through budding.
20. Spore are new individuals created by asexual reproduction from organisms such as
ferns and fungus.
21. A natural form of cloning occurs when plants reproduce through vegetative
reproduction.

22. Vegetative reproduction can include cuttings (plant grows from a piece of a leaf),
suckers (plant grows up from old roots), runners (plant grown from root extending on
top of the ground) or tubers (plant grows from large, underground roots).
23. Reproduction that involves two parents is called sexual reproduction.
24. Male sperm and female eggs are called gametes.
25. A zygote is the result of fertilization.
26. Sexual reproduction in plants occurs when the anther produces pollen (male) which
lands on the sticky stigma. The pollen grain starts to grow down through the style
(hollow tube) toward the plant’s ova (eggs) contained in the ovary.
27. Fertilization may occur from pollen produced by the plant itself, or by pollen produced
by another plant which is called cross pollination.
28. Traits are characteristics that are inherited from parents.
29. A trait such as eye colour, which can be passed down from generation to generation, is
called heritable.
30. Characteristics that have not been passed down but that help identify an individual
(i.e., talent, scars, body piercing) are non-heritable.
31. Discrete variations are characteristics defined as “either/or”. For example, you
either have attached earlobes or you have unattached earlobes.
32. Continuous characteristics occur over a range. For example, average height may be
from 5 feet to 6 feet tall.
33. When an offspring’s trait is a combination of the traits from mom and dad (i.e. white
and red flower creates pink offspring), it is call incomplete dominance.
34. DNA contains the entire blueprint for making a new individual.
35. Chromosomes are twisted “chunks” of DNA containing varying amounts of genetic
information.
36. Genes are located on chromosomes and contain information for one specific trait.
37. Offspring that inherit the same allele from both parents (i.e. BB) are called
homozygous or purebred.
38. Offspring that inherit different alleles from both parents (i.e. Bb) are called
heterozygous or hybrid.
39. Traits that always show up if the allele is present are called dominant.
40. Traits that only show up if two of the same alleles are present are called recessive.
41. The genotype describes the alleles of an offspring while the phenotype is the trait
appearance.
42. In order for sexually reproduced individuals to have half of the genetic code from
each parent, they have to rely on the process of meiosis which results in cells with half
of the number of chromosomes as other cells.
43. In order for cells to reproduce exact duplicates of themselves for growth and repair,
they must undergo the process of mitosis.
44. When a species disappears from Earth forever, it is extinct.
45. Grizzly bears no longer exist on the prairies and are said to be extirpated.
46. Study plots can be used to do counts of species within a small area and then estimate
the numbers in a much larger area.
47. Purple Loosestrife is an exotic (or non-native) species that has taken over the habitat
of native plant species living around Alberta wetlands.
48. Inserting desirable sperm into a number of different females is called artificial
insemination.
49. Making test tube babies, where egg and sperm are brought together in a Petri dish, is
called in-vitro fertilization.
50. when a foreign gene is inserted into the DNA of an organism, the scientific process of
genetic engineering is being used.
51. Zoos and seed banks from around the world are attempting to develop a collection of
male and female gametes that will increase genetic diversity of plants and animals.
This is called ex-situ conservation.
52. The Y2Y project (Yellowstone to Yukon) is an area where animals migrate into new
breeding territories so gene pools can increase. It is an example of in-situ
conservation.