Term
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Definition
| The change over time in the genetic makeup in a population. |
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Term
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Definition
| How organisms adapt to their environments and change when their environments change. |
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Term
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Definition
| Organisms best suited to the environment have the most resources for survival and reproduction and pass the beneficial traits to offspring. |
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Who create the theory of natural selection?
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Definition
| Charles Darwin in his book “On the Origin of Species” in 1859. |
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“descent with modification”
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Definition
| Modifications accumulated from generation to generation that can ultimately result in new species. |
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What evidence supports Darwin's theory?
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Definition
- antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria
- homology between distantly related organisms
- human adaptation to the environment |
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Term
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Definition
The inability to metabolize lactose, because of a lack of required enzyme lactase in the digestive system.
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Term
Why drinking milk could have provided strong favorable selection for lactase persistence?
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Definition
| Drinking milk made more and more people rely on the lactase enzyme to produce in the body and break down lactose so through generations more and more people began to create more of the enzyme lactase needed to break down lactose. |
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How did Darwin survey most of his observations?
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Definition
| A five year mission aboard the Beagle as a naturalist. |
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Term
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Definition
| 14 closely related species of finches Darwin observed in the Galapagos Islands. |
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Term
How do new traits emerge in a population?
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Definition
| Mutations occur randomly in a population giving rise to new traits. Over time species change to adapt to their environment and those traits that benefit the species over time become common in the population. |
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How does natural selection change the frequency of a trait in a population?
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Definition
| The frequency of a trait can change to become more or less frequent depending on the benefits or risks the trait cause the species. Over time negative traits in a population are replaced with positive traits that better the population for survival. |
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Term
Which two observations led Darwin to construct a logical argument for evolution by natural selection? |
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Definition
- individuals in a species vary to some degree in traits
- a species produces more offspring than actually survives to mature and reproduce
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Term
What can happen when mutations occur in a gene?
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Definition
| It can give rise to a new trait. |
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Term
variations in DNA sequences
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Definition
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Term
Alleles under positive selection quickly increase in frequency in a population.
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Definition
| When an allele is common in a population, scientists suspect that the trait it is producing is adaptive and that the trait is the result of natural selection. |
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Term
What is sickle cell disease?
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Definition
A disease passed down through generations in which red blood cells form an abnormal sickle or crescent shape. Red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen through the body to other cells.
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Term
What causes malaria disease?
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Definition
| Malaria is caused by a parasite that lives on a female mosquito of the Anopheles genus. The parasite is transferred to a potential victim when he or she is bitten by a mosquito. |
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Why has the sickle cell disease become so prevalent in certain East African populations?
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Definition
| One copy of the sickle cell allele protects against malaria. Malaria is prevalent in the lowlands of East Africa, and so the sickle cell allele became common because it provided protection against malaria. As a result, sickle cell disease also became common because two copies of the disease in a chromosome cause sickle cell anemia. |
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Term
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Definition
| A combination of both selective and random events in an environment. |
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Term
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Definition
| The change in allele frequencies in a population over time. |
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Term
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Definition
| The transfer of alleles between populations as a result of migration. |
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Term
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Definition
| The fluctuations in allele frequencies in a population because of random events. |
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Term
Why are gene flow and genetic drift not selective forces for evolution?
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Definition
| These are random events that occur in an environment that could have negative or positive affects on evolution. Selective forces only try to better species. |
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Term
How did natural selection favor dark-colored mice?
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Definition
| Dark-colored mice evolved to blend with the environment around them to better conceal their location from predators. |
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Term
Why were dark-colored mice more fit than light-colored mice?
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Definition
| Dark-colored mice are able to blend in with the darker terrain around them while the light-colored mice stand out to predators and are considered the snickers of desert. |
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Term
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Definition
| The study of the interactions of organisms with their environment and other organisms. |
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Term
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Definition
| The relative abundance of different organisms in a community or an area. |
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Term
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Definition
| The number of different species in a community or area. |
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Term
abiotic environmental factors
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Definition
| The basic, nonliving components that affect ecosystems. |
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Term
biotic environmental factors
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Definition
| All living things in the environment. |
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Term
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Definition
| when two or more organisms rely on the same environmental resource. |
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Term
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Definition
| behavior of one animal feeding on another. |
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Term
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Definition
| the close relationship of two non-similar organisms |
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Term
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Definition
| a symbiotic relationship where both organisms benefit |
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Term
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Definition
| a symbiotical relationship where one organism benefits and the other one does not benefit but is unharmed. |
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Term
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Definition
| a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and one is harmed. |
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Term
How do organisms interact with each other?
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Definition
- Most communities are dynamic, meaning some species die out or leave the community and new species evolve or immigrate to the community.
- Genetic modifications that allow an organism to become fitter to live in a particular community are called adaptations.
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Term
How can humans impact ecology?
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Definition
Directly: clearing, filling, or otherwise reshaping land for agriculture or construction.
Indirectly: ozone depletion, acid rain, and the greenhouse effect. |
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Term
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Definition
The seasonal changes over a long period of time. A relatively abrupt shift in weather patterns during the last hundred years. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| when volcanoes erupt, they emit a mixture of gases and particles into the air. Some of them, such as ash and sulphur dioxide, have a cooling effect, because they reflect sunlight away from the earth. Others, such as CO2, cause warming by adding to the greenhouse effect. |
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Term
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Definition
| patterns by which Earth’s eccentricity, tilt, and precession change over hundreds of thousands of years. Slight changes to ay of these can cause major climate changes because of their influence on the amount of sun radiation that reaches Earth’s surface. |
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Term
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Definition
| a natural event occurring every 3 to 7 years that contributes to a warming in the Central Pacific Ocean. This warming alters the interactions among wind, ocean current, and rain patterns, producing major changes to weather conditions. During this event, the trade winds decrease, shifting the warming of the sea and the rainfall patterns that go with it to the east. This leads to heavy rainfall on the east side of the Pacific and drought conditions to the west. |
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Term
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Definition
| Compounds in the atmosphere that trap heat radiation from Earth’s surface. |
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Term
What are the consequences of climate change?` |
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Definition
- global warming
- ice melting
- rising sea levels
- extreme weather
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Term
What can be done to help drastic climate changes? |
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Definition
- sustainable and renewable energy sources
- reduce CO2 emissions
- energy efficient vehicles and buildings
- better management of forests
- climate-friendly farming
- reduce and recycle waste
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