Module 3 Biological Diversity

Effects of the Environment on Organisms

Inquiry Question: How do environment pressures promote a change in species diversity
and abundance?
Predict the effects of selection pressures in ecosystems, including:
- Biotic factors – living (fungi, plants)
- Abiotic factors – non-living (wind, water)

Biotic Factors
- Biotic selection pressures that affect ecosystems:
o Availability of food  low food availability = decreases in population + abundance
o Mates  able to fund mate = reproduction + increase in population + abundance
o Predators  high amount of predators = decrease in prey population + abundance
o Competitors  high amount of competitors = competition for resources + decrease
in population

If biotic selection pressures are positive  population abundance and diversity increase. If selection
pressures are negative  population abundance and diversity decrease.

Abiotic Factors
Abiotic selection pressures that affect ecosystems:

- Temperature
- Oxygen availability  low oxygen = low respiration + decrease in organisms that can inhabit
the environment
- Water availability  low water = competition for water + decrease in abundance species

If abiotic selection pressures are positive  increase in abundance and diversity. If abiotic selection
pressures are negative  decrease in abundance and diversity.

- Ecosystems
o Combination of all the organisms, biotic and abiotic, living in a community and how
they interact
o Organisms with favorable characteristics/adaptions that are uniquely suited for the
ecosystem will ultimately survive better
o Diversity and abundance are due to variation in biotic and abiotic factors
o Environment refers to the surroundings or dwelling place of all living things 
habitat or setting
o Abiotic factors directly influence selection pressures on organisms
o Terrestrial
 Found on land
 Dessert, grasslands, forest, woodland
o Aquatic
o Wetlands, mangrove swamps, rivers, lakes
o Salt concentration, light availability
- Selection Pressures in an Ecosystem
o Selection pressures are all the factors of an ecosystem that influences changes of
survival
o Natural selection is a process whereby species which have traits that enable them to
adapt in an environment survive and reproduce, and then pass on their genes to the
next generation
o Drives natural selection
o Those individuals within the population that have random variations that make them
better suited to survive in the changed environment are more likely to survive.
o Genetic based variation are passed from preserving parents to offspring
o Biodiversity is essential for a surviving population  If all organisms were the same,
no organisms could adapt to new conditions
o Abiotic pressures:
 Temperature
 Light intensity
 Pressure
 Salt concentration
 Water availability
o Biotic Factors
 Competition
 Prey availability
 Predation
- Abundance and Distribution
o Abundance  how many individuals of that species live throughout an ecosystem
o Distribution  where it is found
o Both abiotic and biotic factors affect these
- Ecology
o The study of interrelationships between different types of organisms and between
organisms and their environment
o Determines the distribution and abundance of flora and fauna
o Determines measures of populations in areas
o Studies the patterns that are formed  increase or decrease in population

- Population Trends
o Examining population trends can lead to inferences about the species and what
abiotic and biotic characteristics they are most suited too.
- Changes in Populations Over Time
o Members in population that survive and reproduce in their habitat carry the traits
most suitable for the conditions
o Example Cane Toads
 Introduced to Australia in 1935 to control the greyback cane beetle in sugar
plantations
 Increase at a fast rate
 Specific structural adaptions and behaviors to suit Australia
  Feed at night, no predators, breed all year, absorb water through
skin
 The cane toads are evolving to be faster, but more prone to arthritis
 Predators have increased resistance to the toxin and those reluctant to eat
cane toads are ones that survive and reproduce
 Red belly black snakes have gotten smaller due to the inability to consume
the frogs  Snakes big enough to eat them die due to the toxin
 The northern quoll has developed a toad aversion mechanism to avoid the
consumption of cane toads
 Change in distribution and abundance over time
 Spread quickly from Northern Queensland to Northern Territory and
Northern New South Wales
 From 102 toads when first introduced to now 200 million

Adaptions
Inquiry Question: How do adaptions increase the organism’s ability to survive?
Organisms have different characteristics that enable them to survive and reproduce in different
environments. This is known as adaption. Adaptions enable plants/animal to: live in extreme
environments, access resources and mates and defend themselves.

- Adaptions
o Organisms are adapted to survive in their natural environment as a result of
evolutionary change by natural selection
o An adaption is a characteristic that an organism has inherited and makes it suited for
its environment
o It is a result of change that arise via mutation, when a cell divides and replicated
during the process of reproduction
o Structural Adaption
 How an organism is built
o Physiological
 How an organism functions
o Behavioral
 How an organism acts and behaves

- Structural Adaption
Are anatomical features that improv an organism’s ability to cope with abiotic and biotic factors in
their environment. Appropriate adaptions increase the chance of survival and reproduction. Body
shape and size are structural adaptions. Example: thick fur to survive the cold

- Structural Adaption – Plants

o Desert plants are able to balance photosynthesis and water for cooling purposes
without risking dehydration
o Xenophytes → Structural adaptations to maximise absorption and storage or water
and minimal loss of water
 o Eucalypts → Waxy leaves to minimise transpiration of water and exposure to
sunlight
o Cypress Pines → Tiny cylindrical leaves to have a small SA:V ratio
- Structural Adaption – Animals
o Thorny Devil
 Has spikes on its body to make it look more ferocious as well as being harder
to swallow by prey

Has scales that absorb water straight into its mouth

Gold and brown camouflages in dessert
o Wombat
 Muscular shoulders and large claws used for extensive digging
 Pouch to protect joeys from dirt whilst digging
- Physiological Adaptions
Internal features of an organisms that enable them to survive in their environment example:
camouflaging

- Physiological Adaptions – Plants

o Salt tolerant plants are able to maintain metabolic functioning through their cells
accumulate sodium and chloride ions
o Minimise salt toxicity by increasing water content in vacuole
- Physiological Adaptions – Animals
o Penguins, seals and polar bears convert a lot of their diet to a fat layer to insulate
them from the cold
o Some animals slow down their metabolic rates so their overall temperature is cooled
o Cane toads dig a water tight mucus cocoon for cooling
- Behavioural Adaptions
Are actions that an organism takes to improve survival and reproduction. Example: seeking or
leaving shade/shelter

- Behavioral Adaptions – Plants

o The venus flytrap has adapted to live in nitrogen-poor soils which it obtains via
insects
o It can act rapidly when it detects an insect
o Insect becomes trapped and the plant absorbs its nutrients
- Behavioral Adaptions – Animals
o Puffer fish pumping air into their stomachs and blow up twice their size to frighten
predators
o Penguins route in packs to reduce time spent in the cold

- Darwin in the Galapagos Islands

o Darwin observed small ground finches on the Galapagos Islands
o The shape of their beak was observed  size, of beaks differed
o Naturally occurring changes in colour, beak size and leg length
o Depending on which island they lived on, and the conditions they found themselves
in, some birds thrive and reproduce
 o Charles Noted:
 There is a variation in all populations with many variations heritable
 There are more organisms born then the environment can sustain
 Those individuals that have more suitable characteristics survive
 Survivors pass on traits to offspring
 Favorable traits will become more numerous it the environment is stable

- Survival of the Fittest

o Variation exists with more population
o More offspring are produced that can survive
o The offspring better adapted will survive and reproduce
o The favorable characteristics are passed on
o Overtime favorable characteristics will increase in the population

Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

Inquiry Question: What is the relationship between biodiversity and evolution?
- The theory of evolution by natural selection
o Diversity allows adaptions to change in an environment
o Species have been developing for billions of years
o All theories of evolution share a common basic premises
 Living organisms arose from common ancestors or a common life form and
have changed over time
 Differences that occur among groups of living organisms imply that living
things change over time
 Similarities occur in living things and suggest a common ancestry: the basic
chemistry, inherited from a common life form, has remained relatively
unchanged and has been passed down through generations.
- Biological Diversity
o The variety of forms of life on earth, the diversity of the characteristics of living
organisms and the variety of their ecosystems
o Diversity allows for adaptions
o Three levels of biodiversity
 Genetic  Genetic makeup in a species
 Species  Measure of the diversity of species
 Ecosystem  Variation of different ecosystems
- Genetic Diversity
o Importance for the population to be able to adapt
o Environments are constantly changing and pose selection pressures that enable
some organisms with favorable characteristics to survive and reproduce
o NO variation in the population will be more detrimental for an invasive organism or
pressure
o More genetic diversity = more chance of survival
- Concept of Natural Selection
o Organisms must possess traits that favor their survival in that environment
o Variability  all populations have random differences or variations among members
o Heritability  variation must be inherited
o Over Reproduction  organisms produce more offspring than what the ecosystem
can sustain
o Competition  the best suited traits will ultimately thrive and reproduce
o If there is a sudden change in the environments, those individuals that randomly
possess a variation that is an advantage, they are more likely to survive the changed
conditions
- Diversification of Life on Earth
o The move form unicellular organisms to multicellular organs began when these cells
clustered together
o Life began to diversify further with a rise in invertebrates to fish and amphibians
o Followed by the dominance of reptiles
o Mammal’s species then began to dominate
o Selection pressures lead to the thrive and extinction of species
- Microevolution vs Macroevolution
o Microevolution  shorter periods and results in changes of a particular species, but
does not create a new species
 Small changes can lead to dramatic difference
 New varieties or races (e.g. Dog Breeds)
o Macroevolution  takes place over millions of years, usually results in new species
- Evolution of the Horse
o Evolution of the horse is microevolution
o Has a complete fossil record
o Mammal belonging to the family Equidae
o Evolved over 50 million years from a dog-sized, forest-dwelling animal called
Hyracotherium
 o Shares a common ancestor with tapirs and rhinoceroses
o Has a branching nature
o The fossil record showed there were several different migrations, changes in trends
from smaller to larger sizes as well as reduction in size. The rate of evolutionary
change did not appear to be constant.
o Fossils have shown changes in body size, number of toes and dentition (which is
teeth – development of grinding surfaces)
o Genetic variation is caused by mutations, natural selection, genetic drift and
speciation which has all contributed to the evolution of the horse
o Microevolution can occur when a series of mutations leads to a change in gene
frequency in a population. This change in the gene pool is due to chance and is
called genetic drift. If a population becomes isolated speciation might occur
o A small population with a mutated gene may become separated from the main
population, causing the mutated gene to increase in the population as interbreeding
occurs. If the change is favourable it is selected for (it increases chance of survival)
o This isolated population evolves to become significantly different from the original
population and eventually if brought back together they would not be able to
interbreed, resulting in the formation of a new species.
- Convergent Vs Divergent Evolution
o Convergent
 Distantly related species which have moved to similar environment and are
exposed to similar selection pressures to evolve similarly
 Similar habitats, similar variation would be favoured by natural selection to
enable them to survive
o Divergent
 Share a common ancestor, organisms moved to different habitats (exposed
to new pressures) another name: adaptive radiation – radiation means
spreading out and adapt means change to their new environment
 Ancestral species radiates into a number of descendant species with both
similar and different traits
 Usually influenced by various selection pressures
 An example would be Darwin’s Finches
- Gradual Natural Selection vs Punctuated Equilibrium
o Gradualism
 Populations slowly diverge by accumulating changes in characteristics
 Suggest that transitional forms should exist
 Common ancestor
 Small variation
o Punctuated Equilibrium
 Occurs in short bursts of rapid change, followed by long period of stability
within populations
 Mutations are passed on
Evolution – The Evidence
Inquiry Question: What is the evidence that supports the Theory of Evolution by Natural
Selection?
- Biochemical Evidence
o All living things share the same macromolecules such as proteins and DNA and
biochemical process such as cellular respiration
o Biochemistry is the study of chemicals found in sound
o More closely related species have more similar DNA and proteins
o Similarities imply they had a common ancestor
o Amino Acid Sequencing
 Proteins are a component of all living organism
 Made up of amino acids
 The sequence of amino acids in the protein is analyzed and similarities and
differences between organisms are identified
 Differences imply the organism has evolved
 Number of differences is proportional to the length pf time since the
organism separated
o DNA Hybridization
 Samples of DNA are removed from two different organism
 The separated strands of the species to be compared are then mixed
 The two strands combine (reassociation) and form a ‘hybrid’ DNA molecule
 The more closely matched the DNA, the tighter the binding
 Heat is applied to determine how tightly the DNA strands have combined.
More closely related species have more similar sequences of bases and
therefore the strands bind tightly
o DNA Sequencing
 The exact order of bases in DNA of one species is compared with a similar
fragment of another species
 A piece of DNA is isolated from each organism
 Multiple copies are made, ad dye is used to label the bases
 A DNA sequencer is used to graph and print out the sequence of bases,
which are then compared
 Organisms that share a common ancestor share fewer differences
 Provides more detailed information than other biochemical methods
- Comparative Anatomy
o Study of similarities and differences in the structure of living things
o More similarities imply the organism have separated from a common ancestor
recently
o Homologous Structurers (Divergent Evolution)
 Differences in structure represent modification
 Organisms that have the same basic plan to their structure but show
modifications are called homologous – they have the same evolutionary
origins
o Analogous Structures (Convergent Evolution)
 Structures that look similar but are very different (e.g. wins of bird and wings
of grasshopper)
 May have started off differently y over time evolve to look similar
 e.g. Australian Echidna and European Hedgehog
 Do not show evolutionary relatedness – shows the evolution of structures
for a common purpose
o Vestigial Structures
 Evolutionary remnants of body parts that no longer serve a useful function
 Provides evidence of common ancestry
 E.g. presence of coccyx and appendix in humans
- Comparative Embryology
o Comparison of development stages of an organism
o Related species show similarities in development
o Fish, mammals, amphibians, birds
- Biogeography
o Study of the distribution of organisms
o For a new species to arise, it must be genetically isolated
- Fossil Evidence
o Fossils provide direct evidence of the existence of an organism in the past
o The sequence in which fossils are laid down in a rock reflects the order in which they
were formed
o Law of Superposition
 Further down in a rock represent and older fossil
o Relative dating relies on the assumption that the fossils higher up in the rock are
younger than the lower fossils  Fossils are dated relative to one another
o Absolute dating enables the actual age of the specimen to be determined by using
radioactive elements that are present
- Modern Day Evolution
o Cane Toad
 Faster and larger cane toads have reproduced more, hence the whole
population is slowly getting faster
 Red belly black snakes have developed a smaller mouth so they are
incapable of consuming the organism
 There is no selection pressured on the cane toad, hence they will be able to
continue to reproduce at exponential rates
o Antibiotic resistant Bacteria
 Antibiotics are chemical that inhibit the growth of bacteria or destroy them
 target cell wall and inhibit cell metabolism
 When penicillin and other antibiotics were introduced, the threat posed by
infection was reduced
 However, strains of bacteria have developed that are not affected by
antibiotics
 The bacteria that survive passes on genes which leads to a whole new
variation of bacteria.