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Phenotypic Variation
 Phenotypic variation can be caused in two main ways:
o It can be genetic - controlled entirely by genes
o Or it can be environmental - caused entirely by the environment in which the organism lives
Genetic variation
 Meiosis creates genetic variation between the gametes produced by an individual
 This means each gamete carries substantially different alleles
 During fertilization, any male gamete can fuse with any female gamete to form a zygote
 This random fusion of gametes at fertilization creates genetic variation between zygotes as each will
have a unique combination of alleles
 Zygotes eventually grow and develop into adults
 Examples of genetic variation in humans include:
o Blood group
o Eye colour
o Gender
o Ability to roll tongue
o Whether ear lobes are free or fixed

Whether earlobes are attached (lobeless) or free (lobed) is an example of genetic variation
Environmental variation
 Characteristics of all species can be affected by environmental factors such as climate, diet, accidents,
culture and lifestyle
 In this instance ‘environmental’ simply means ‘outside of the organism’ and so can include factors like
climate, diet, culture, lifestyle and accidents during lifetime
 Examples include:
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 o An accident may lead to scarring on the body
o Eating too much and not leading an active lifestyle will cause weight gain
o Being raised in a certain country will cause you to speak a certain language with a certain accent
o A plant in the shade of a big tree will grow taller to reach more light
Genetic and environmental causes
 Discontinuous variation is usually caused by genetic variation alone
 Continuous features often vary because of a combination of genetic and environmental causes, for
example:
o Tall parents will pass genes to their children for height
o Their children have the genetic potential to also be tall
o However if their diet is poor then they will not grow very well
o Therefore their environment also has an impact on their height
 Another way of looking at this is that although genes decide what characteristics we inherit, the
surrounding environment will affect how these inherited characteristics develop

Diploid vs Haploid
 A diploid cell is a cell that contains two complete sets of chromosomes (2n)
o These chromosomes contain the DNA necessary for protein synthesis and cell function
o Nearly all cells in the human body are diploid with 23 pairs (46) of chromosomes in their
nucleus
 Haploid cells contain one complete set of chromosomes (n)
o In other words they have half the number of chromosomes compared to diploid cells
o Humans have haploid cells that contain 23 chromosomes in their nucleus
o These haploid cells are called gametes and they are involved in sexual reproduction
o For humans they are the female egg and the male sperm
 Haploidy and diploidy are terms that can be applied to cells across different species
o They describe the number of sets of chromosomes, not the total number of chromosomes

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 Haploid and diploid cells.

Types of Variation
 Variation is defined as differences between individuals of the same species
 Variation can be divided into two types depending on how you are able to group the measurements:
o Continuous variation is when there are very many small degrees of difference for a particular
characteristic between individuals and they are arranged in order and can usually be measured on
a scale
 Examples include height, mass, finger length etc. where there can be many ‘in-between
groups
o Discontinuous variation is when there are distinct differences for a characteristic
 For example, people are either blood group A, B, AB or O; are either male or female; can
either roll their tongue or not - there are no ‘in-betweens'
 When graphs of these data are plotted, continuous variation gives smooth bell curves (a result of all the
small degrees of difference), whereas discontinuous gives a ‘step–like’ shape

Height is an example of continuous variation which gives rise to a smooth bell-shaped curve when plotted as
a graph

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 Blood group is an example of discontinuous variation which gives rise to a step-shaped graph
Mutations
 Mutations are rare, random changes that occur in the sequence of DNA bases in a gene or a
chromosome
 Mutations occur continuously
 As the DNA base sequence determines the sequence of amino acids that make up a protein, mutations
in a gene can sometimes lead to a change in the protein that the gene codes for
 Most mutations do not alter the protein or only alter it slightly so that its appearance or function is not
changed
 There are different ways that a mutation in the DNA base sequence can occur

Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

 Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection
o He came up with this theory as a result of observations from a round-the-world expedition, years
of experimentation and his knowledge of geology and fossils
 Evolution can be defined as the change in the frequency of a phenotype in a population over many
generations
 Darwin’s theory, very simply, is:
o Individuals in a species show a wide range of variation caused by differences in genes
o Individuals with characteristics most suited to the environment have a higher chance of
survival and more chances to reproduce
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 o Therefore these characteristics are passed to their offspring at a higher rate than those with
characteristics less suited to survival
o Over many generations, these beneficial characteristics become more common in the
population and the species changes (the species evolves)
 This idea of natural selection became known as ‘survival of the fittest’
 Darwin published his ideas in his famous book, On the Origin of Species (1859)
The acceptance of evolution
 The theory of evolution by natural selection was only gradually accepted because:
o There was much controversy surrounding these revolutionary new ideas
o The theory challenged the idea that God made all the animals and plants that live on Earth
o There was insufficient evidence at the time the theory was published to convince many
scientists
o The mechanism of inheritance and variation was not known until 50 years after the theory
was published
o The theory of evolution by natural selection developed over time and from information gathered
by many scientists
Examples of evolution by natural selection

Natural selection illustrated by snail shell colour

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 Another good example of natural selection is the evolution of the peppered moths
Exam Tip
There are many examples of natural selection but they ALL follow the same sequence described above:
 Within a species, there is always variation and chance mutation
 Some individuals will develop a phenotype (characteristic) that gives them a survival advantage and this
allows them to:
o live longer
o breed more
o be more likely to pass their genes on
 Repeated over generations, the ‘mutated’ phenotype will become the norm
Remember, it is the concept you have to understand, not the specific example.

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Antibiotic Resistance
 Antibiotics are chemical substances made by certain fungi or bacteria that affect the working of
bacterial cells, either by disrupting their structure or function or by preventing them from
reproducing
 Antibiotics are effective against bacteria but not against viruses
 Antibiotics target processes and structures that are specific to bacterial (prokaryotic) cells; as such they
do not generally harm animal cells

How antibiotics work

 The use of antibiotics has increased exponentially since they were first introduced in the 1930s
 In that time they have saved millions of lives

The introduction of antibiotics has had one of the largest impacts on global health, shown by this example in
the USA
 However, since their discovery and widespread use, antibiotics have
been overused and antibiotic resistance has developed in many different types of bacterial species
o Bacteria, like all organisms, have random mutations in their DNA
o One of these mutations may give them resistance to an antibiotic
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 o If an organism is infected with bacteria and some of them have resistance, they are likely to
survive treatment with antibiotics
o The population of the resistant bacteria will increase
o If the resistant strain is causing a serious infection then another antibiotic will be needed
o A strain of Staphylococcus aureus has developed resistance to a powerful antibiotic methicillin,
this is known as MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus)
o MRSA can infect wounds and is difficult to treat without antibiotics

Bacteria evolve rapidly as they reproduce quickly and acquire random mutations – some of which confer
resistance
Preventing resistant bacteria
 To reduce the number of bacteria that are becoming resistant to antibiotics:
o Doctors need to avoid the overuse of antibiotics, prescribing them only when needed – they may
test the bacteria first to make sure that they prescribe the correct antibiotic
o Antibiotics shouldn't be used in non-serious infections that the immune system will ‘clear up’
o Antibiotics shouldn't be used for viral infections
o Patients need to finish the whole course of antibiotics so that all the bacteria are killed and none
are left to mutate to resistant strains

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 o Antibiotics use should be reduced in industries such as agriculture – controls are now in place to
limit their use in farming
Reducing the spread of resistant strains
 Good hygiene practices such as handwashing and the use of hand sanitisers have reduced the rates of
resistant strains of bacteria, such as MRSA, in hospitals
 The isolation of infected patients to prevent the spread of resistant strains, in particular in surgical wards
where MRSA can infect surgical wounds
Antibiotics do not affect viruses
 Viruses cannot be treated with antibiotics
 This is because antibiotics work by disrupting cell functions such as respiration, or breaking down
the structure of the cell in some way
 However, viruses do not carry out any cell functions and do not have cell walls, cell membranes or
any cell organelles as viruses infect and utilise the machinery of animal cells to reproduce, which are
not affected by antibiotics.
 Therefore the action of antibiotics do not affect them

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Key Terms in Ecology
 There are several key terms that we use when referring to the various different components of an
ecosystem and their levels of organisation:
o A population is defined as a group of organisms of the same species living in the same place at
the same time
o A community includes all of the populations living in the same area at the same time
 Within a community, each species depends on other species for food, shelter, pollination,
seed dispersal etc
 If one species is removed it can affect the whole community
 This is called interdependence
o A habitat is the place where an organism lives
 E.g. badgers, deer, oak trees and ants are all species that would live in a woodland habitat
o An ecosystem is defined as all the biotic factors and all the abiotic factors that interact within
an area at one time
 The term 'biotic factors' includes all the living components such as plants and animals
 The term 'abiotic factors' includes all the non-living components such as light intensity,
mineral ions, water availability
 Ecosystems can vary greatly in size and scale
 A small ecosystem might be a garden pond
 A large ecosystem might be the whole of Antarctica

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 Levels of organisation in an ecosystem

Practical: Investigating Population Size

 Ecology is the branch of biology that studies:
o The distribution of species
o The abundance of species
o Interactions between species
o Interactions between a species and its abiotic environment
 Ecologists are biologists that study these interactions by investigating ecosystems
 One piece of equipment that might be used to investigate population size is a quadrat
Quadrats
 Quadrats are square frames made of wood or wire
 They can be a variety of sizes eg. 0.25m2 or 1m2
 They are placed on the ground and the organisms within them are recorded
 Plants species are commonly studied using quadrats to estimate the abundance

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 Using a quadrat to investigate population size or distribution
 Quadrats can be used to measure abundance by recording:
o The number of an individual species: the total number of individuals of a single species (eg.
buttercups) is recorded
o Species richness: the total number of different species (but not the number of individuals of each
species) is recorded
o Percentage cover: the approximate percentage of the quadrat area in which an individual species
is found is recorded (this method is used when it is difficult to count individuals of the plant
species being recorded eg. grass or moss

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 How to estimate percentage cover of one or more species using a quadrat
Investigating population size in 2 different areas using quadrats
Apparatus
 2 tape measures
 Quadrat
 Random number generator
 Species key
Method

How to estimate the population size of a plant species in a survey area. You must repeat steps 1-5 in the
second study area.

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Results
 Once the results have been collected and the averages calculated, we can compare the abundance of
the study species in each survey area
 Species abundance is likely to be influenced by biotic factors such as:
o Competition
o Predator-prey relationships
o Interactions with other organisms within the food chain or food web
 The abundance will also be influenced by abiotic factors such as:
o Light intensity
o Mineral availability
o Water availability
o pH
o Temperature
o Salinity
Limitations
 It can be easy to miss individual organisms when counting in a quadrat, especially if they are covered
by a different species
o Solution: Use a pencil or stick to carefully move leaves out of the way to check if there is
anything else underneath
 Identifying species may be tricky
o Solution: Use a species key to identify the species
Applying CORMS to practical work
 When working with practical investigations, remember to consider your CORMS evaluation

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CORMS Evaluation
 In this investigation, your evaluation should look something like this:
o C - We are changing the study area where we are collecting the data
o O - We will count the same species of organism in each quadrat
o R - We will repeat the investigation several times to ensure reliability
o M1 - We will count the number of the designated study species found across all quadrats
o M2 - this isn't really relevant in this scenario
o S - We will control the size of the quadrat, the random way that quadrats are placed on the
ground, the day that the results were collected
Exam Tip
Take care with your spelling of the word 'quadrat' it is commonly written as 'quadrant' by students in
examinations.
Types of Variation
 Variation is defined as differences between individuals of the same species
 Variation can be divided into two types depending on how you are able to group the measurements:
o Continuous variation is when there are very many small degrees of difference for a particular
characteristic between individuals and they are arranged in order and can usually be measured on
a scale
 Examples include height, mass, finger length etc. where there can be many ‘in-between
groups
o Discontinuous variation is when there are distinct differences for a characteristic
 For example, people are either blood group A, B, AB or O; are either male or female; can
either roll their tongue or not - there are no ‘in-betweens'
 When graphs of these data are plotted, continuous variation gives smooth bell curves (a result of all the
small degrees of difference), whereas discontinuous gives a ‘step–like’ shape

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Height is an example of continuous variation which gives rise to a smooth bell-shaped curve when plotted as
a graph

Blood group is an example of discontinuous variation which gives rise to a step-shaped graph

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