DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
TRENT UNIVERSITY
BIOL1020H WEB – FOUNDATIONS OF BIODIVERSITY
2022 Winter
BIOL1020 – Writing Assignment #1 (5% of final grade)
DUE: Monday, February 28, 2022 by 5:00 PM
Student assignment: Please fill in your answers to Writing Assignment #1 in this
document, re-save the document once you have answered the questions, and submit
an electronic copy in the drop box on Blackboard – found in the ‘Writing Assignment
#1’ Folder
Where appropriate, your answers should be in full sentences.
TOTAL MARKS = 23
1.
a. What is the biological classification for your species? Be sure to include the
taxonomic authority (full or abbreviated) given by ITIS and (if your
organism is an animal) the year. (3 marks)
Kingdom:
Phylum (or Division for plants):
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Species:
b. For scientific names of animals, what does the year after the taxonomic
authority refer to? (If your organism is a plant, you are still to answer this
question). (1 mark)
2.
a. What is the IUCN Red List Category and Criteria of your species (in full,
not the two-letter abbreviation)? (1 mark)
Provide a brief (1-2 sentences) definition for this category. (1 mark)
b. In what year was it assessed? You may need to click on the link for your
species name to get more information. (1 mark)
e. Include a screen capture of your organism’s page either from the IUCN or
the website from ‘d’, as appropriate to your organism. (1 mark)
OR (If your species is NOT listed on the Red List)
c. If your species is not listed on the Red List, it usually means that that species
does not have a particular conservation status. Assume that the conservation
status is the least concerning of the IUCN categories. What is the name of
this category? (1 mark)
Provide a brief (1-2 sentences) definition for this category. (1 mark)
d. The IUCN will refer you to a different source to find information on your
species if it is not listed in the IUCN. What is the name of this different
information source? (i.e., to where are you referred if your species is not on
the Red List?). (1 mark)
e. Include a screen capture of your organism’s page either from the IUCN or
the website from ‘d’, as appropriate to your organism. (1 mark)
3.
a. What is the distribution, or range of your species according to Catalogue of
Life? NOTE you are to summarize the distribution stated on the website
rather than cutting-and-pasting from the website. If there is no distribution
stated on the Catalogue, then state that and then look elsewhere for the
answer. (1 mark)
b. Is your species native to Canada? (You may have to look elsewhere to find
this information. It can be a website). (1 mark)
Regardless of where you find the answer, be sure to include a proper
citation. (1 mark for citation)
4. Find one scientific paper that mentions something about the ecology of the
species that you have identified. [The species might not be the sole subject of the
paper. The paper may mention this and several other species but do not worry about
that as long as it has something about its ecology or that of the community
(collection of species) that it lives with.]
a. Summarize the findings of the paper in your own words in 150 words or
less. (4 marks)
b. Provide the reference of the paper in the style indicated on pages 6-7 of
‘GUIDELINES FOR WRITING LAB REPORTS’ (Under ‘Writing
Assignment #2’ folder on Blackboard) (2 marks)
5. Find one scientific paper that mentions something about any other topic (e.g.,
conservation, taxonomy, physiology, genetics, agriculture) about your chosen
species.
a. Summarize the findings of the paper in your own words in 150 words or
less. (4 marks)
b. Provide the reference of the paper in the style indicated on pages 6-7 of
‘GUIDELINES FOR WRITING LAB REPORTS’ (Under ‘Writing
Assignment #2’ folder on Blackboard) (2 marks)
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
TRENT UNIVERSITY
BIOL1020H WEB – FOUNDATIONS OF BIODIVERSITY
2022 Winter
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 1 (5% of final grade)
This course examines the roots of biodiversity from descriptions of the variety of organisms in nature, to
their roles in the environment, and finally to the process of evolution that gave rise to those organisms.
Underlying our understanding of all of what biologists call ‘organismal biology’, is knowledge of the
taxonomy (the science dealing with the description, identification, naming, and classification of organisms),
and systematics (the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the
relationships between living things through time) of our particular group of interest (e.g., fish, birds,
insects, plants, fungi, etc.). Thus, to understand nature from the perspective of the whole organism, we first
need to be able to classify that organism. Classification comes from both early roots of simply identifying
organisms based on their phenotype (i.e., its observable characteristics or traits) (e.g., Linnaeus in the mid1700’s) to more recent advances in molecular biology, that allow us to identify organisms sometimes solely
on the basis of their genetic code (or at least a portion of that genetic code, e.g., DNA barcoding).
For this writing assignment you are to choose ONE of the following species listed below.
Assassin Bug
Dense Blazing Star
Bobolink
Pygmy Snaketail
Wild Bergamot
Northern Flicker
West Virginia White
Green Dragon
Horned Grebe
For your Writing Assignment (NOT a formal lab report) you will be using several websites to find a variety of
information on your chosen species. This will give you an idea as to what sorts of resources are freely
available to the public about taxonomy and the status of species globally.
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BIOL1020 – Writing Assignment #1 (5% of final grade)
DUE: Monday, February 28, 2022 by 5:00 PM
You are to complete the 5 questions below. Please use the ‘Writing Assignment # 1 Winter 2022’
file posted to Blackboard to fill in your answers, re-save the document once you have answered
the questions, and submit an electronic copy in the drop box on Blackboard – found in the
‘Writing Assignment #1’ Folder
Where appropriate, your answers should be in full sentences.
TOTAL MARKS = 23
1. The full biological classification of an organism consists of its domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order,
family, genus, and species. When reporting these, domain to family are written in regular font (i.e., not
bolded, underlined, or italicized), but there are particular, very specific conventions for reporting the
genus and species of an organism. Together these make up the scientific name of an organism. For
example, we belong to the species ‘Homo sapiens’, written in this particular style (both words in italics,
capital for ‘Homo’ but NOT for ‘sapiens’), and this is the style that you should use to write the scientific
name of your chosen organism (and all scientific names that you ever write during your career as a
Biologist!). Note also that the scientific name of an organism requires BOTH the genus name and the
species name. The genus ‘Homo’ can stand on its own, but you wouldn’t just say ‘sapiens’ to indicate the
human species – ‘Homo sapiens’ is correct. In literature that emphasizes taxonomy, scientific names are
often also followed by both the name of the ‘taxonomic authority’ and, if it’s an animal, a year (e.g.,
Homo sapiens, Linnaeus, 1758). [Note that ‘Linnaeus’ is not in italics]. It is acceptable (and common) for
the taxonomic authority to only be abbreviated (e.g., ‘L.’ for Linnaeus).
a. For your organism, list the kingdom, phylum (ITIS calls this ‘division’ if your organism is a
plant), class, order, family, genus, and species in the proper format. To find this, look up your
species using the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (www.itis.gov). Be sure to
include the taxonomic authority (full or abbreviated) given by ITIS and (if your organism is an
animal) the year. (3 marks)
b. For scientific names of animals, what does the year after the taxonomic authority refer to?
(If your organism is a plant, you are still to answer this question). (1 mark)
2. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (www.iucn.org) is the most authoritative
source on the conservation status of organisms on earth. Species that have been assessed are listed on
the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (www.iucnredlist.org). Use the search function to look up your
species. If it is listed, answer a, b, and e. It if is not listed, answer c, d, and e.
a. What is the IUCN Red List Category and Criteria of your species (in full, not the two-letter
abbreviation)? (1 mark)
Provide a brief (1-2 sentences) definition for this category. (1 mark)
b. In what year was it assessed? You may need to click on the link for your species name to
get more information. (1 mark)
OR
c. If a species is not listed on the Red List, it usually means that that species does not have a
particular conservation status. Assume that the conservation status is the least concerning of
the IUCN categories. What is the name of this category? (1 mark)
Provide a brief (1-2 sentences) definition for this category. (1 mark)
1-2
d. The IUCN will refer you to a different source to find information on your species if it is not
listed in the IUCN. What is the name of this different information source? (i.e., to where are
you referred if your species is not on the Red List?). (1 mark)
e. Include a screen capture of your organism’s page either from the IUCN or the website
from ‘d’, as appropriate to your organism. (1 mark)
3. Next, look up your species in the Catalogue of Life (www.catalogueoflife.org; “Monthly edition” Scroll
down to find it). The Catalogue of Life is an online database of the world’s known species. It currently
has information on 84% of ALL the species known to scientists! Click on the link of your species name
once you have searched for it.
a. What is the distribution, or range of your species according to Catalogue of Life?
NOTE: you are to summarize the distribution stated on the website rather than cutting-andpasting from the website. If there is no distribution stated on the Catalogue, then state that
and then look elsewhere for the answer. (1 mark)
b. Is your species native to Canada? (You may have to look elsewhere to find this information. It
can be a website). (1 mark)
Regardless of where you find the answer, be sure to include a proper citation. (1 mark for
citation)
For the next two questions you will need to use the searching tools that you learned during the Library Skills
Program. A scientific paper is a peer-reviewed paper, not a web site (although the paper could well be on a
web site) nor a book.
4. Find one scientific paper that mentions something about the ecology of the species that you have
identified. [The species might not be the sole subject of the paper. The paper may mention this and
several other species but do not worry about that as long as it has something about its ecology or that
of the community (collection of species) that it lives with.]
a. Summarize the findings of the paper in your own words in 150 words or less. (4 marks)
b. Provide the reference of the paper in the style indicated on pages 6-7 of ‘GUIDELINES FOR
WRITING LAB REPORTS’ (Under ‘Writing Assignment #2’ folder on Blackboard) (2 marks)
5. Find one scientific paper that mentions something about any other topic (e.g., conservation,
taxonomy, physiology, genetics, agriculture) about your chosen species.
a. Summarize these findings, also in 150 words or less. (4 marks)
[Note again that the species might be listed as one of many included in the study.]
b. Include the reference of the paper as you did for Question 4. (2 marks)
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