3.2 Energy in ecosystems

Question 1

What is an omnivore?

Answer 1

An organism that eats both plants and animals

Question 2

What is a carnivore?

Answer 2

An organism that only eats animals

Question 3

What is a consumer?

Answer 3

An organism which consumes other organisms for food

Question 4

What is a pyramid of energy?

Answer 4

A diagram of the total energy contained within each stage of the food chain. They are always pyramid shaped

Question 5

What resources do plants compete for?

Answer 5

• light
• water
• space

Question 6

What resources do animals compete for?

Answer 6

• food
• water
• shelter
• mates

Question 7

Which is interspecific competition?

Answer 7

when competition occurs between organisms of different species

Question 8

What is intraspecific competition?

Answer 8

When competition occurs between organisms of the same species. It is more intense than interspecific competition as organisms are competing for exactly the same resources

Question 9

How can energy be passes onto the next stage in the food chain?

Answer 9

growth

Question 10

What is prey?

Answer 10

An organism that is hunted by a predator/another animal

Question 11

How can energy be lost in a food chain?

Answer 11

• heat
• movement
• undigested materials

Question 12

How much energy. is lost at each stage in the food chain

Answer 12

90%

Question 13

What may intense competition result in?

Answer 13

death of an organism or being forced to leave the ecosystem

Question 14

What is the definition of ecosystem?

Answer 14

All the organisms living in an environment and the non-living components with which the organisms interact. There is a limited supply of nutrients in any ecosystem.

Question 15

What is a producer?

Answer 15

an organism which produces its own food via photosynthesis

Question 16

What is the role of a secondary consumer?

Answer 16

a secondary consumer is an animal that eats primary consumers

Question 17

What is the role of a primary consumer?

Answer 17

An organism that eats the producers

Question 18

What is a pyramid of numbers?

Answer 18

A diagram of the total number of organisms at each stage of a food chain. The size of each organism increases as you move up the food chain. The numbers of each organism decreases as you move up the food chain (most of the time)

Question 19

Name an alternative to fertiliser and why it can be used

Answer 19

peas and clovers-they contain bacteria in their root nodules that can convert nitrogen gas to nitrates

Question 20

What is a predator?

Answer 20

an organism that hunts prey/other animals

Question 21

Name what plants and animals require to produce proteins

Answer 21

nitrogen

Question 22

When does competition occur?

Answer 22

when resources are in short supply

Question 23

What is a herbivore?

Answer 23

an organism that only eats plants