abiotic and biotic factors

Question 1

how does light intensity affect the community?

Answer 1

light is needed for photosynthesis- more light leads to an increase in rate of photosynthesis and an increase in growth rate

Question 2

how does temperature affect the community?

Answer 2

affects the rate of photosynthesis in plants

Question 3

how do moisture levels affect the community?

Answer 3

plants and animals require water to survive

Question 4

how does soil pH and mineral content affect the community?

Answer 4

different species of plants are adapted to different soil pH levels and nutrient concentration levels

Question 5

how does wind intensity and light direction affect the community?

Answer 5

wind speed affects transpiration rate in plants
transpiration affects the rate of photosynthesis as it ensures water and mineral ions are transported to the leaves

Question 6

how does carbon dioxide levels for plants affect the community?

Answer 6

CO2 is required for photosynthesis
CO2 concentration affects the rate of photosynthesis

Question 7

how does oxygen levels for aquatic animals affect the community?

Answer 7

some aquatic animals (fish) can only survive in water with high oxygen concentrations

Question 8

how does availability of food affect the community?

Answer 8

more food means organisms have a higher chance of surviving and reproducing- their populations can increase

Question 9

what is an example of availability of food?

Answer 9

rainforest ecosystems have a rich food supply and this allows many species to live there
deserts have a poor food supply- allows fewer species to live here

Question 10

how do new predators affect the community?

Answer 10

in balanced ecosystems, predators catch enough prey to survive but not so many that they wipe out the whole prey population
if a new predator is introduced to the ecosystem, it may become unbalanced

Question 11

what is an example of new predators in communities?

Answer 11

red foxes were introduced in the 1805’s- they have caused a decline in species

Question 12

how do new pathogens affect the community?

Answer 12

if a new pathogen enters the ecosystem, the populations living there will have no immunity/ resistance to it- the population may decline/ be wiped out

Question 13

how does competition affect the community?

Answer 13

if 2 species compete for the new resources and one is better adapted to take advantage of these resources, that species will outcompete the other- this will continue until there are too few members of the lesser adapted species to breed successfully