Adaptations and Ecology

Question 1

What do animals compete for

Answer 1

food, water, space and mates

Question 2

What do plants compete for

Answer 2

light, space, water and minerals

Question 3

What are adaptations

Answer 3

specific features of living organisms that help them survive and reproduce in their environment

Question 4

what are structual adaptations

Answer 4

physical features that help an organism survive

Question 5

What are behavioural adaptations

Answer 5

the things organisms DO to survive

Question 6

How do animals in hot dry climates adapt

Answer 6

large thin ears 
thin fur
little body fat
large surface are to volume ration(more heat loss)
long limbs
often only come out at night

Question 7

What are the adaptations of a cactus

Answer 7

thick waxy cuticle to prevent water loss
no leaves or spines to reduce water loss
widespread to collect water

Question 8

How do animals in cold climates adapt

Answer 8

thick fur
fat under the skin fr insulation
fat,round body with short legs (reduce heat loss)
small ears

Question 9

What are the adaptations to feeding

Answer 9

herbivorous mammals have strong long back teeth to grind food
body colours to camoflouge from predators
eyes on side for wide field vision
carnivourous mamals have
eyes facing the front to judge distance better and cath prey
canine teeth to stab their prey

Question 10

What do food chains show

Answer 10

the flow of energy: arrow goes from food to feeder

Question 11

what is the inital source of energy

Answer 11

light energy from the sun

Question 12

why is the first level always a producer?

Answer 12

its the only stage that uses light energy and converts it to chemical energy (phtosynthesis)

Question 13

what happens if organisms die

Answer 13

energy flows to decomposers (fungi,bacteria)

Question 14

why cant food chains have more than 5 levels

Answer 14

only 10% of energy is transferred from one level to the next so after the 5th level there is no sufficient energy to sustain yet another level

Question 15

Why isnt all the energy and biomass transferred between levels

Answer 15

the organism used some of the energy when alive
not all part are eaten (bones,hair)
some lost as faeces
some lost a waste products(co2, urea)

Question 16

what is bioaccumulation

Answer 16

toxic substances accumulate in food chains (mercury)

Question 17

why does bioaccumulation happen

Answer 17

because higher trophic levels eat more individuals from the level below because biomass is lost so the concentration increases.

Question 18

what do food webs show

Answer 18

show the complex feeding relationships in a community

Question 19

what do pyramids of biomass represent

Answer 19

the biomass transferred between each trophic level (the length of the bar represents the biomass in a tropic level)

Question 20

what do pyramids of numbers represent

Answer 20

the number of species in the food chain in a habitat (The length of each bar represents the number of individuals in a trophic level)

Question 21

birth rate > death rate

Answer 21

population increases

Question 22

birth rate < death rate

Answer 22

population decreases

Question 23

birth rate=death rate

Answer 23

population stays constant

Question 24

how do you study plants or sessile animals in a habitat

Answer 24

using a quadrat or a line transect

Question 25

why is the human population increasing

Answer 25

people live longer
more food
better health care
more medicine
lower mortality of newborns