Adaptations and environmental change Flashcards
What are some features that have allowed desert animals to survive in the hot conditions?
1) They have a LARGE surface area to volume ratio (can lose more body heat)
2) Efficient with water. They produce small amounts of concentrated urine and they don’t sweat as much.
3) Thin layers of body fat and fur help them to lose body heat
4) They are often a sandy colour which helps them to be camouflaged allowing them to hide from predators or sneak up on prey.
How have Arctic animals adapted to reduce the amount of heat lost to the environment?
1) They have a SMALL surface area to volume ratio.
2) They are well insulated by a thick layer of fat and a thick layer of fur to reduce heat loss.
3) Camouflage allows the animals to avoid predators or sneak up on prey.
Give three features of a desert plant that allow them to conserve water.
1) Plants lose water from the surface of their leaves. To prevent this, some plants have spines instead of leaves. They need a small surface area to volume ratio.
2) They all have water storage tissue which allows water to be stored within the bulk of the plant. In cacti this is in the stem.
3) Root Systems are important to help the desert plant to gain the most amount of water possible. some plants have shallow roots that are broad but collect any rain before it has a chance to evaporate whilst others have a deep root system that goes very far underground to access deep underground water.
Why are some animals and plants able to deter predators?
There are three main reasons that animals and plants are able to deter predators. One of the features is armour- like roses (thorns), cacti (sharp spines) and tortoises (shells). Another feature is that some are able to produce poisons- like bees and poison ivy. Some animals and plants have warning colours- like wasps and some frogs.
What is an extremophile?
An extremophile is a micro-organism (such as bacteria) that has adapted to live in very extreme conditions like super hot volcanic vents, in very salty lakes or at high pressure on the sea bed.
List the things that plants and animals need to reproduce and compete for.
Plants- light, space, water and minerals
Animals- space, food, water and mates
What are some of the living and non-living factors that cause environmental change?
Living factors;
1) A change in the occurrence of infectious diseases.
2) A change in the number of predators.
3) A change in the number of prey or the availability of food sources.
4) A change in the number or types of competitors.
Non-living factors;
1) A change in the average temperature.
2) A change in rainfall.
3) A change in the level of air or water pollution.
What are some examples of living indicators that measure environmental change?
1) Some types of lichen are very sensitive to the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air. The more lichen, the cleaner the air.
2) Mayfly larvae are good indicators for water pollution because they are very sensitive to the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water. If you find mayfly larvae it indicates that the water is clean.
3) Rat-tailed maggots and sludge worms indicate a very high level of water pollution.
What are some examples of non-living indicators that measure environmental change?
1) Satellites measure the temperature of the sea surface and the amount of snow and ice cover.
2) Automatic weather stations tell us the atmospheric temperature at various locations.
3) They can measure rainfall using rain gauges
4) Dissolved oxygen meters measure how the level of water pollution is changing.
