Area of Study 4 Dynamic Ecosystems Flashcards
Ecosystem
A system of organisms interacting with one another and their non-living surroundings
Community
A group of different species living together and interacting with one another in a particular habitat
Habitat
A physical place where and organism lives
Biotic factor
The influences of the living parts of a ecosystem
Abiotic factors
The influences of the non-living parts of the ecosystem
What are the considerations in naming an ecosystem
1-Use the name of the major abiotic factor e.g Sand dune, open ocean
2-The dominant species e.g eucalyptus forest, mangrove swamp
3-A description of the plant community using a combination of the tallest or most dominant plant and the percentage sunlight coverage of the canopy e.g closed forest
Open ecosystem
Can have species going in and out of the ecosystem
Closed ecosystem
Are relatively self contained and do not require any external input to preserve the species with in it.
predation
The preying of other species
Competition
A type of behaviour that occurs between organisms competing for resources.
Symbiosis
A relationship existing between organisms of different species that live together and function in close association with one another
What are the types of symbiosis
Parasitism
Mutualism
Commensalism
What are the types of competition
Inter and intra specific
Ecology
The study of reaction ships between organisms and their environment
Interspecific competition
Competition that exists between members of different species.
Intraspecific competition
Competition that exists between members of the same species
Prey switching
A behaviour of predators with multiple prey species to switch to the species that is more abundant in population.
give examples of adaptations that prey have made to identify, locate, and capture their prey
And give a species that would use it
Filter feeding~whale for krill
Co-ordinated group attack~Wolfs hunting
Use of tools~black-breasted buzzard, breaks open eggs
Speed to our run prey~cheetah to catch gazelle
Binocular vision~ most predators have this for better spatial awareness
Traps and lures~spiders to catch insects
Camouflage~owls in trees
Counter adaptations
An adaption made by the species to combat being detected subdued and eaten by a predator.
Give examples of counter adaptations
And
Give examples of organisms who use them
Camouflage~Stick insect Visual deception~butterflies (false eyes) Large groups~meerkats Chemical defences~ skunk Venom~scorpion Weaponry~elk
Batesain mimicry
A form of mimicry in which a harmless species mimics the colours and patterns of a toxic species
Müllerian mimicry
A form of mimicry in which a unpalatable species seem to resemble each other, this is done using the warning colours: Yellow, orange and or black
Parasitism
A symbiotic relationship in which a organism benefits at the cost of harm to another organism
Ectoparasite
Parasites that live externally on the host.
Ticks
Endoparasites
Parasites that live within the host organism.
Mutualism
A symbiotic relationship in which both parties are benefited in some way.
Obligate mutualism
A type of mutualism in which to species can not survive with out each other
Facultative mutualism
A mutualism if relationship in which organisms do not completely rely on each other for survival
Commensalism
A symbiotic relationship in which one organism is benefited while the other is not effected
Antibiosis
Describes chemical inhibition of one organism by the other.
Allelopathy
A process where plants release toxic compounds that inhibit growth of other plants.
Autotoxicity
A process where a parent plant inhibits the growth of its own seedlings through toxic compounds.
Population
A group of organisms from the same species occupying the same geographical area
Distribution
Geographic range over which individuals in the population live
Density
Number of organisms per unit area
Abundance
The actual number of individuals in a population
Population dynamics
Populations are dynamic and can change from season to season
Population growth rate
The change in total population size by unit time
What are the factors in population change?
Death, Births, Migration(Immigration, Emmigration)
Death rate
The number of individuals dying per unit time
Birth rate
The number of births per unit time
Migration
The movement of organisms into(immigration) and out of(emigration) the population
How do you calculate population growth
Growth rate=(B+I)-(D+E) B- Birth rate I- Immigration D- Death rate E- Emigration
Population density
Number of individuals per unit area or volume in aquatic environments. Can be low or high
Population distribution
Describes the location of individual with in an area
What are the three types of distribution?
Random
Clumped
Uniform
Random distribution
Where organisms position them selves independently of others but not necessarily isolated from others.
Clumped distribution
The most common in nature where organisms gather together in groups
Uniform distribution
Where individuals are evenly space apart usually happens by chance
Carrying capacity
The extent to which an environment can cater for organisms that live in it.
Exponential growth
Occurs when no limit to organisms is applied
What is another name for exponential growth
Population explosions
Ecological niche
Describes a function or role that an organism plays in its ecosystem
What does the ecological niche comprise of?
The Habitat that the organism lives in
The organisms activity pattern: the periods of time in which an organism is active
The resources that an organism has in its habitat
The fundamental niche
The full range of conditions under which organisms can exist.
Realised niche
The niche that the organism actually exist under. It is more narrow than the fundamental niche
Resource partitioning
Animal species that share the same ecosystems, differ in food, use of space and timing of activities
Producers
Any organism that produces its own food.
Most commonly known as plants (carnivorous plants do this as they produce glucose)
Consumers
Any organism other than producers, the must eat their food for a source of energy
How does energy enter the ecosystem, stay in the system then leave the system.
Light energy, to Chemical energy, to Heat energy
What are autotrophs and heterotrophs equivalent of?
Auto-producer
Hetero-consumer
Biomass
The dry weight of a given species in an ecosystem
Primary production
The rate at which primary producers convert light energy into chemical energy
What are the depending factors in primary productivity
Light intensity, nutrient availability, water, mineral supply, temperature
What is the general tropic order of an ecosystem?
And what do the arrows in this chart show?
Producer➡️herbivore➡️carnivore➡️carnivore
The arrows show the flow of chemical energy
Food web
A diagram which shows all the interrelated food chains within an ecosystem
Name the different components of a food chain/web
Producer Consumer -Herbivore -Carnivore -Scavenger -Omnivore Detritivore Decomposer
What exists at each of these tropic levels? Give their source of energy First Second Third Fourth
First: Producers, Sun
Second: Primary consumers, First tropic level
Third: Secondary consumers, Second tropic level
Fourth: Tertiary consumers, Third tropic level
What is the energy the is passed on to the consumers used for?
growth, movement and reproduction
What are the types of ecological pyramids?
Numbers, Biomass, Energy
Ecological efficiency
The amount ,in percent, of energy passed on from one tropic level to the next
What is the 10% Law?
It states that when considering ecological efficiency that the total energy content of a trophic level in an ecosystem is only about one-tenth that of the preceding level.
Pyramid of numbers
The size of each tier is proportional the the individuals in the ecosystem
Pyramid of Biomass
Each tier represents the amount of dry organic weight in the ecosystem
Pyramid of energy
The size of each tier is proportional to the amount of energy produced in the ecosystem p
Biomagnification
The increase in concentration of chemicals, such as DDT and Dieldrin, in tissues of organisms in a food chain
Lipophillic
Dissolves in or mixes in evenly with lipids
DDT
Dichlorodiphenyltrchloroethane
An organic chloride substance
Biodegradable
Refers to a substance that can be broken down by natural means
Detritivore
An organism that depends on particles of material derived from dead organisms as an energy source
Decomposer
An organism that breaks down complex molecules in to simple ones for a energy source
Matter cycles
The processes by which matter is reused in the ecosystem
