B16 - Adaptations, Interdependence and Competition

Question 1

What is a population

Answer 1

• A group of organisms from the same species living in the same geographical area

Question 2

What is a community

Answer 2

• A group of different populations that live in the same habitat

Question 3

What is an ecosystem

Answer 3

The interaction of a community of organisms with the abiotic factors in their environment

Question 4

Different types of competition

Answer 4

• Interspecific - between different species
• Intraspecific - within the same species

Question 5

Resources that plants compete for and why

Answer 5

• Mineral ions - nitrates, magnesium, phosphates
• Water - transport + photosynthesis
• Light - for photosynthesis to make food
• Space - to access all other resources

Question 6

What resources do animals compete with each other for

Answer 6

• Food
• Territory
• Mates

Question 7

What is interdependence

Answer 7

Species depend on each other to survive

Question 8

Forms of interdependence

Answer 8

• Plants are pollinated by insects
• Plants provide shelter
• Animals eat plants/other animals (food)
• Animals help disperse plant seeds

Question 9

What is a stable community

Answer 9

• Where the species and environmental factors are balanced (biotic and abiotic)
• This means populations sizes remain fairly constant

Question 10

Different biotic (living) factors and how they affect organisms

Answer 10

• Availability of food - lead to starvation
• New predators - affects existing predators and prey
• Competition - if a species is outcompeted it may go extinct
• New pathogens

Question 11

Different abiotic (non-living) factors and how they affect organisms

Answer 11

• Light intensity - plants + photosynthesis
• Temperature - distribution change + photosynthesis
• Water
• pH and mineral ions
• Wind intenisty - affects transpiration
• CO2 and O2 - photosynthesis + respiration for aquatic animals

Question 12

How do plants outcompete or cope with competition

Answer 12

• Flowering early e.g. bluebells to get more light, mineral ions and water
• Plants grow taller
• Plants use other plants to grow e.g. ivy
• Seed dispersal - gets offspring far away

Question 13

Different types of seed dispersal

Answer 13

• Wind
• Animal
• Water

Question 14

How are extremophiles adapted to extreme temps and high salt

Answer 14

• Temp - enzymes with different optimum temps. Are usually archaea
• Salt - have cytoplasms that don’t allow water so osmosis doesn’t affect them

Question 15

Different types of adaptations

Answer 15

• Structural - shape or colour
• Functional - processes carried out
• Behavioural - migration, tools

Question 16

Plant necessities and how they are adapted

Answer 16

• For photsynthesis - large leaves, lots of chloroplasts, stomata
• Water + mineral ions - epiphytes, complex root systems
• Pollination - bright colours, scents, nectar

Question 17

Examples of plant adaptations

Answer 17

• Leaves - broad + thick cuticle, curled, spined, no leaves
• Storing water - tissues that can store water (catcus, boabab trees)
• Collecting water - wide toot systems, deep root system to get to aquifers

Question 18

How are camels adn other animals adapted to the hot and dry environment

Answer 18

• Hump of fat - water can be made from fat, allows heat loss
• Leathery mouth - to eat cacti
• Kindeys reabsorb nearly all water - concentrated urine
• Large SA:V
• Active when cooler

Question 19

What does camoflague allow

Answer 19

• Prey to hide from predators
• Predators to sneak up on prey

Question 20

How are animals in cold climates adapted to their environment

Answer 20

• Thick layer of fat - insulation
• Thick fur - insulation
• Small SA:V

Question 21

equation to find the total population size using a quadrat

Answer 21

total population size = total area/sample area x number of organisms in sample area

Question 22

What does quadrat sampling allow

Answer 22

• Allows us to see the abudance of an organisms in a habitat or different areas

Question 23

What does transect sampling allow

Answer 23

• How the distrubtion of an organsim changes as you move across a habitat

Question 24

How to carry out random sampling witha quadrat

Answer 24

• Place 2 tape measures 90 degrees to each other over a habitat
• Draw a grid of the sample area with each square being a 0.5 x 0.5 area and number each square to give it coordinates
• Use a random number generator to select 10 squares
• Place the 0.5 x 0.5 quadrat in one of the selected squares and record the number of organisms or the percentage of the quadrat covered by the organism
• Repeat this for all other squares and calculate a mean

Question 25

How to invesitgate the distribution of a species across a habitat

Answer 25

• Place a transect (tape measure) across the habitat
• Place a quadrat at regular intervals on the same side of the transect
• Count the number of organisms in each quadrat and see how i changes
• The distrubution cna then be correlated with an environmental factor

Question 26

Why may removing a species from an ecosystem make it unstable

Answer 26

• There is interdependence between species. This means that species rely on other species for food, shelyer, pollination or seed dispersal
• Removing a species could remove a key predator or prey which could fluctuate the population sizes leading the ecosystem to become unstable