B16 - Adaptations, Interdependence and Competition Flashcards
What is a population
- A group of organisms from the same species living in the same geographical area
What is a community
- A group of different populations that live in the same habitat
What is an ecosystem
The interaction of a community of organisms with the abiotic factors in their environment
Different types of competition
- Interspecific - between different species
- Intraspecific - within the same species
Resources that plants compete for and why
- Mineral ions - nitrates, magnesium, phosphates
- Water - transport + photosynthesis
- Light - for photosynthesis to make food
- Space - to access all other resources
What resources do animals compete with each other for
- Food
- Territory
- Mates
What is interdependence
Species depend on each other to survive
Forms of interdependence
- Plants are pollinated by insects
- Plants provide shelter
- Animals eat plants/other animals (food)
- Animals help disperse plant seeds
What is a stable community
- Where the species and environmental factors are balanced (biotic and abiotic)
- This means populations sizes remain fairly constant
Different biotic (living) factors and how they affect organisms
- 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
Different abiotic (non-living) factors and how they affect organisms
- 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
How do plants outcompete or cope with competition
- 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
Different types of seed dispersal
- Wind
- Animal
- Water
How are extremophiles adapted to extreme temps and high salt
- Temp - enzymes with different optimum temps. Are usually archaea
- Salt - have cytoplasms that don’t allow water so osmosis doesn’t affect them
Different types of adaptations
- Structural - shape or colour
- Functional - processes carried out
- Behavioural - migration, tools
Plant necessities and how they are adapted
- For photsynthesis - large leaves, lots of chloroplasts, stomata
- Water + mineral ions - epiphytes, complex root systems
- Pollination - bright colours, scents, nectar
Examples of plant adaptations
- 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
How are camels adn other animals adapted to the hot and dry environment
- 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
What does camoflague allow
- Prey to hide from predators
- Predators to sneak up on prey
How are animals in cold climates adapted to their environment
- Thick layer of fat - insulation
- Thick fur - insulation
- Small SA:V
equation to find the total population size using a quadrat
total population size = total area/sample area x number of organisms in sample area
What does quadrat sampling allow
- Allows us to see the abudance of an organisms in a habitat or different areas
What does transect sampling allow
- How the distrubtion of an organsim changes as you move across a habitat
How to carry out random sampling witha quadrat
- 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
