B16 - Adaptions, Interdependance, And Competition (Y11 - Spring 2)

Question 1

🟠 Ecosystem Definition and Examples of an Ecosystem

Answer 1

A relatively self-contained, interacting community of organisms and the environment (biotic and abiotic or non-living components) in which they live and interact.

Examples:

• Lake Ecosystem (freshwater aquatic)
• Woodland Ecosystem (terrestrial)

Question 2

🟠 Biotic Factors Definition

Answer 2

The living components of an ecosystem that affect the organisms living there.

Question 3

🟠 What Biotic Factors affect communities?

Answer 3

Biotic (living) factors which can affect a community are:
• availability of food
• new predators arriving
• new pathogens
• one species outcompeting another so the numbers are no longer sufficient to breed

Question 4

🟠 What Is Interdependance?

Answer 4

Within a community each species depends on other species for food, shelter, pollination, seed dispersal etc. If one species is removed it can affect the whole community. This is called interdependence. A stable community is one where all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant.

Question 5

🟠 Abiotic Factors Definition

Answer 5

The non-living components of an ecosystem that affect the organisms living there.

Question 6

🟠 What Abiotic Factors affect communities?

Answer 6

Abiotic (non-living) factors which can affect a community are:
• light intensity
• temperature
• moisture levels
• soil pH and mineral content
• wind intensity and direction
• carbon dioxide levels for plants
• oxygen levels for aquatic animals

Question 7

🟠 Producer Definition and Examples of Producers

Answer 7

• Organisms that produce organic molecules (e.g sugar) from simple inorganic ones (e.g CO2 and water) using an energy source (e.g light).
• All other organisms in a food chain/web depend upon them
• Producers usually photosythesise

Examples:

• Any green plant
• Algae

Question 8

🟠 Consumer Definition and Examples

Answer 8

Organisms that feed on the organic matter made by plants. (They are hetrotrophs)

Examples:

• Grey Squirrel
• All fungi (e.g birch fungus)
• Most bacteria (there are some exceptions)

Question 9

🟠 Decomposer Definition and Examples of Decomposers

Answer 9

Organisms that break down dead or undigested organic material. Decomposers are important in nutrient recycling. (The feed off dead or undigested material)

Examples:
- Bacteria and Fungi

Question 10

🟠 Trophic Level Definition and Examples of Trophic Levels

Answer 10

One of the steps in a food chain quite literally the ‘feeding level’. Defined by where the organic matter comes from.

Examples:

• Primary Producer (TL1)
• Primary Consumer (TL2)
• Secondary Consumer (TL3)
• Tertiary Consumer (TL4)
• Top Carnivore/Apex Predator (TL5?)

Question 11

🟠 Habitat Definition and Examples of Habitats

Answer 11

The place where an organism lives. It provides correct environmental conditions (physical, chemical, and biological)

Example:

• Habitat of salmon can include different places during its life cycle (river freshwater/sea)
• Habitat of a rowan (mountain ash) is a deciduous wood

Question 12

🟠 Population Definition and Examples of Populations

Answer 12

Group of organisms of the same species, living there in the same place at the same time

Example:
- Population of daisies in a deciduous wood in the spring

Question 13

🟠 Community Definition and Examples of Communities

Answer 13

A community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time

Examples:
- A woodland community includes all of the plants, animals, microorganisms, and fungi

Question 14

🟠 Niche Definition and Examples

Answer 14

The niche of an organisms is the role that it plays within the community of an ecosystem.

Question 15

🟠 Species Definition and Examples of Species

Answer 15

A group of organisms with similar characteristics that can potentially interbreed and produce fertile offspring

Example:

• Orang-utan
• Blue-bell

Question 16

🟢 What Is The Quadrat For

Answer 16

• Metal square that measures 1cm by 1cm to give an area of 1cm^2
• Placed randomly in an area to be sampled
• The number of species in each quadrat is counted

Question 17

🟢 How Do You Estimate The Population Of Plants

Answer 17

Estimated Population Size = (Total Area / Area Sampled) x Total Number Of __________ Counted

Question 18

🟢 What’s the Simplest Way to Count the Number of Organisms in an Area

Answer 18

The simplest way to count the number of organsisms is to use a sample area called a quadrat. We often use a square frame laid on the ground to outline our sample area. People refer to these frames as quadrats too.

Question 19

🟢 How do You Ensure The Results Are As Valid As Possible?

Answer 19

You use the same size quadrat every time, and sample as many areas as you can. This makes your results as valid as possible. Sample sizes is very important. You must choose your sample areas at random. This ensures that your results reflect the true distribution of the organisms and that any conclusion that are made will be valid.

Question 20

🟢 How Do You Ensure The Samples You Take Are Random?

Answer 20

A more scientific way of deciding where to drop the quadrat can be numbering each section/area, and then use a random number generator to generate numbers that decide what areas you’re sampling. This gives each section an equally chance of being picked.

Question 21

🟢 What is Quantitative Sampling and What can you use it for?

Answer 21

Several random readinsg need to be taken, and then the mean number or organisms per m^2 can be found. This technique is known as quantitative sampling.

• You can use quantitative sampling to compare the distribution of the same organism in different habitats.
• You can use it to compare the variety of organisms in several different habitats.
• Sampling is also used to measure changes in the distribution of organisms over time. This is done by repeating measurements at regular time intervals and calculating the mean.

(Also, finding the range of distribution, and the median and mode of your data can also give you useful information).

Question 22

🟢 What are Transcets

Answer 22

Transcets are not random like how quadrats are. You strech a tape between two points, for example, up a rocky shore, across a pathway, or down a hillside.

Question 23

🟢 What are Transcets used for?

Answer 23

Transcets are often used across a rocky shore, across a pathway, or down a hillside. Transcets are often done where you expect a change is linked to a oarticular abiotic factor. You sample the organisms along that line at regular intervals using a quadrat. This shows you how the distribution of organisms changes along that line. You can also measure some of the physical factors, such as light levels, and soil pH, that might affect the growth of the plants along a transcet.

Question 24

🟢 What Do Transcets Show You

Answer 24

They show you how the distribution of organisms changes along the line that you have sampled. You can also measure some of the physical factors, such as light levels, and soil pH, that might affect the growth of the plants along a transcet.

Question 25

🟢 What do You Sample Quadrats along a Transcet to see?

Answer 25

You sample quadrats along a transcet to see a change in species distribution in a line from A to B.

Question 26

🟢 What do You Sample Quadrats on Coordinates from a Number Generator to count

Answer 26

You sample quadrats on coordinates from a random number generator to count the number of a species in an area.