B16 - Adaptions, Interdependance, And Competition (Y11 - Spring 2) Flashcards
🟠 Ecosystem Definition and Examples of an Ecosystem
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)
🟠 Biotic Factors Definition
The living components of an ecosystem that affect the organisms living there.
🟠 What Biotic Factors affect communities?
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
🟠 What Is Interdependance?
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.
🟠 Abiotic Factors Definition
The non-living components of an ecosystem that affect the organisms living there.
🟠 What Abiotic Factors affect communities?
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
🟠 Producer Definition and Examples of Producers
- 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
🟠 Consumer Definition and Examples
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)
🟠 Decomposer Definition and Examples of Decomposers
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
🟠 Trophic Level Definition and Examples of Trophic Levels
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?)
🟠 Habitat Definition and Examples of Habitats
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
🟠 Population Definition and Examples of Populations
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
🟠 Community Definition and Examples of Communities
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
🟠 Niche Definition and Examples
The niche of an organisms is the role that it plays within the community of an ecosystem.
🟠 Species Definition and Examples of Species
A group of organisms with similar characteristics that can potentially interbreed and produce fertile offspring
Example:
- Orang-utan
- Blue-bell
🟢 What Is The Quadrat For
- 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
🟢 How Do You Estimate The Population Of Plants
Estimated Population Size = (Total Area / Area Sampled) x Total Number Of __________ Counted
🟢 What’s the Simplest Way to Count the Number of Organisms in an Area
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.
🟢 How do You Ensure The Results Are As Valid As Possible?
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.
🟢 How Do You Ensure The Samples You Take Are Random?
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.
🟢 What is Quantitative Sampling and What can you use it for?
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).
🟢 What are Transcets
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.
🟢 What are Transcets used for?
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.
🟢 What Do Transcets Show You
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.
🟢 What do You Sample Quadrats along a Transcet to see?
You sample quadrats along a transcet to see a change in species distribution in a line from A to B.
🟢 What do You Sample Quadrats on Coordinates from a Number Generator to count
You sample quadrats on coordinates from a random number generator to count the number of a species in an area.
