B16 - Ecology

Question 1

Def of habitat

Answer 1

The place where an organism lives

Question 2

Def of polulation

Answer 2

All the organisms of the one species living in a habitat

Question 3

Community def

Answer 3

The populations of different species living in a habitat

Question 4

Abiotic factors def

Answer 4

Non-living factors of the environment e.g. temperature

Question 5

Biotic factors def

Answer 5

Living factors of the envirnoment e.g. food

Question 6

Ecosystem def

Answer 6

The interaction of a communtity of living organisms (biotic) with the non-living (abiotic) parts of their envirnoment

Question 7

Biosphere def

Answer 7

It is the volume of the earth’s surface where organisms can be found.

Question 8

Biome def

Answer 8

•The biosphere is made up of several types of biome.

• These are classified due to their major vegetation types, for example TUNDRA or TROPICAL RAINFOREST.

Question 9

Interdependence def

Answer 9

Within a community each species depends on other species.
They depend on each other for:
- Food
- Shelter
- Pollination
- Seed dispersal etc.

This is called Interdependence.

Question 10

Organism/individual def

Answer 10

Each population is made up of many individuals.
• The genetic and physiological adaptations of an individual organism to its environment is an important aspect of ecology.

Question 11

What are the problems with interdependence ?

Answer 11

The interdependence of all the living things in an ecosystem means that any major change in the ecosystem (such as one species being removed) can have far-reaching effects.

Question 12

What are stable communities ?

Answer 12

In some communities, all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that the population sizes are roughly constant.

These are called stable communities.

Stable communities include tropical rainforests and ancient oak woodlands.

Question 13

What do organisms compete for ? Give an example ?

Answer 13

Organisms compete with other species and members of their own species for the same resources.

For e.g.

Question 14

What type of relationship is a predator-prey relationship ?

Answer 14

It is a cyclical relationship
Meaning the size of each population directly affects the size of the other.

Question 15

What happens when the population of prey increases ?

Answer 15

When the population of prey increase there is far more food for the predator.

This leads to an increase in the number of predators because they can survive and reproduce. The prey are eaten and numbers decrease.

Eventually the predators are all competing with each other for limited prey.

Question 16

What happens if the predator numbers decrease ?

Answer 16

• This give the prey a chance to reproduce and increase in
number.
• The cycles continues.

Question 17

What do plants compete for ?

Answer 17

Light, spade and water and mineral ions (nutrients from the soil)

Question 18

What do animals compete for ?

Answer 18

Animals need space (territory), food, water and mates

Question 19

Whats intra-specific competition ?

Answer 19

•Intraspecific competition occurs when individuals from
the same species compete for the same resources (“intra” means within).

Question 20

Whats inter-specific competition ?

Answer 20

• Competition between different species for the same resource is described as interspecific competition (“inter” means between). The resources available to each species are reduced.

Question 21

What makes a succesfull competitor

Answer 21

Something that is better adapted to outcompete another organism

Question 22

Suggests ways that plants can overcome the problems of growing in the shade of another plant

Answer 22

•grow and flower very early before other plant get leaves,
•grow tall very fast to reach light.
-grow larger leaves,
• make more chlorophyt to maximise energy from any light that arrives.