B16 - Ecology Flashcards
Def of habitat
The place where an organism lives
Def of polulation
All the organisms of the one species living in a habitat
Community def
The populations of different species living in a habitat
Abiotic factors def
Non-living factors of the environment e.g. temperature
Biotic factors def
Living factors of the envirnoment e.g. food
Ecosystem def
The interaction of a communtity of living organisms (biotic) with the non-living (abiotic) parts of their envirnoment
Biosphere def
It is the volume of the earth’s surface where organisms can be found.
Biome def
•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.
Interdependence def
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.
Organism/individual def
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.
What are the problems with interdependence ?
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.
What are stable communities ?
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.
What do organisms compete for ? Give an example ?
Organisms compete with other species and members of their own species for the same resources.
For e.g.
What type of relationship is a predator-prey relationship ?
It is a cyclical relationship
Meaning the size of each population directly affects the size of the other.
What happens when the population of prey increases ?
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.
What happens if the predator numbers decrease ?
• This give the prey a chance to reproduce and increase in
number.
• The cycles continues.
What do plants compete for ?
Light, spade and water and mineral ions (nutrients from the soil)
What do animals compete for ?
Animals need space (territory), food, water and mates
Whats intra-specific competition ?
•Intraspecific competition occurs when individuals from
the same species compete for the same resources (“intra” means within).
Whats inter-specific competition ?
• Competition between different species for the same resource is described as interspecific competition (“inter” means between). The resources available to each species are reduced.
What makes a succesfull competitor
Something that is better adapted to outcompete another organism
Suggests ways that plants can overcome the problems of growing in the shade of another plant
•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.