B17 and B18 - Biodiversity and Ecosystems Flashcards
What is a quadrat
A square frame that encloses a known area and is used to find population size and distribution of organisms
What is a producer
A plant which is first in the food chain and gets food from the sun
What is a primary consumer
A herbivore which eats the producers
What is a secondary consumer
A carnivore which eats the primary consumers
What is the water cycle
It is the movement of water around the earth
What is evaporation
It is where water is heated and turns to water vapour
What is condensation
It is where water vapour cools and turns into a liquid
What is transpiration and respiration
Where water vapour is lost out of plants and animals
What is the carbon cycle
It is the movement of carbon around the Earth
What is extracellular digestion
It is the digestion of food outside the cells
What are decomposers
They are cells which carry out aerobic decomposition
They are fungi or bacteria
What is the equation for respiration
Glucose + Oxygen –> Carbon dioxide + Water
What is the equation for Photosynthesis
Water + Carbon Dioxide –> Glucose + Oxygen
What is the equation for combustion
Fossil fuel + Oxygen –> Carbon dioxide + Water
What is decay
Decay is the breaking down of dead cells to return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and minerals and nutrients to the soil
What are the steps to decay
- Maggots, worms and beetles start the process by eating the dead materials
- The decomposers then break down the waste material by releasing enzymes onto the material
What factors affect decay
- Temperature - High temp kill enzymes and low temp slow the rate of reaction down
- Oxygen - Decomposers need oxygen to survive and carry out aerobic decay
- Water - Water is needed to help the reactions inside the organisms like digestion
What is anaerobic decay
It is decay with a lack of oxygen, when this happens it produces methane which can be used as a fuel. This reaction is taken advantage of in Biogas generators.
What is the independent variable in an experiment
It is the variable that you change
What is the dependant variable in an experiment
It is the variable that you measure
What is biodiversity
It is the variety of all different species of organisms on earth, or within an ecosystem
What is Eutrophication
It is when fertilisers are washed off fields by rain and into rivers or lakes. This increase in minerals in the water causes a massive amount of algae to grow on the top of the water. This prevents sunlight reaching the other plants causing them to die. Decomposers break down the dead plants and use up the oxygen killing the animals.
What is a beat bog
They are a store of carbon and an important habitat for some species.
How is a beat bog formed
It is formed by plants growing in bogs and abosrbing carbon dioxide and then dying, they then decompose partially because of the acidic and anaerobic conditions.
