B17 Biodiversity And Ecosystems Flashcards
What is a habitat
The place where an organism lives
What is a population
All the organisms of one species living in a habitat
What is a community
The populations of different species living in a habitat
What are abiotic factors
Non-living factors of the environment e.g temperature
What are biotic factors
Living factors of the environment e.g. food
What is an ecosystem
The Interaction of a community of living organisms (biotic) and the non-living (abiotic) parts of the environment
What are 4 things plants need from their environment
Light, space, water and mineral ions
What are 4 things that animals need from the environment
Space (territory), food, water and mates
What is interdependence in any environment
The dependence of other species in a community for food, shelter, pollination and seed dispersal
How will the removal of blackfly larvae have an effect on stonely larvae
Stonely larvae will have less competition for algae so population will increase
What will the removal of water spiders do to stonefly larvaes
The stonefly will have less food therefore their population will decrease
What is a stable community
Where all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that the population sizes are roughly constant
Give 5 examples of abiotic factors
Temperature, light intensity, carbon dioxide level, oxygen level, wind intensity
How could a decrease in light intensity/ temperature/ level of CO2 effect a plants population size?
A decrease in any of those 3 will reduce the rate of photosynthesis for the plants which could effect the plant growth causing a decrease in the population size
Give 4 examples of biotic factors
New predators arriving, new pathogens, availability of food, competition
How could a biotic factor effect a whole community
A change in the environment could introduce a new biotic factor e.g. a pathogen. These changes can also effect the size of populations in a community which can have knock on effects due to interdependence
What are adaptations
The features of characteristics that allow organisms / microorganism to adapt to live in different conditions
What are 3 different types of adaptations
Structural, behavioural, functional
What is a structural adaptation
The features of an organisms body structure- such as shape or colour
What are behavioural adaptations
The way the organisms behave. Many species migrate to warmer climates during winter to avoid the problems of living in conditionss
What are functional adaptations
Things that go on inside an organisms body that can be related to processes like reproduction or metabolism
Describe a supposable functional adaptation for animals in desserts
Dessert animals conserve water by reproducing very little sweat and small amounts of concentrated urine
Give a supposable functional adaptation for an animal in winter
Brown bears hibernate over winter. They lower their metabolism which conserves energy so they don’t have to hunt when theres not much food about.
What are extremophiles
Something adapted to live in very extreme conditions
What do food chains always start with
A producer
What do producers do
Produce their own food using energy from the sun
What is a plants biomass
The energy stored in a plant
Describe who eats who in a food chain
Producers are eaten by primary consumers, primary consumers are eaten by secondary consumers, secondary consumers are eaten by tertiary consumers.
What would dandelions, rabbits and a fox be in a food chain
Dandelions - producers rabbits - primary consumers Fox- secondary consumer
What is the name for consumers that kill and hunt other animals
Predators
What do predators eat
Their prey
Explain the population cycle of prey and predators
If the population of the prey increases, the population of the predators will increase. As the population of predators increase the number of prey decreases.
What is the distribution if annorganism
Where the organism is found
What are the two ways of studying the distribution of an organism
Measuring how common an organism is in two sample areas and comparing them
Studying the distribution changes across an area
What is a quadrat
A square feame enclosing a known area to compare how common an organism is inntwo sample areas
How do you use a quadrat (practical)
Place a 1m^2 quadrat on the ground at a random point within the first sample area.
Count all the organisms within the
Repeat steps 1 and 2 as many times possible
Work out mean number of organisms per quadrat
Repeat all previous steps in a different sample area and compare the two means
What is another word for population size of an organism
Abundance
what can you use transects for
to help find out how organisms are distributed across an area
describe the process of using a transect
mark out a line in the area that you wants to study using a tape measure
then collect data across the line by counting all the organism that intersect or touch the line
how do you estimate the percentage cover of a quadrant
by counting ? estimating how many squares an organism covers. make the total into a percentage and divide the number of squares covered by the organism by the total number of squares and then multiply by 100
what are two ways water evaporates naturally in our planet
the energy from the sun makes water evaporate from the land and sea turning into water vapour
plants carry out transpiration making water evaporate
what happens after water is evaporated in the water cycle
the warm water vapour is carried upwards and when it gets higher it cools and condenses forming clouds
what happens after clouds are formed in the water cycle
water falls from clouds usually as rain onto land where it provides fresh water for plants and animals
what happens after clouds release rain in the water cycle
some of the water is absorbed by the soil and is taken up by plant roots providing plants with fresh water for things like photosynthesis
some of the water taken up by the plants becomes part of the plants’ tissues and is passed alone to animals in food chains
what happens to the rain that doesn’t get absorbed by the soil
it will runoff into streams and rivers where the water drains back into the sea before it evaporates all over again
summarise the process of the cell cycle
water evaporates
clouds are formed
clouds release water through rain
soil absorbs water
plants absorb water from soil
water not absorbed from soil will go back into sea and will get evaporated again
what are the three main steps in the water cycle
evaporation/transpiration, condensation, precipitation
how are the materials that living things are made of returned to the environment
in waste products or when the organisms die and decay
in what condition does digestion of microorganisms aid
warm, moist, aerobic conditions
what does the decay or materials do
decay puts the stuff that plants need to grow back into the soil
what are fossil fuels made of
decayed plant and animal matter
what is C02 in the atmosphere removed by
by green plants and algae during photosynthesis
what do green plants and algae take in CO2 for
the carbon is used to make glucose which can be turned into carbohydrates, fats and proteins that make up the body of plants and algae
how do plants and algae release some CO2 into the atmosphere
through respiration
what does the combustion of wood and fossil fuels release into the atmosphere
carbon dioxidxe
what are the 5 different ways in the carbon cycle that CO” is released
burning of fossil fuels
burning of materials
plant respiration
animal respiration
CO2 released from decay
what is the first step of the carbon cycle
plants and algae removing CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis
what is biodiversity
the variety of different species of organisms on earth or within an ecosystem
why is high biodiversity important
it makes sure that ecosystems are stable because different species depend on each other for things like shelter or food
what are three things that reduces biodiversity
waste production
global warming
deforestation
give 3 reasons why the population of the world has increased by 6x from 1900
the improvement in medicine and farming methods as it reduces number of people dying due to illness or hunger
explain why the increase in the worlds population can cause raw materials to run out
pressure is built up on the environment because humans take resources from the earth in order to survive. however people around the world are also demanding a higher standard of living (cars computers etc.). so we use more raw materials (e.g. oil to make plastics) and also use more energy for the manufacturing processes. meaning we are taking more and more resources from the earth quicker than they are being replaced meaning one day we will run out
what are 3 things pollution affects
water land and air
what is the effect of water being polluted and how does it happen
effects the plants and animals that rely on them for survival. sewage and toxic chemicals from industry can pollute lakes, rivers and oceans and chemicals that are used on land can be washed into water
how does land become polluted
humans use toxic chemicals for farming. we also bury nuclear waste underground and we dump a lot of household waste in landfill sites
how can the atmospheric air become polluted
smoke and acidic gases released into the atmosphere can pollute the air (e.g. sulfur dioxide can cause acid rain
what are the two gases that trap energy into our atmosphere from the sun
methane and carbon dioxide
why are gases that energy in our atmosphere important
because if they werent there then at night there would be nothing to keep the energy in and it would be too cold to survive
what can higher temperatures due to global warming cause (3)
sea levels rising
distribution of wild animals and plants may change
biodiversity can be reduced
explain how an increase in temperature due to global warming can cause sea levels to rise
causes seawater to expand and ice to melt which causes sea levels to rise. it has risen slightly over the last 100 years and if it continuous to rise areas that are low-lying are open to flooding which will result in the loss of habitats
explain how an increase in temperature cause the distribution of wild plants and animals to change due to global warming
species that need warmer temperatures may become more widely distributed as the conditions that they thrive in will be covered over a larger area. other species may become less widely distributed as the conditions that they thrive in will exist over a smaller area
explain how an increase in temperature can cause biodiversity to be reduced due to global warming
biodiversity could be reduced if some species are unable to survive a change in climate, so become extinct
what are the 4 main uses humans use land
for building, quarrying, farming and dumping waste
what are the two main reasons for deforestation
to clear land for farming
to grow crops from which biofuels based on ethanol can be produced
explain two reasons how we know less carbon dioxide is taken in due to deforestation
the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere during photosynthesis is reduced as there are less trees
trees lock up some of carbon that they absorb during photosynthesis in their wood, removing trees means less is locked up
explain two reasons how we know less carbon dioxide is taken in due to deforestation
carbon dioxide is released when trees are burnt to clear land
microorganisms feeding on bits of dead wood release carbon dioxide as a waste product through respiration
explain two reasons how we know how theres less biodiversity due to deforestation
if there are less species then theres less biodiversity
habitats like forests can contain a huge number of different species of plan ts and animals so when they are destroyed those species may become extinct
what are bogs
areas of land that are acidic and waterlogged
how is peat gradually built up in bogs
plants that lived in bogs dont fully decay when they die because theres not enough oxygen. the partly-rotted plants gradually build up to form peat
what are three things peat bogs are used for and how
peat bogs are drained so the area can be used as farmland
the peat is cut up and dried to be used as fuel
sold to gardeners as compost
how does peat contribute to global warming
when peat is drained it comes into more contact with air and some microorganisms start to decompose it. when these microorganisms respire they use oxygen and release carbon dioxide contributing to global warming. carbon dioxide is also released when peat is burned as a fuel
what does destroying bogs do/reduce
destroys the habitats of some of the animals, plants and microorganisms that live there so reduces biodiversity
what have breeding programmes been set up for and what do they do
they have been set up to prevent endangered species from becoming extinct. these are where animals are bred in captivity to make sure the species survives if it dies out in the wild. individuals can sometimes be sent into then wild to boost or re-establish a population
what are field margins
areas of land around the edges of fields where wild flowers and grasses are left to grow
why are there programmes that reintroduce hedgerows and field margins
hedgerows and field margins provide a habitat for a wider variety of organisms that that could survive in a single crop habitat
why are people encouraged to recycle
to reduce the amount of waste that gets dumped in landfill sites. this could reduce the amount of land taken over for landfill leaving ecosystems in place.
what are three conflicting pressures when maintaining biodiversity
costs money
may affect local peoples livelihood
conflict between protecting biodiversity and protecting our food security
explain how money is a pressure when maintaining biodiversity
governments sometimes pay farmers a subsidy to reintroduce hedgerows and field margins to their land. it can also cost money to keep a watch on whether the programmes and regulations designed to maintain biodiversity is being followed. this creates conflict between spending money on protecting biodiversity and saving money
explain how protecting biodiversity can affect local peoples livelihood
reducing the amount of deforestation is great for biodiversity but people who were previously employed in the tree-felling industry could be left unemployed which could effect the local economy if people move away with family to find work
explain how there can be conflict between protecting biodiversity and protecting our food security
sometimes certain organisms are seen as pests by farmers and are killed to protect crops, livestock and so more food can be produced. as a result the food chain and biodiversity can be affected
