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GCSE Biology > B18 - biodiversity and ecosystems fact test > Flashcards

B18 - biodiversity and ecosystems fact test Flashcards

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1
Q

what affects the distribution of species in an ecosystem

A

environmental changes

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2
Q

what are some examples of environmental changes

A
  • temperature
  • availability of water
  • composition of atmospheric gases
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3
Q

what can environmental changes be

A

seasonal e.g. rainfall, geographical e.g soil or caused by human interaction e.g deforestation

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4
Q

what is biodiversity

A

the variety of all the different species of organisms on earth or within an ecosystem

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5
Q

why is maintaining biodiversity important

A

it ensures the stability of ecosystems as it reduces dependence on other species for food, shelter and environment

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6
Q

what are some things that have a negative impact on biodiversity

A
  • waste
  • deforestation
  • global warming
  • natural disasters
  • human activities e.g hunting, pollution
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7
Q

what are some actions that have recently been put in place to combat negative impacts on biodiversity

A
  • breeding programs
  • protection and regeneration of rare habitats
  • recycling
  • reduction of deforestation and carbon dioxide
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8
Q

what does rapid growth in the human population and an increase in the standard of living mean

A

increasingly, more resources are used and more waste is produced

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9
Q

where can pollution occur

A
  • water - from sewage, fertiliser and toxic chemicals
  • air - smoke and acidic gases
  • land - from landfill and toxic chemicals
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10
Q

why is pollution bad

A

kills plants and animals which reduces biodiversity

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11
Q

what do humans use land for

A

building, quarrying, farming and dumping waste

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12
Q

why is deforestation carried out by humans

A

to make land available for things like farming cattle and growing crops for food or for growing crops for bio fuel production

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13
Q

why do humans destroy peat bogs

A

to use it in garden compost

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14
Q

why is destroying peat bad

A

when areas of peat are destroyed, there is an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere due to the burning and decomposition of peat and biodiversity is reduced

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15
Q

what is contributing to global warming

A

increasing levels of carbon dioxide and methane, which trap energy inside the earth’s atmosphere. this causes the average global temperature to rise

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16
Q

what are the effects of global warming

A
  • rising sea level
  • changes in the distribution of organisms
  • changes in migration patterns
  • reduction in biodiversity
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17
Q

what are trophic levels

A

the different stages of a food chain are called trophic levels and each level is assigned a number related to its position in the food chain

18
Q

what are the trophic levels in order

A

level 1
- produces, make own food by photosynthesis

level 2
- primary consumers

level 3
- secondary consumers

level 4
- tertiary consumers

19
Q

what are apex predators

A

predators at the top of the food chain with no predators

20
Q

what do decomposers do

A

break down dead plant and animal matter by secreting enzymes into the environment. small soluble food molecules then diffuse into that microorganism

21
Q

what is biomass

A

the dry mass of an organism

22
Q

what do pyramids of biomass show

A

the relative amount of biomass in each level of a food chain. level 1 is always at the bottom and mass and energy are lost at every level

23
Q

how much energy from the light that hits them for use in photosynthesis do plants and algae transfer

A

approximately 1%

24
Q

when organisms in one trophic level eat the organisms from the previous trophic level, how much of the biomass is passed on

A

about 10%

25
Q

what are losses of biomass due to

A
  • not all ingested material are absorbed, some is ejected as faeces
  • some absorbed material is lost as waste such as carbon dioxide and water in respiration and water and urea (formed from the breakdown of excess amino acids) in urine
  • lots of glucose from the biomass consumed is used in respiration
26
Q

how do you work out the efficiency of biomass

A

(biomass transferred to next level / biomass available in previous level) x 100

27
Q

what is food security

A

having enough food to feed a population

28
Q

what is food security affected by

A
  • increasing birth rate
  • changing diets in developing countries (meaning scarce food resources in developing countries are exported more often)
  • new pests and pathogens that affect farming
  • environmental changes that affect food production e.g widespread famine
  • high cost of agricultural inputs
  • conflicts which affect the availability of food and water
29
Q

why must fish stocks be maintained at a suitable level that allows breeding to occur

A

to avoid the risk of certain species of fish disappearing from oceans

30
Q

what are some measures to help conserve fish

A
  • fishing quotas - limit on number of fish that can be caught
  • controlling the width of the mesh used in fishing nets to avoid catching unwanted species and young fish
31
Q

how can modern farming methods be used to increase the efficiency of food production

A

by reducing the transfer of energy from livestock to the environment
this is done by
- limiting movement so energy isn’t wasted on muscle contraction
- controlling environmental temperature so energy is not wasted in trying to maintain body temperature
- feeding high protein foods which are more digestible therefore less is egested
- given antibiotics routinely to try and prevent the spread of disease because fighting off infection requires energy which can’t be transferred to biomass

32
Q

what are objections to modern farming

A

religious reasons and disadvantages

33
Q

what are advantages of modern farming

A
  • cheaper
  • takes up less space
  • food will have higher energy content
34
Q

what are disadvantages of modern farming

A
  • diseases spread faster
  • cruel
  • fossil fuels used to heat barns
  • overuse of antibiotics can lead to resistance
35
Q

what is modern biotechnology used for

A

to culture large amounts of microorganisms for use as food

36
Q

what is the fungus Fusarium useful for

A

producing micro protein, a protein rich food suitable for vegetarians

37
Q

how is the fungus Fusarium grown

A

on glucose syrup, in aerobic conditions and the biomass is harvested and purified

38
Q

how is human insulin made

A

bacteria can be genetically modified to make human insulin that is then purified for medical use to treat diabetes

39
Q

how can genetically modified crops be used

A

to address food shortages by increasing crop yield and to improve the nutritional content of crops

40
Q

what is golden rice an example of

A

a genetically modified crop that has been successfully produced to improve the nutritional value of rice

GCSE Biology (49 decks)

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