B2d Flashcards
How may competition influence the distribution and population size of animals or plants?
Depends on the availability of food, water, shelter, light and minerals.
How can similar animals in the same habitat be in close competition?
They’ll be competing for similar ecological niches.
Individuals of the same species have exactly the same needs, so they’ll compete for lots of resources. e.g. a blue tit might compete with another blue tit for food, shelter and a mate, but a blue tit and a great tit might only compete for the same food source.
Why do organisms within a species compete?
In order to survive and reproduce.
What is the difference between interspecific and intraspecific competition?
Interspecific competition is where organisms compete for resources against individuals of another species.
Intraspecific competition is where organisms compete for resources against individuals of the same species.
Why is intraspecific competition often more significant?
It has a bigger impact on organisms than interspecific competition.
How does the size of a predator population affect the number of prey and vice versa?
If the population of the prey increases, then so will the population of the predators. However as the population of predators increases, the number of prey will decrease.
Why are the cycles of population for predator and prey out of phase with each other?
It takes a while for one population to respond to changes in the other population. e.g. when the number of rabbits goes up, the number of foxes doesn’t increase immediately because it takes time for them to reproduce.
What do some organisms benefit from?
The presence of organisms of a different species.
An example of a mutualistic relationship where both organisms benefit is…?
Oxpeckers live on the back of buffalos. Not only do they eat pests on the buffalo, like ticks, flies and maggots, providing the oxpecker with a source of food, but they also alert the animal to any predators that are near, by hissing.
What is parasitism?
Where the parasite benefits without giving anything back to the host, including fleas and tapeworms.
What is mutualism?
Where both species benefit including cleaner species (oxpeckers living on buffalos) and pollination by insects (plants pollinated allowing them to reproduce - in return, the insects get nectar)
Why is nitrogen fixing bacteria in the root nodules of legume plants an example of mutualism?
The bacteria got food from the plant, and the plant gets nitrogen compounds from the bacteria to make into proteins.
