B3 Flashcards
What is ecology
the study of the interactions of organisms with each other and their environment.
What is a community
all the living things in a habitat
What is a population
all the living organisms of one species in a habitat
What is a habitat
place where an organism lives
What is a ecosystem
an interacting group of organisms and their environment.
What to food chains show
how living things get their food/energy
Why do food chains occasionally show the sun
this is bc. the sun is the principal source of energy input into all living organisms
What do the arrows in food chains must always point to
living thing that is taking in food or energy. Arrows show the direction of flow of energy.
What are food chains
charts that show the flow of energy from one organism to the next beginning with a producer of energy.
What are producers
They make their own organic nutrients, usually by photosynthesis, using energy from the Sun.
What are consumers
organisms that feed on other organisms for energy.
What can primary consumers also be called
Herbivores,
are animals that eat plants or parts of plants as all producers are a type of plant
What are secondary and tertiary consumers called
Carnivores or predators as they eat other animals the primary or secondary consumer.
What are herbivores
animals that get their energy from plants
What are carnivores
animals that get their energy from animals
What is a food web
food web as a network of interconnected food chains
Difference between food web and food chain
food web contains multiple food chains
What’s a decomposer
an organism that gets its energy from dead or waste organic matter.
Where is a decomposer usually in a food chain
It actually comes after the apex predator which is tertiary, once the apex predator dies it decomposes of it and gives it back to the soil for plants to grow back again
What are different stages of food chains also called
trophic levels. For example producers make up the first trophic level, primary consumers make up the second trophic level
What is a ecosystem
containing all of the organisms and their environment, interacting together, in a given area, e.g. a lake,
Why doesn’t all the energy from one trophic level get passed down
As energy is used for metabolic processes such as breathing, digestion, and the maintenance of body temperature. Energy is lost as heat during each transfer. It’s unlikely that they will eat all of the body. Some energy is lost as waste or dead organic matter.
Why cant food chains go above the 4th trophic level
as Almost all the energy will be gone
What is more efficient in energy a long food chain or short food chain
short food chain with only one or two links between the original producers and the final consumers is more efficient in terms of energy.
Where do plants the producers get their plants from
The minerals that plants need from the soil are mostly released from the decayed remains of animals and plants and their waste. This is one example of natural recycling. There is only a limited amount (on Earth) of the elements that living things need and use.
What is natural recycling
using things over again as earth has a limited amount of elements.
What are the 4 most important elements to living things
carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O) and nitrogen (N). Important substances such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Proteins also contain nitrogen.
What is the carbon cycle
Photosynthesis:
CO2 + H2O + light energy → glucose (C6H12O6) + O2
Carbon absorbed by plants, converted into organic compounds
Respiration:
Glucose (C6H12O6) + O2 → CO2 + H2O + energy
Carbon released back into atmosphere as CO2
Feeding:
Herbivores eat plants, absorbing carbon
Carnivores eat herbivores, absorbing carbon
Decomposition:
Organic matter breaks down into CO2, releasing carbon
Microorganisms like bacteria and fungi facilitate decomposition
Fossilisation:
Plant and animal remains buried, converted into fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas)
Carbon stored for millions of years
Combustion:
Fossil fuels burned, releasing CO2 into atmosphere
Carbon returned to atmosphere, contributing to greenhouse effect
Undesirable Effects of Deforestation
They can contain up to 90% the nutrients in a forest ecosystem. These nutrients are taken away from the ecosystem killing lots.
Soil erosion may occur without absence trees because wind and direct rain may remove the soil, and soil structure is no longer stabilised by tree root systems.
Habitat Destruction:
Extinction of species
Loss of biodiversity
Environmental Consequences:
Loss of soil quality and fertility
Increased flooding and erosion
Increased CO2 concentration in atmosphere
Disruption of water cycles and weather patterns
Undesirable Effects of Deforestation on the Environment
Ecological Imbalance:
Disrupts food chains and webs
Affects nutrient cycling and decomposition
Climate Change:
Contributes to global warming and climate change
Increases greenhouse gas emissions
effect of combustion of Fossil Fuels & Deforestation on oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere
Combustion of fossil fuels will increase carbon dioxide as it’s a byproduct of it
Deforestation
releases stored CO2 into the atmosphere
Fossil fuel combustion reduces oxygen availability as it is used during combustion
Deforestation
Trees and plants produce O2 through photosynthesis
Deforestation reduces O2 production, decreasing atmospheric levels
Why is fertilizer used
to increase food production as human population icnreases
Side effects of using fertilizer
- Fertiliser can be washed through the soil into rivers and streams — this is called leaching.
- Once in the water it causes weeds and algae to grow.
- These plants eventually die and rot on the river bed.
- Decomposers like bacteria thrive with all the dead vegetation to eat.
- They multiply rapidly and use up a lot of oxygen.
- The river may become so low in oxygen that fish and freshwater invertebrates die.
Adding nutrients to the environment in this way is called eutrophication.
Why is greenhouse effect technically a good thing
It keeps earth warm with water vapour and co2
What is making green house effect such a bad
There’s too much carbon dioxide and methane in our atmosphere and will cause our world to warm rising sea levels due to melting land ice and the thermal expansion of seawater.
Why has co2 been increasing in past decades
Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) which release CO2
Burning peat for fuel
Making concrete and cement from limestone
Deforestation of tropical rainforests
4 common pollutants in air
Carbon monoxide
Sulphur dioxide
Soot (carbon)
NOx (oxides of nitrogen)
How is carbon monoxide in air
It can be sourced to the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels (eg in car engines)
What effect does carbon monoxide have on people and enviorment
a poisonous gas, deadly in high concentrations.
What affect can overharvesting of food spieces lead to
overpopulation of another spieces or death or extinction
Why is it better for humans to eat crop plants than to eat livestock that have been fed on plants
They will recieve more energy eating the crop plant, they would have to eat much more live stock to make up the amount they could have from a crop plant as it is a producer.
What is biodiversity
number of different species that live in an area
what are some reasons for habitat destruction
increasing area for housing, livestock, or plant production
extraction natural resources
freshwater and marine pollution
Why can organisms become endangered or extinct
Bc. habitat desturction, hunted, overharvested, pollution of habitat, forign spieces introduced and climate change
How can we save endangered species
seed banks, captive breeding programmes, monnitoring and protecting species and their habitats, and public education of them
What is the nutrient cycle
a system where energy and matter are transferred between living organisms and non-living parts of the environment.
