B4 - It's A Green World Flashcards
What is an ecosystem?
Give an example
- It is made up of all plants and animals living there & their surroundings
- e.g. A garden
What is a habitat?
Where an organism lives
What makes up a community?
All the plants & animals living in an ecosystem
What makes up a population?
A group of organisms of the same species in a habitat
What does biodiversity mean?
The range of different living organimsms in a habitat
Describe the diversity of natural ecosystems and give an example
- They have a large variety of plants/animals living there, meaning it has a good biodiversity
- E.g. Woodlands, lakes etc.
Descrive the diverstity of an artificial ecosystem and give an example
- They have poor biodiversity
- E.g forestry plantations & fish farms
Why are artificial ecosystems created?
- They are created by humans for the benefit of humans
What can a transect line be used for?
- It can be used to map the distribution of organisms in a certain area
How do transect lines work?
- A long length of string is laid across an area (e.g path/seashore)
- At regular intervals, organisms in a square frame called a quadrat can be counted (animals) or assesed for percentage cover(plants)
What is the main difference between an artificial ecosystem from a natural ecosystem?
- Humans deliberately keep and protect only one species (salmon in a fish farms)
- It removes organisms competing with it & lowers the yield
- This would not happen in a natural ecosystem
What can a transect line show on the distribution of organism?
Zonation
What causes zonation?
- Changes in abiotic factors such as the exposure on seashore or trampling near a footpath
What do food chains/webs prove?
- It shows that organisms are interdependent, with energy transferred from one organism to another