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Biology > B7 - Ecosystems > Flashcards

B7 - Ecosystems Flashcards

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1
Q

Define habitat

A

Place where an organism lives

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2
Q

Define population

A

All the organism of a species living in a habitat

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3
Q

Define community

A

Population of different species living in a habitat

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4
Q

Define abiotic factors

A

Non living factors of the environment

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5
Q

Define biotic factors

A

Living factors of the environment

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6
Q

Define ecosystem

A

Interaction of a community of living organisms with the non living parts of their environments

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7
Q

Examples of competing for resources

A

Plants need light and space as well as water and mineral ions to survive
Animals need space, food and water to survive and mates
Both need things from environment and other organisms
Organisms have to compete for these limited resources

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8
Q

What’s interdependence

A

In a community, each species depends on each other for food, shelter, pollination
Interdependence can have far reaching effects like food webs - one animal dies out it effects amount of other organisms

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9
Q

What are stable communities

A

Species and environmental factors are balanced and population sizes are roughly constant e.g tropical rainforests and ancient oak woodlands

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10
Q

List abiotic factors

A

Moisture level, light intensity, temperature, CO2 levels, wind intensity, oxygen levels, soil pH

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11
Q

List some biotic factors

A

New predators, new pathogens, competition, food availability

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12
Q

How can abiotic factors and biotic factors vary/change an ecosystem

A

Abiotic / biotic factors can increase or decrease and change population sizes and can have knock on effects of interdependence

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13
Q

Define adaptation

A

Organism adapts to survive in different environmental conditions
Features of characteristics let them do this

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14
Q

What is structural adaptations

A

Features of an organisms body structure (shape, colour)
E.g Arctic Fox is white to camouflage with snow - hide and sneak up on prey
Whales have thick blubber to keep them warm

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15
Q

What is behavioural adaptations

A

How organisms behave

Many species migrate to warmer climates during winter to avoid harsh conditions

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16
Q

What is functional adaptations

A

Things that go on inside organisms body - related to processes of metabolism or reproduction

Desert animals conserve water by producing little sweat and small amounts of concentrated urine
Brown bears hibernate over winter with lower metabolism to conserve energy so they don’t have to hunt

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17
Q

Why do microorganisms have a huge range of adaptations and examples

A

So they can live in many environments
Some microorganisms are known as extremophiles > adapted for extreme conditions
High temperature like volcanic vents or places with high salt concentration or deep sea with high pressure

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18
Q

What is distribution of an organism

A

Where the organism is found

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19
Q

How is distribution affected

A

Affected by environmental factors

Something might be might common in an area with more sunlight or shade

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20
Q

How to use Quadrats

A

Place Quadrat randomly on ground and count organisms and repeat and work out mean

Mean = total organisms/ no of Quadrats

Repeat in second sampled area and compare means

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21
Q

Define abundance

A

Population size of organism

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22
Q

What does a food chain show

A

Shows what is eaten by what in an ecosystem

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23
Q

What do food chains start with and their role

A

Producers as they produce their own food - energy from sun

Normally green plants or algae and they make glucose by photosynthesis for energy or to make other biological molecules

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24
Q

What is the plants biomass

A

Mass of the living material. It’s also thought as the energy stored in the plant.
Energy transferred through living organism in an ecosystem when one organism eats the producer and then passes it on

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25
Q

Cycle of a food chain

A

Producers eaten by primary consumers. primary consumers eaten by secondary consumers. secondary consumers eaten by tertiary consumers.
E.g dandelion eaten by rabbit, rabbit eaten by Fox

26
Q

What are predators and what do they eat

A

Consumers that hunt and kill and they eat prey

27
Q

What happens in a stable community of predators and prey

A

Population of any species is limited by food available
Prey increase, so do predators
Predators increase, prey decrease

28
Q

What are predator prey cycles

A

The cycle of predators eating prey and then increasing, but the predators decreasing afterwards because there is less prey. Once the prey increase, so do the predators as they have more to eat. Then prey decrease and so on so on

29
Q

Why are predator prey cycles out of sync

A

As it takes time population to respond to changes in the other population like reproduction time

30
Q

Why do you use transect

A

To study the distribution of organisms along a line. A transect is a line

31
Q

How do you use a transect

A

Mark line in area you want to study with tape measure

Collect data along the line - count organisms that touch the line or use Quadrats

32
Q

Stages of the water cycle

A

Energy from sun evaporates water(from sea, lakes)- water vapour
Evaporated from plants too which is ‘transpiration’
Warm water vapour carried upward as warm water rises, as it gets higher it cools and condenses to form clouds
Water falls from cloud as precipitation onto land. Fresh water for plants and animals
Some of this water absorbed by soil, taken up by plant roots or by the plant for plant tissue and passed onto animals in food chain
Animals return water to soil and atmosphere through excretion
Water not absorbed by soil will runoff into streams and river - start again

33
Q

How are elements cycle back to the start of the food chain

A

By decay

34
Q

What do plants turn elements into (the carbon cycle basically)

A

Plants turn elements like oxygen, carbon from the soil and air into complex compounds which make up living organisms and is then passed through food chains
These materials are returned to environment through waste
Waste decays as they’re broken down by microorganisms (happens faster is moist, Aerobic conditions)
Decay puts stuff plants need back into soil

35
Q

Describe the carbon cycle

A

CO2 in air goes into plants through photosynthesis. Goes from plants to animals through feeding. It then goes from animals to decomposers through waste or death. Goes from decomposers to CO2 in air through respiration.
Plants put CO2 back in air through respiration.
Plants give CO2 to fossil fuels through death, which fossil fuels put CO2 in air through burning.
Animals put CO2 back in air through respiration

36
Q

What is biodiversity

A

Variety of different species of organisms on earth, or within an ecosystem

37
Q

Why is high biodiversity important

A

Make sure ecosystems are stable due to interdependence

Different species help maintain the right physical environment for each other like acidity of soil

38
Q

How are humans reducing biodiversity

A

Through waste production, deforestation and global warming

Reducing habitat space, melting ice caps

39
Q

Why are there an increased demands on environment from humans

A

Need more resources to survive as the population increases
Higher standard of living requires more raw materials
More energy to make

40
Q

Pollution affects of water

A

Sewage and toxic chemicals pollute lakes, rivers which affects marine animals and habitats. Chemicals on land washed in5o water

41
Q

Pollution affects of land

A

Toxic chemicals for farming, bury nuclear waste underground and household waste in landfill sites

42
Q

Pollution affects of air

A

Smoke and acidic gases

Sulphur dioxide creates acid rain

43
Q

What two gases trap energy from the sun

A

Carbon dioxide and methane

44
Q

What is the temperature of the earth a balance between

A

Balance between the suns energy and the energy it radiates back into space

45
Q

What do gases in the atmosphere act as

A

Act as an insulating later. They absorb most energy that would be radiated back into space and re-radiate in all directions, increasing the earths temperature
Green house gases help this layer

46
Q

What is global warming

A

Type of climate change that causes other climate change e.g rainfall position

47
Q

Consequences of global warming

A

Higher temperature causes sea water to expand and ice melts - sea levels rise - flooding of low land and habitat loss
Distribution of wild animals may change due to temp increases and change in rainfall - widely distributed
Change in migration - birds further north as north gets warmer
Biodiversity decrease - unable to survive in climate change

48
Q

Why is deforestation done

A

Make land for building, farming, quarrying, dumping waste

49
Q

What is deforestation

A

Cutting down of forests to clear land

Grow crops to make biofuels based on ethanol

50
Q

Problems of deforestation

A

Less carbon dioxide taken in, meaning there’s more in the atmosphere = more global warming
Trees ‘locked up’ some carbon they absorb in their food - less in atmosphere for hundreds of years. Less trees = less lock up
Less biodiversity

51
Q

What are bogs

A

Area of land that are acidic and water logged. Plants here don’t fully decay - not enough oxygen - rotted plants form peat

52
Q

What is stored in peat and what is peat

A

Carbon dioxide stored in peat
Peat is drained so bog land can be used for farming or it’s cut up so it can be dried and used as a fuel or compost.
Destroying bogs = destroying habitats

53
Q

Programmes set up for maintaining ecosystems and biodiversity

A

Breeding programmes - help endangered animals as they’re bred in captivity and released to boost population
Programs to protect rare habitats like mangroves, heathland and coral reefs
Regulations on deforestation
Recycling encouraged

54
Q

Why is maintaining biodiversity hard

A

Costs money - government pay farmers to subsidy to reintroduce hedge grows and field margins (edges of farms where wild plants grow) also costs to keep watch
Conflict - money for biodiversity or other things
Less tree felling jobs
Some organisms seen as pests and are killed to protect crops
Land in high demand

55
Q

What is mutualism

A

Way 2 organisms exist in a relationship in which both individual benefits from activity of each other

56
Q

Examples of mutualism

A

Alligator and plover. Plover removes meat from alligators teeth so there’s no decay, and the plover gets food

Ox and ox pecker. Ox pecker removes parasites helping the ox and the ox pecker gets food

Clownfish and anemone. Clownfish gets protection in anemone and the anemone feeds off the waste

57
Q

What is paratism

A

Relationship between organisms in which one species benefits but the other is harmed

58
Q

Examples of paratism

A

Human and lice. Humans blood is eaten and eggs laid in hair. Lice gets food and place to live

Animal and mosquito. Animals blood gets taken - malaria. Mosquito gets food

59
Q

What is fish farming

A

Where aquatic animals are held in pens to reproduce to make food and stop overfishing

60
Q

Downsides of fish farming

A

Kept in small pens with uneaten food, fish faeces which all sinks. This causes bacteria and disease - fish stocked with antibiotics- we eat fish which causes antibiotic resistant bacteria

61
Q

Stages of eutrophication

A

Fertiliser spread on land
Fertiliser absorbed by soil - washed down by rain
Left over fertiliser transported to lake/river by underground water ‘runoff’
Presence of fertiliser causes overgrowth in algae and aquatic plants - algae bloom because of nitrogen
Layer of green algae covers top and stops bottom plants getting sunlight. Grows most through photosynthesis
Plants at bottom did and dead matter decomposes - lake becomes anoxic (bacteria everywhere)
Bacteria decomposes algae and bacteria uses up all oxygen in lake for energy - organisms like fish die as there’s not enough oxygen

62
Q

Stages of nitrogen cycle

A

Nitrogen gas in air goes to nitrates in soil through nitrogen fixing by soil bacteria and lightning. Nitrates in soil back to nitrogen in atmosphere through breakdown by some soil bacteria.
Nitrates in soil go to plants by absorption which goes to animals through feeding. Goes to proteins and urea through excretion and death which then goes back to Nitrates in soil.

Nitrogen in air goes to plants through nitrogen fixing by root nodule in bacteria

Biology (7 decks)

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