Biologly Flashcards
Ecology
is the study of plants, animals and their environment, and the relationship between them
Environment
is everything that surrounds an animal or plant (for example air, water, rocks and soil)
Habitat
is the place where a plant or animal lives
Interdependence
is how organisms depend on each other for their survival
Producer
plants that make their own food e.g. grass, dandelion, nettles
Consumer
Animals that get their food by eating plants or other animals e.g.
Herbivore
An animal that eats plants only e.g. rabbit, sheep, slug, snail
Carnivore
an animal that eats other animals only e.g. fox, hawk, ladybird
Omnivore
an animal that eats both plants and animals e.g. badger, thrush, blackbird, humans
Decomposers
Organisms that feed on dead plants and animals e.g. earthworms, bacteria, fungi. (Decomposers are very important as they break down dead things and release lots of minerals into the soil)
Competition
occurs when two or more organisms seek a resource that is limited
Plants compete
for light, water, minerals and space
Animals compete
for food, shelter, territory and mates
Adaptions
are features that give an organism a better chance of surviving in their habitat
Incineration
burning the waste, this can release dangerous gases into the atmosphere, difficulties with location nobody wants to live near an incinerator
Landfill
Burying the waste in ground – damages soil, rivers and ground water, attracts rodents, disease causing, bad smell, difficulties as nobody wants to live near landfill sites
Pooter
Used to pick up small insects
Suck on the end with the gauze and the insect is sucked into the container
Sweep net
Swept through long grass or hedges to collect insects e.g. butterflies
Beating tray
Used to collect small animals e.g. caterpillars from trees and shrubs
Pitfall trap
Collects small, crawling animals
• A jam jar/ cup, dug into the ground, with a cover over it to stop rain getting in
• Alcohol/ anti- freeze is in the bottom to kill them (so they don’t eat each other)
Quadrat
• For estimating the number of plants in an area
• A pencil is thrown over your shoulder, and the quadrat is placed on the ground over it randomly, 10 times
• The plants in the frame are recorded each time
• This can be used to find the % frequency and a bar chart can be drawn
Line transect
• A line transect is a long
piece of rope with knots in it
• The name of the
plant under each knot is noted
Keys
• Plants and animals may be identified using simple keys (See Living things chapter)
• Itisasetof questions which are used to identify the organism
