Biology- ecology (year 10) Flashcards
what is a food chain?
representation of the feeding relationships within a community.
What is a producer?
organism that makes its own food, usually by photosynthesis
what is a consumer?
Organism that eats other organisms for food
what is a herbivore?
organism that only eats producers (plants/algae)
what is a predator?
organism that kills and eats other organisms
What is a prey organism?
Organism that is killed and eaten by another organism
What is an apex predator?
carnivore with no predators
What proportion of biomass is transferred from each trophic levels to the one above?
approximately 10%
Why is biomass lost between trophic levels?
- Some ingested material is egested
- Some material is lost as waste
-used in life processes such as respiration - energy is used in movement and to keep animals warm
what is a biotic factor?
Living factors that can affect a community
list the biotic factors that can affect a community?
- availability of food
- new predators
- new pathogens
- competition between species
What is a stable community?
When all species and environmental factors are in balance, so population sizes remail fairly constant
how do adaptations help an organism?
They enable the organism to survive in the conditions in which it lives.
What are the 3 adaptations?
Structural, behavioural, functional
What is a extremophile?
An organism that lives in a very extreme environment
