Chapter 2.3 Habitats, communities, eco., pyramids Flashcards
(24 cards)
What are abiotic factors
These are the things that make up a habitat,
What are biotic factors
These are the living organisms that live in a habitat.
What is a trophic level
The various steps in a food chain at which the transfer of food/energy takes place from one organism to another organism is known as trophic level.
What is the ecosystem
It is the name for a habitat and community of organisms which live in it
What is a food web
A food web is all of the food chains in an ecosystem connected to each other. Each organism in an ecosystem occupies a specific level/position in a food chain. For example producers make up the start of our ecosystem.
OR
A food web consists of all the food chains found in a single ecosystem. Each living thing in an ecosystem is part of many food chains.
What is a community
It is a group of organism which live in a specific habitat and are adapted to its factors.
What is a habitat
It is a place where a group of organisms can live. Different places/habitats have different types of organisms living in it.
The shorter the food chain is, the more energy the consumers can retain
shorter, energy
The third consumer in the food chain may be an omnivore
omnivore
The fifth consumer is usually the top carnivore
top carnivore
What is another use of energy
to make new cells, muscles and tissues. (when the organism increases in size, it grows.)
What is an ecological pyramid
These pyramids show the number of organisms at each trophic at a particular habitat.
What are the three types of ecological pyramids
- Pyramid of Numbers - which show the number of organisms at a trophic level in a particular habitat.
- Pyramid of Mass - shows the total mass of all the organisms at diff. trophic levels “ “ “ “ “ “
- Pyramid of Energy - shows the amount of energy being passed down the food chain at different levels in a habitat.
Energy decreases as it is passed down
Only 10% of the total energy is passed down to the next trophic level
the width of the box shows how many organisms are present at a trophic level
The wider the box (in the pyramid is), the more number of organisms there are
As you go higher up the pyramid, the amount of organisms decrease.
This is because the amount of energy being passed down decreases with each level so there is not sufficient food/energy for them to sustain. Thus, they die and there are less numbers of that organism at a trophic level.
The pyramid shape depends on the organisms in the habitat
Why are fungi and bacteria important?
They are both decomposers which have a special way of obtaining food.
(They break down dead organisms into simple substances and absorb that substances)
When they do this, they clean up the environment and the leftovers are absorbed back into the soil and get recycled.
These nutrients are important for the soil and more organisms can be grown using them. They clean up the environment as well, by doing this.
Why do green plants come first in the food chain?
Green plants come first in the food chain, they are the primary producers and they do not feed upon other organisms (meaning they make their own food). The creatures that follow in the food chain usually feed upon a plant or another organism, which is why they are consumers. They cannot make their own food.
A food chain outlines who eats who (it is the flow of energy from one organism to another)
A food web is all of the food chains in an ecosystem connected to each other. Each organism in an ecosystem occupies a specific trophic level/position in a food chain or web. Like producers who make their own food make up the start of a food chain (main producer - sunlight - gets in our ecosystem - trapped by plants - used for photosynthesis/to make food)
If an organism eats only one type of organism in a food cycle, and that organism is completely removed/taken away from its habitat, it will not have anything to eat. As a result, it will die from the lack of energy and go extinct (unless it is forced to adapt)
REFER TO OLD LAB COPY LESSON 27 TO SEE THE EXAMPLES OF PYRAMIDS
