Conservation of Biodiversity Flashcards
Ecosystem
A community of organisms that interact with each other and are affected by the abiotic, biotic, climatic, and edaphic factors surrounding them
Biotic factors
Living : predation, competition, disease
Climatic factors
Weather: rainfall, sunlight , temperature
Edaphic factors
Soil: type, moisture, pH
Population
All the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species eg all the foxes
community
all the different populations together in an ecosystem
trophic level
the position an organism occupies in the food chain
how do tertiary consumers get their energy
from secondary consumers by eating them
how do producers get their energy
from the sun by photosynthesis
energy flow in an ecosystem
only about 10% of energy from one trophic level is actually passed onto the next level, the rest is used for growth etc
why do plants need nitrogen
to convert starch made during photosynthesis to protein
-nitrogen needs to be in the form of nitrate salts which are made in the nitrogen cycle
4 main benefits of ecosystems
food, water, medicine, recreation, spiritual/aesthetic
food benefit
-seafood from oceanic ecosystems
water benefit
-transpiration in large forests contribute to clouds which release fresh water
medicine benefit
morphine from poppy
-aspirin from willow
ecological biodiversity
refers to all the different types of ecosystems on earth
reason for ecological biodiversity
need for many very different types of ecosystems to accomodate each different organism
-niche help keep ecosystem healthy, by studying and maintaining biodiversity we keep our planet healthy
2 types of ecosytems and their subtypes
terrestrial - forest, grassland
aquatic - salt,freshwater
forest features
high density of living organisms, easily upset with small changes
grassland features
grazing animals
-lots of insects and their predators
salt water features
- lots of dissolved minerals
- makes up most of earth’s water
fresh water features
- makes up less than 1% of earth water
- home to almost half of all fish species
conservation
the wise management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction or neglect
3 examples of conservation
forest management (replanting)
- plans to prevent overharvesting fish
- reduce consumption of resources by reuse, reduce,recycle
growing food :how to make it better
- fertilise land wo leaching minerals into waterways
- reuse land
- breed good quality seed
transporting food : how to make it better
-in season, local , rely less on imports
consumption of food: how to make it better
- smaller, healthier portions
- less waste
