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Biology > Echology And The Environment > Flashcards

Echology And The Environment Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What does a food chain show us?

A

Which organisms eat others organisms, whilst also showing the transfer of energy from one organism to the next

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2
Q

What does a producer do?

A

Starts the food chain, produces own food by photosynthethis

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3
Q

What is a primary consumer?

A

Herbivore, feeds of prey

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4
Q

What is a secondary consumer?

A

Carnivore, prey, predator

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5
Q

What is a tertiary consumer?

A

Carnivore, predator

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6
Q

What is a tropic level?

A

Stage in the food chain (eg. Producer)

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7
Q

What is meant by the term population?

A

Number of 1 species

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8
Q

What do pyramids of number show us?

A

The number of organisms in each tropic level of a food chain

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9
Q

What do ecological pyramids start with?

A

The producer on the bottom bar

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10
Q

What does a pyramid of biomass show us?

A

The total mass of biological (living) material of the organisms in each trophic level

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11
Q

What is biomass lost as and how is it released?

A

It’s lost as energy in respiration as heat to the surroundings

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12
Q

Why is biomass lost?

A

Some of the food is not eaten (roots, bones etc)

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13
Q

What form is biomass realised in?

A

Urine and faeces (excretion, egestion)

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14
Q

How do biotic factors and abiotic factors influence an ecosystem?

A

They influence the numbers and distribution of organisms in an ecosystem

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15
Q

What are some examples of things biotic?

A

Amount of prey, disease, preditation, amount of mates

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16
Q

What are some examples of things abiotic?

A

Rainfall, temperature, oxygen content, soil condition

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17
Q

What is sampling?

A

A way of taking measurements from a small area which are representative of a larger area

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18
Q

How do you make estimates for a larger area when sampling?

A

Scale up the sample

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19
Q

What is used to take a sample of plants or animals?

A

A quadrat (square frame enclosing on a known area)

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20
Q

Where is carbon found?

A

In all main biological molecules

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21
Q

What makes up lipids?

A

Fatty acids and glycerol

22
Q

What forms proteins?

A

Amino acids by joining together

23
Q

What joins to make carbohydrates?

A

Monosaccharides (sugars)

24
Q

What are examples of all main biological molecules?

A

Lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, DNA

25
Q

What is the carbon cycle?

A

The cycling of carbon between environment and organisms

26
Q

What are the key processes involved in the carbon cycle?

A

Photosynthesis and respiration

27
Q

What does decomposition in the carbon cycle consist of?

A

Microorganisms called decompressors that digest waste and dead organisms

28
Q

What microorganisms are used in decomposition?

A

Bacteria and fungi

29
Q

What do carbon compounds in dead waste material turn into?

A

Carbon dioxide in the air

30
Q

What is the meaning of the term community?

A

A group of different populations of organisms that live in the same habitat

31
Q

What does the term habitat mean?

A

The place where organism lives

32
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

A community of animals, plants, micro-organisms or non-living things and their shared environment

33
Q

Why is only about 10% of energy transferred from one trophic level to the next?

A

Most of the energy is lost as heat to the environment

34
Q

What effect is the increase of human population having on the environment?

A

Reducing biodiversity (no. of different species in an area) and increasing air and water pollution

35
Q

What are the greenhouse gases?

A

CO2, methane, Nitrogen oxide, CFC’s, Water vapour

36
Q

What will an increase in greenhouse gases cause?

A

More global warming

37
Q

How does the surface of the earth heat up therefore causing global warming?

A

Greenhouse gases are trapped in the atmosphere reflecting radiation back to the earth

38
Q

What are the physical effects of global warming on the planet?

A

Melting of polar ice caps —> rise in sea levels, changes in rainfall —> flooding/drought, extinction of species

39
Q

What can burning fossil fuels create?

A

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide which dissolve in rainwater to form acid rain

40
Q

What effect will acid rain have on planet life?

A

Damages leaves leading to less photosynthesis and a change of PH in the soil affecting growth

41
Q

What effect does acid rain have on aquatic life

A

Acidification of water damaging aquatic animals and plants

42
Q

What concentration is nitrate found in?

A

Low

43
Q

What are nitrates important for?

A

Building amino acids and protein for growth

44
Q

What happens to plants with low availability of nitrates?

A

Stunted growth

45
Q

Why do farmers add fertilisers to crops?

A

Nitrates in them improve the soil fertility

46
Q

What happens to excess artificial fertilisers?

A

They’re washed out of the soil by rain (leaching) and run into rivers, streams and lakes

47
Q

What can leaching lead to?

A

Eutrophication

48
Q

What is the first stage of eutrophication?

A

Inorganic fertilisers used of fields are leached into nearby rivers, lakes and streams

49
Q

What is the second stage of eutrophication?

A

Increased concentration of mineral ions stimulates growth of aquatic plants, rapid growth of algae on surface of water (algal bloom)

50
Q

What is the third stage of eutrophication?

A

Increased growth causes overcrowding for many plants, algal bloom blocks light from plants at bottom of water and prevents photosynthesis

51
Q

What is the fourth stage of eutrophication?

A

Many of the plants die and aerobic bacteria decomposes the plant material, using up the oxygen in the water

52
Q

What is the fith stage of eutrophication?

A

Low oxygen content, fish and other organisms die, water becomes anoxic (only anaerobic organisms survive)

Biology (13 decks)

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