Ecology Flashcards
What is ecology?
The study of ecosystems
What are ecosystems?
Give 2 examples
Groups of organisms interacting with their living and non-living environment
e.g. Freshwater, Savannah grassland
What is a biotic and abiotic factor?
Biotic: living parts
Abiotic: non-living parts
List the roles of organisms in the habitat
-Producers
-Primary consumers
-Secondary consumers
-Tertiary consumers
-Decomposers
What is a producer?
organisms that make food
e.g. green plants
What is a primary consumer?
-The first consumer in the food chain
-They can be herbivores or omnivores
-E.g. greenfly
What is a secondary consumer?
-Animals that eat primary consumers
-Ladybirds
What is a tertiary consumer?
Top consumers in the food chain
e.g. Sparrow hawks
What is a food chain?
It shows the feeding relationship between organisms in an habitat
What is a food web?
A diagram that shows two or more linked food chains
What is interdependence?
When organisms depend on each other to stay alive
What is mutualism?
When both organisms benefit
e.g. flower and bee
What is commensalism?
When one organism benefits and the other receives neither benefit nor harm
e.g. Sharks and remora fish
What is parasitism?
When one organism benefits and the other is harmed in the process
e.g. humans and mosquitoes
