Ecology Flashcards
Whats an enviorment?
The total non biological living components in an ecosystem.
Whats a habitat?
The place where an organism lives.
Whats a population?
All the organisms that belong to a particular species found in an ecosystem.
Whats a community?
The population of all species found within an ecosystem.
Whats a producer?
A plant which photosynthesizes to produce its own food.
Whats a consumer?
An animal which eats other animals or plants.
Whats a decomposer?
An organism that breaks down dead materials.
What are biotic factors?
Living factors that affect other lives.
What are abiotic factors?
Non living factors.
How would you sample an ecosystem?
Draw an imaginary line called a transect from one part of the habitat to another.
Place the quadrat at regular intervals along the transect.
Count the number of one species, the number of species or percentage cover of one species and record the result.
Whats a pyramid of number show?
Shows the number of each organism at a specific trophic level.
Whats a pyramid of biomass?
Shows the mass of living material.
Why does so little energy pass from one organism to another?
Energy decreases as it moves up trophic levels because energy is lost as metabolic heat when the organisms from one trophic level are consumed by organisms from the next level.
Whats the carbon cycle?
The process in which carbon atoms continually travel from the atmosphere to the Earth and then back into the atmosphere.
1) CO2 from the atmosphere is absorbed by green plants in photosynthesis and is used to make glucose.
2) The plants are then eaten by animals which passes carbon dioxide onto the animal.
3) The animal then respires releasing CO2 into the atmosphere.
4) Decomposers then break down the dead material and respire releasing CO2.
