Ecology Flashcards
What is a feeding relationship
How different organisms feed on (eat) each other
What name is given to organisms that make their own food?
Producer
Where do producers get their energy from?
The sun
In a food chain or web, what name is given to an organism that eats another organism?
Consumer
In a food chain or web, what name is given to the organism that eats the producer?
Primary consumer
In a food chain or web, what name is given to the organism that eats the primary consumer?
Secondary consumer
In a food chain or web, what name is given to the organism that eats the secondary consumer?
Tertiary Consumer
What name is given to organisms that eat animals?
Predators
What name is given to animals that are eaten by other organisms?
Prey
In a food chain or web, which direction are the arrows drawn in?
From the organism being eaten to the organism eating it
In a food chain or web, why are the arrows drawn from the organism being eaten to the organism eating it?
To show the flow of energy
What is decay
The breakdown of dead organisms
What name is given to organisms that cause decay?
Decomposer
What are the two main types of decomposer?
Detritivores and microbes
Give an example of a detritivore
Maggots, Woodlice
Give an example of a microbe decomposer
Bacteria, Fungi
Why is decay important?
It releases waste products that plants can use.
What conditions are best for decay?
Lots of oxygen, warm temperatures and moisture
What is the “population” of an organism?
The number of that organism in a particular area
What is interdependence?
How organisms depend on each other for survival
What is bioaccumulation?
How toxic materials build up in a food chain
What is an adaptation?
A way an organism suits its environment
Name two types of adaptation
Physical and behavioural
Give an example of a physical adaptation
Sharp teeth, camouflage, foot surface area, spikes
Give an example of a behavioural adaptation
Making nests to shelter offspring (children), huddling for warmth, rolling into a ball, courtship displays
What is competition?
Where organisms have to struggle against each other for resources
Where organisms have to struggle against each other for resources
Food, water, space, light, mates
What is a species?
A group of organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring
What is extinction?
When an entire species dies out
Name two things that can cause extinction
New predators, new diseases, changes to habitat, more successful competitors, catastrophic events (like volcanoes or asteroid impacts
How can scientists estimate population size?
By using Quadrats (sampling from a larger area)
What word is used to describe the variety of species in an area?
Biodiversity
Give two reasons why biodiversity is importants
Moral reasons, species may be useful to us, protects food supply, limits large changes to food chains and webs
Name two ways in which scientists try to maintain biodiversity
Gene banks, protection of habitats, breeding programmes
