ecology Flashcards
what are abiotic factors
all of the non living parts of the environment that can effect organisms
what are biotic factors
any living factor that effects another organism or effects the ecosystem in some way
what are some examples of biotic factors
food availability, competition for recourses, diseases
what are some examples of abiotic factors
light intensity, co2 concentration, temperature, intensity of wind, soil PH
what is an ecosystem
the interaction between the living organisms and their non living environment
what is a habitat
the place where an organism lives in an ecosystem
what is the population
the total number of one species in an ecosystem
what is a community
all the plants and animals living in an ecosystem eg a garden
what is adaption
features that organisms have to help them survive in their environment
what is interdependence
depending on each other for survival
what is intraspecific competition and interspecific competition
competition among organisms from the same species
competition among organisms from different species
what is a producer
organisms in a food chain that make their own food using sunlight
what is a primary consumer
organisms in a food chain that gets its energy from eating producers
what is a secondary producer
organisms in a food chain that get their energy from eating primary consumer
what is a prey/ predator
prey - gets hunted and eaten by predator
predator - hunts and eats prey
what is the carbon cycle
a natural cycle through which carbon moves by respiration, photosynthesis and combustion in the form of carbon dioxide
what is the water cycle
the process by which water moves from the sea to the air and then to land
what is biodiversity
having a range of different plants and species in one ecosystem
what is deforestation
removal of large areas of trees to provide land for other uses
what is global warming
the increase of the earths temperature due to an increase in carbon dioxide
what is biomass
the dry mass of organisms
list a few factors that animals will compete for
territory, food and water, mates
list a few factors plants will compete for
light, water, space, minerals (in soil)
what is the structure of a food chain
producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer
what do the arrow in a food chain present
the transfer of energy
why doesn’t all the energy made from the producer get transferred all the way up the food chain
some will get lost to surrounding and some will be used by other animals for respiration to move, breath etc
what are trophic levels
the different levels of a food chain
explain the structures of trophic levels
bottom
level one - producer
level two - primary consumer
level three - secondary consumer
level four - tertiary consumer
top
create a tropic level diagram for the animals:
snake, owl, grass, mouse
bottom
grass
mouse
snake
owl
top
what is an apex predator
carnivores that have no predators
give an example of a decomposers and an detritivores
decomposers - bacteria, fungi
detritivores - small animals like worms
what do decomposers and detritivores do
help decompose the dead plant and animal matter back into the environment. meaning nutrience from animals and plants go back into the ground to be used again by producers
