Ecology Flashcards
What are some abiotic factors?
- Temperature
- Carbon dioxide concentration
- Rainfall/water availability
- Light intensity
- pH of soil
- Minerals in soil
- Oxygen concentration
What are some biotic factors?
- New competetor
- Change in food availability
- New pathogen
- New predator
What are the three types of environmental change?
- Seasonal change
- Geographical change
- Human impacts
What is a structural adaption?
A physical adaption that helps the organism to survive.
What is a functional adaption?
A process that the organism does which helps them to survive, e.g. skunks producing a smelly liquid.
What are the 3 types of adaption?
- Structural
- Functional
- Behavioral
What are extremophyles?
Organisms that can survive in extreme environments.
What are some problems with the growing human population?
- Not enough space for farming and building
- Too much waste to process
- Pollution
- Lack of resources (water, food, construction)
What are 3 reasons for deforistation?
- Land for crops
- Land for animals
- Wood for construction
What are the conditions in a peat bog?
- Wet
- Acidic
- No trees
- Low levels of nutrients
What are the uses of peat?
- Fuel
- Compost
Where is methane emitted?
- Cattle farms
- Rice farms
How can biodiversity be maintained?
- Reduce deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions
- Field margins and hedgerows
- Recycling (land use and energy reduction)
- Breeding programs
- Habitat protection
What is food security?
The ability of human populations to access food of a sufficient quality and quantity.
What are 4 things that threaten food security?
- Population growth
- More extreme weather
- Larger incomes (more meat/dairy demand)
- Uneven distribution
