Ecology

Question 1

What do organisms compete for to survive

Answer 1

Resources

Question 2

What can any change in an ecosystem have

Answer 2

Knock on effects to other members of that ecosystem

Question 3

What are abiotic factors and some examples

Answer 3

Non-living factors

Moisture levels
wind intensity
temperature

Question 4

What are biotic factors and some examples

Answer 4

Living factors

New predators
Competition
New pathogens

Question 5

What do adaptations allow an organism to do

Answer 5

Survive

Question 6

Types of adaptation

Answer 6

Structural - features of an organisms body

Behavioural - way that organisms behave (e.g migration)

Functional - things that go on inside an organisms body (e.g hibernation)

Question 7

What do food chains show

Answer 7

What’s eaten by what and the energy transfer within an ecosystem

Question 8

What does a predator-prey graph look like

Answer 8

Cycling of a graph

Question 9

Examples of environmental changes that can change the distribution of organisms

Answer 9

availability of water
change in the temperature
composition of atmospheric gases

Question 10

Stages of the water cycle

Answer 10

Evaporation turns water in water vapour

condenses in clouds

precipitation

then drains into the sea

Question 11

What is the carbon cycle

Answer 11

The removal and addition of carbon into the atmosphere as a cycle

Question 12

What is decomposed organic matter used for by farmers

Answer 12

Natural fertilisers

Question 13

What is the rate of decay affected by

Answer 13

Temperature
Oxygen levels
Water availability
No. of decay organisms

Question 14

What is biogas

Answer 14

Made mainly of methane that comes from the anaerobic decay of waste material

Question 15

What are the types of biogas generators

Answer 15

Batch and continuous

Batch is made in small batches whereas continuous is continuously fed in

Question 16

What does a biogas generator need to have

Answer 16

An inlet for waste material to be put in

An outlet for digested materials to be removed

An outlet so that biogas can be piped to where it is needed

Question 17

What is biodiversity

Answer 17

The variety of different species of organisms on earth, or in an ecosystem

Question 18

Why is the population rising

Answer 18

As modern medicine and tech has reduced the number of people dying

This also increases the pressure on the environment as more is being burnt and more people demand a higher standard of living

Question 19

What are the consequences of global warming

Answer 19

Cause ice to melt and sea level to rise
distribution of fauna may change
changes in migration patterns
biodiversity could reduce

Question 20

What happens regarding CO2 when trees are cut down

Answer 20

Less CO2 taken in
More CO2 released into the atmosphere

Question 21

What are humans trying to do to protect ecosystems

Answer 21

Breeding programmes
Re-introduction of species
Encouraging people to recycle

Question 22

What are the different trophic levels

Answer 22

1 - producers
2 - primary consumers
3- secondary consumers
4 - tertiary consumers (apex predators)

Question 23

What happens to energy between trophic levels

Answer 23

Energy is lost between trophic levels

Question 24

What threatens food security

Answer 24

Birth rate and demand increasing
Conflicts
High costs

Question 25

What does overfishing do to fish stocks

Answer 25

Decrease as there is less fish to eat

To combat this net size and fishing quotas are being implemented

Question 26

How can food production be made more efficient

Answer 26

Factory farming reduces transfer of energy
High protein diets for animals

Question 27

What is mycoprotein

Answer 27

Used to make high protein substitutes for meat eg quorn

made from the fungus fusarium

Question 28

Which bacterium produces human insulin

Answer 28

GM bacterium