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ecology Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

3 types of adaptation

A

structural, behavioural, functional

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2
Q

structural adaptations

A

features of organisms body structure such as shape or colour e.g thick or thin layer of fat depending on temperature of environment

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3
Q

behavioural adaptation

A

the way organisms behave for example many species migrate to warmer climates in the winter

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4
Q

functional adaptation

A

things that go on inside an organisms body that can relate to processes such as reproduction and metabolism e.g conserving water by sweating less

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5
Q

microorganisms and adaptation

A

some known as extremophiles and are adapted to live in very extreme conditions e.g in hot volcano vents or very salty lakes

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6
Q

order of food chain

A
  1. producer
  2. primary consumer
  3. secondary consumer
  4. tertiary consumer
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7
Q

relationship between number of prey and predators

A
  • population of any species limited by amount of food available
  • if population on prey increases, population of predators increase
  • However if population of predators increase population of prey will decrease
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8
Q

predator-prey cycles

A

they are always out of phase with each other because it takes a while for one population to respond to changes in the other population e.g when number of rabbits goes up foxes popluation don’t increase immediately because it takes time for them to reproduce

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9
Q
A
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10
Q

environmental changes that affect distribution of organism

A
  • availability of water
  • change in temp
  • change in composition of atmospheric gases
    caused by seasonal factors, geographic factors or human interaction
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11
Q

change in composition of atmospheric gases

A

distribution of some species change in areas where there is more air pollution e.g lichen cannot grow in areas where sulfur dioxide is given out by certain industrial processes

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12
Q

change in temp

A

distrubiton of bird species in germany changing due to rise in average temp

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13
Q

availability of water

A

there are times of year when there is more/ less rainfall which can attract certain species

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14
Q

stages of water cycle

A
  • evaporation/ transpiration
  • condensation
  • precipitation
  • drain into sea
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15
Q

what does decay help to do

A

put stuff plants need to grow like mineral ions back into the soil

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16
Q

where do microorganisms work best

A

warm, moist and aerobic conditions

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17
Q

microorganisms….

A

break down / digest materials causing them to decay

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18
Q

how is CO2 removed from atmosphere

A

by green plants and algae during photosynthesis, carbon used to make glucose which can be turned into carbs, fats and proteins to make up bodies of plant and algae

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19
Q

how is carbon returned to atmposphere

A

when plants and algae and animals respire ( released in the form of CO2)

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20
Q

how does carbon move through food chain

A

when plants and algae are eaten by animals and carbon becomes part of fats and proteins in their body

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21
Q

how is CO2 returned to atmopshere when animals, plants and algae die

A

other animals (detrius feeders) and microorganisms feed on remains and respire releasing CO2

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22
Q

animal waste

A

also broken down by detrius feeders and microorganisms

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23
Q

combustion

A

burining of wood and fossil fuels releases CO2 back into the air

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24
Q

compost

A

decomposed organic matter used as natural fertiliser for crops and garden plants

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25
Q

what affects rate of decay

A
  • temp, increase with temp until too hot and enzymes denature, too cold also slows rate
  • oxygen availability - many organisms need this to respure but mircroorganisms involved in anaerobic decay don’t need oxygen
  • water availability - decay is faster in moist environments - organisms involved need water to carry out biological processes
  • number of decay organisms - more microorganisms and detrius feeders, the faster decomposition happens
26
Q

biogas

A

mainly made up of methane which can be burned as a fuel

27
Q

how do different microorganisms produce biogas

A

decay plant and animal waste anaerobically which produces methane gas, sludge waste (in sewage works or sugar factories) is used to make biogas on a large scale

28
Q

what is biogas made in

A

simple fermenter called a digester or generator - need to be kept at constant temp to keep microorganisms respiring away

29
Q

what can’t biogas be stored as

A

a liquid because it needs too high a pressure so it has to be used straight away for heating cooking or lighting OR to power a turbine to generate electricity

30
Q

batch generators

A

make biogas in small batches, manually loaded up with waste which is left to digest and by-products cleared awat at end of each session

31
Q

continuous generators

A

make biogas all the time, waste is continuously fed in and biogas is produced at a steady rate- more suited to large scale biogas projects

32
Q

biodiversity

A

the variety of different species of organisms on earth or within an ecosystem

33
Q

human actions that reduce biodiversity

A
  • waste production, deforestation and global warming
34
Q

population increase leads to..

A

more people so humans have a bigger effect on the environment also people are demanding a higher standard of living, we use more energy for manufacturing processes
also producing more waste

35
Q

how does waste affect water

A

sewage and toxic chemicals pollute lakes rivers and oceans affecting the plants and animals that rely on them to live and chemicals used on land can be washed into water

36
Q

how does waste affect land

A

toxic chemicals for farming such as pesticides and herbicides and we also bury nuclear waste underground and dump lots of houshold waste in landfill sites

37
Q

how does waste affect air

A

smoke and acidic gases released into atmosphere and pollute the air e.g sulfur dioxide causes acid rain

38
Q

what do gases in the atmosphere act like

A

an insulating layer, they absorb most of the energy that would normally be radiated out into space and re-radiate it in all directions including back towards earth

39
Q

consquences of global warming

A
  • seawater expands and ice caps melt causing rising sea levels and also flooding which can destroy habitats
  • as temperatures increase and rainfall patterns change species distribution will change
  • migration patterns could change
  • biodiversity reduces as some species will not be able to survive a change in climate so will go extinct
40
Q

problems of using land

A

we use land fo building, quarrying, dumping waste ect. which can lead to there being less land available for other organisms

also sometimes the way we use land (like if it requires deforestation or destruction of habitats like peat bogs) it can damage habitats

41
Q

what is deforestation

A

cutting down of forests which can cause many problems if on a large scale such as rainforests and tropical areas

it is often done to clear land for farming to provide more offd or grow crops from which ethanol based biofuels can be produced

42
Q

problems of deforestation

A
  • amount of carbon dioxide removed via photosynthesis is reduced and trees can lock up carbon they absorb during photosynthesis in their wood so less is locked up
  • when trees are burnt to clear them carbon dioxide is released and microorganisms feeding on dead wood release CO2 as a waste product of respiration
  • forests are often habitats for a huge number of species of plants and animals so when destroyed there is a danger of these species becoming extinct - biodiversity is reduced
43
Q

what are peat bogs

A
  • bogs are areas of land that are acidic and waterlogg and plants that live in them do not fully decay when they die as there isn’t enough oxygen
  • these partly rotted plants build up to form peat
  • carbon in plants is stored as peat instead of being released into atmosphere
44
Q
A
45
Q

problems with destroying peat bogs

A
  • peat bogs often drained so that area can be used as farm land
  • alternatively peat is dried up to use as fuel or sold as compost
  • it is being used faster than it is formed
  • when peat is drained it comes into contact with more air and some microorganisms start to decompose it
  • when they respire they use o2 and releas Co2 contributing to global warming
  • it also reduces biodiversity as it reduces area of habitats of some animals plants and microorganisms
46
Q

programmes to protect ecosystems and biodiversity

A
  • breeding programs
  • programmes to protect and regenerate rare habitats such as mangroves, heathland and coral reefs
  • programmes to reintroduce hedgerows and field margins on crops where only a single type of crop is grown in order to grow wild flowers and grasses that provide a habitat for a wider variety of organisms
  • some goverments have introduced regulations to decrease deforestation
  • people encouraged to recycle to reduce amount of waste that gets dumped in landfill - leaving more land for ecosystems
47
Q

problems with protecting biodiversity

A
  • costs money
  • may cost people their livelihood e.g people hired to cut down trees if deforestation is reduced
  • conflict between biodiversity and food security
  • sometimes it needs to be used to develop things such as new towns
48
Q

trophic levels

A
  1. producer (make own food via photosynthesis)
  2. primary consumer (herbivores)
  3. secondary consumer (carnivores eat primary and secondary consumers)
  4. tertiary consumer (carnivores that eath carnivores)
    decomposers break down uneaten remains and waste
49
Q

pyramids of biomass

A

less energy and less biomass every time you move up a trophic level in a food chain

often also fewer organisms

50
Q

how is biomass lost between each trophic level

A

some glucose made by plants and algae is used to make biological molecules which makes up the plants biomass
- organisms do not always eat every single part of organism they’re consuming
- they do not absorb all food they ingest some of it is egested
- some is converted to other substances that is lost as waste for example lots of glucose ingested is used for movement and keeping warm whihc produces Co2 and water as by products also urea is a waste substance when protiens in biomass are broken down

51
Q

what is food security

A

having enough food to feed a population

52
Q

what can threaten food security

A
  • population increasing
  • diets in developed countries changing so demand for certain foods to be imported increases
  • farming can be affected by new pests and pathogens
  • high input costs of farming can make it too expensive for people in some countries to start or maintain food production
  • some conflicts in the world affect availability of food and water
53
Q

how is overfishing decreasing fish stocks

A
  • less fish for us to eat and oceans food chains affected and some species may dissapear all together
54
Q

how to tacke overfishing

A

we need to maintain fish stocks at a level wher fish continue to breed - this is sustainable food production
- fishing quotas - put limit on number and size of fish that can be caught in certain areas prevents certain species from being overfished
- net size - bigger mesh size allowes unwanted smaller species such as shrimp to escape also younger fish can slip through allowing them to reach breeding age

55
Q

how can food production be made more efficient

A
  • limiting movement of livestock and keeping them in temp controlled environment reduces transfer of energy from livestock to environment - enables more energy to be used for growth so more food produced from same imput of resources
  • chickens and calves can be factory farmed which involves raising them in small pens
  • fish can be factory farmed in cages where their movement is restricted
  • some fed high-protein food to increase their growth
56
Q

why are some farming methods controversial

A
  • kept so close disease is easily spread
  • ethical objections as it is cruel to make them live in an unnatural and uncomfortable condition
57
Q

mycoprotein

A
  • using modern biotechnology techniques large amounts of microorganisms can be cultured industrially under controlled conditions in large vats for use as food source
  • mycoprotein is used to make high protein meat subsitutes for vegitarians
  • made from fungus (fusarium) and grown in aerobic conditions on glucose syrup which is uses as food
  • fungal biomass is harvested and purified to produce mycoprotein
58
Q

genetic engineering to make human insulin

A
  • plasmid removed from bacterium
  • insulin gene cut out from human chromosome using restriction ensyme
  • plasmid cut open using same restriction enzyme
  • plasmid and human insulin gene mixed together
  • ligase added to join them together and produce recombinant DNA
  • inserted into bacterium
  • grows in vat under controlled conditions and end up with millions of bacteria that produce insulin
  • insulin harvested and purified to treat people with diabetes
59
Q

GM crops

A
  • produced to be resistant to pests improving crop yeilds
  • genetically modified to grow better in drought conditions
  • modified to provide more nutritionala value such as golden rice - produce chemical that is converted in the body to vitamin A
60
Q

disagreements with GM crops

A
  • need to tackle poverty first because people don’t go hungry due to a lack of food but because they cannot afford food
  • fears countries may become dependant on companies who sell GM seeds
  • sometimes poor soil is the main reason crops won’t survive and even GM crops won’t solve this

Biology (2 decks)

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