Ecology Flashcards
What is a community
The populations of different species living in a habitat
What is a population
All the organisms of one species living in a habitat
What is an ecosystem
The interaction of a community of living organisms with the non-living parts of their environment
What are abiotic factors
Non-living factors of the environment
What are biotic factors
Living factors of an environment
What is a habitat
The place where an organism lives
What is a predator
An animal that eats another animal in a food chain
What is prey
An animal that is eaten by another animal in the food chain
What is interdependence
Organisms relying on other organisms for things like food, shelter, pollination, seed dispersal
What do plants compete for
Water
Sunlight
Space
Mineral ions
What do animals compete for
Food
Water
Mates
Territory
What are extaemophilles
An organism that is adapted to live in extreme conditions like:
High temperature
High pressure
High salt
(e.g. bacteria that live in deep sea vents)
Behavioural adaptations
The way an organism behaves
(e.g. lizards burrow under the sand to cool down and pitcher plants open/close )
Structural adaptations
Features of an organisms body structure
(e.g. bears have a small SA:V to reduce heat loss and pitcher plants have ridges to catch food)
Functional adaptations
Processes that occur within the organisms body
(e.g. bears 🐻 slow body for hibernation using hormones and pitcher plants 🌱 produce wax/digestive fluids)
What do food chains show
The flow of energy through an ecosystem through the process of feeding
Producers
Absorb light energy to produce their own food through photosynthesis
Consumers
Obtain energy through eating other organisms
Decomposers
Obtain energy by breaking down dead matter
Trophic levels
Feeding levels in food chains
(Producer is level 1)
Stable communities
All species and environmental factors are in balance, so the population sizes remain roughly constant over time
Precipitation
Rain, hail, snow, sleet that falls from the clouds
Condensation
When water vapour cools and turns into clouds
Evaporation
When the sun heats up water and it rises into the air
Groundwater flow
When water flows through the rocks 🪨 and soil underground
Surface run-off
When the water runs off the surface of the ground
Transpiration
When the sun heats up the water from the leaves of trees
Decomposition is caused by…
…microorganisms such as bacteria 🦠 and fungi 🍄
Equation for respiration
6O(2) + C(6)H(12)O(6) = 6CO(2) + 6H(2)O
What factors affect photosynthesis
Light intensity
Carbon dioxide concentration
Temperature
What kind of organisms do you use for measuring the number of organisms in an area
Small non-motile
Equation for number of organisms in an area
Area of field (divided by) area of quadrant X mean
Biodiversity
The variety of different species of organisms within an ecosystem
What do humans rely on other species for
Food
Materials
Shelter
Medicine
Purification
What do humans use land for
Farming 🚜
Building 🏠
Quarrying ⛏
Landfill 🗑
How do humans process waste
Landfill 🗑
Recycling ♻️
Incineration 🔥
Composting 🌱
Types of pollution
Air 💨
Water 💧
Land/Earth 🌎
Eutrophication
(Algae bloom)
When fertilisers run off field into lakes they cause the algae to multiply rapidly
This blocks sunlight and so prevents aquatic plants from photosynthesising
What is carbon sequestration
The process of removing carbon from the atmosphere
What are peat bogs
Areas of acidic, waterlogged land that contains partially decomposed plants
Why are peat bogs being cleared
For farmland, fuel or compost
Why are peat bogs important
There is little oxygen in peat bogs, so microorganisms can’t survive causing less decomposition and less carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere
