Ecology Flashcards
Ecology definition
The study of the interaction between living organisms and their environment is called ecology.
Biome definition
A biome is a large natural area that has a particular climate, flora and fauna.
Ecosystem definition
An ecosystem is a community of plants, animals and smaller organisms that live, feed, reproduce and interact in the same area or environment.
Adaptation definition
An adaptation is a modification or change in the organism’s body or behavior that helps it to survive.
Environmental factor definition
Any feature of the environment that affects a living organism is called an environmental factor.
Predator definition
A predator is an animal which kills another living organism, called it’s prey, for food.
Pathogen definition
A pathogen is an organism which causes disease.
Symbiosis definition
Symbiosis is a close relationship between 2 or more different species.
Parasite definition
A parasite is an organism that is adapted to living inside or sometimes on the surface of another organism.
Commensal definition
A commensal is an organism which benefits from a relationship with another (normally larger) organism which neither loses or gains from the relationship.
Mutualistic partners definition
Mutualistic partners are 2 organisms of different species that live in close association with each other and both organisms benefit.
Competitor definition
A competitor is an organism which competes with one or more other organism for something they need which is in short supply.
Biosphere definition
A part of the Earth and its atmosphere that is inhabited by living organisms.
The biosphere is divided into something, what is it? What are the main ones?
biomes; areas which share similar climate conditions despite being in geographically different places.
main biomes; aquatic, desert, forest, grasslands, tundra
Ecosystems can be divided into 2 groups, what are they?
Aquatic: ecosystem which exists in body of water. ocean, lake, puddle.
Terrestrial: ecosystems which exist on land.
What happens when a stranger is introduced into an ecosystem? Give examples.
When a ‘stranger’ (living organism(s) or external factor) is introduced to ecosystem, it can have disastrous consequences –> because it distorts balance of ecosystem.
e.g. Habitat destruction, pollution, over harvesting, introduction of an invasive species.
Community definition
Populations that live together in a defined area
Population definition
Group of organisms of one type that live in the same area
Organism definition
Individual living thing
Groups of cells definition
tissues, organs, organ systems
Cells definition
smallest functional unit of life
Molecules definition
groups of atoms; smallest unit of most chemical compounds
What are the levels of organization of live?
- Biosphere
- Biomes
- Ecosystem
- Community
- Population
- Organism
- Groups of cells
- Cells
- Molecules
Environmental factors are divided into 2 types of factors, what are they?
biotic and abiotic factors.
Biotic factors = the influences of other living things
Abiotic factors = the influences of the non-living or physical parts of the environment
Examples of biotic factors A
Predators, prey, pathogens. The most important pathogens are bacteria + viruses, other pathogens are fungi + protista.
How do plants make fats and proteins?
Plants absorb energy from the sun and use it to make glucose in the process of photosynthesis. Plants then use minerals from the soil to convert glucose into fats + proteins.
What are the 2 types of ecological pyramids? What do the bars of each represent?
Pyramid of numbers. Width of each bar represents the number of organisms but doesn’t take into account the size of the organism.
Pyramid of biomass. Width of each bar represents the total mass of all organisms.
What are the three types of symbiosis?
Parasitism, commensalism, mutualistic partners
What is the organism that a parasite lives in called?
Host
What are the 2 types of parasites? Give an example of each.
Endoparasite = lives inside the host. Tapeworm.
Ectoparasite = lives on the outside of the host. Head louse.
What are the adaptations of a tapeworm?
Hooks and suckers which fix them firmly on the wall of the alimentary canal.
What are the adaptations of a head louse?
Flattened shape lets them lie close against the scalp. Eggs are cemented firmly to hair.
What are 2 examples of commensalism?
A clown fish living amongst the tentacles of a sea anemone.
A shark and a remora fish.
What are 2 examples of mutualistic partners?
Cowbird and rhino.
A bee and a flower.
What are 2 types of competition (competitors)?
Intraspecific competition = competition between individuals of the same species.
Interspecific competition = competition between individuals of different species.
Give 3 examples of ecosystems.
Forests, lakes, streams
Give 3 examples of abiotic factors.
Non living factors; sunlight, soil, water, gases in atmosphere…
Give 3 examples of biomes.
Rainforest, deserts, grasslands
Give 3 examples of biotic factors.
All the living organisms in an ecosystem; grass, caterpillars, birds…
6 main terrestrial biomes.
Tropical rainforest, savannah, desert, tundra, deciduous forest, coniferous forest
What is meant by the term biodiversity?
The huge variation of species which inhabit each biome
What is an invasive species?
A non-native species that evolved in another habitat
Explain the invasion of the cane toad.
The cane toad is originally from South America but in 1935 it was introduced into Australia as a natural predator for the beetles that were eating the sugarcane crops.
The toad could not climb the sugar cane to find the beetle and quickly began to reproduce and spread.
Give 4 reasons why the Cane toad is so invasive.
- Toletrate a wide range of environmental conditions
- Prolific breeders
- When challenged, they release a poisonous toxin from glands on their back
- Few natural predators
Name 4 native species affected by the cane toad invasion.
Iguana, snakes, frogs, fish
How does energy get passed along through an ecosystem?
By organisms feeding on each other.
Who are always the producers in a food chain? Why?
Green plants - they capture the sun’s energy to produce glucose in photosynthesis.
Who are the primary and secondary consumers? Why?
Primary consumers: herbivores (or omnivores) who gain energy by feeding directly on plants.
Secondary consumers: carnivores (or omnivores) who gain energy by feeding on other animals.
7 adaptations of the red kangaroo
- Finding shade + digging to find cooler earth
- Don not sweat while resting to conserve water
- Lick forearms to cool blood vessels close to the surface
- Able to store water in their muscles + gut
- Can survive just on green plants - no need to drink
- Broad, padded feet
- Very low metabolism - can survive on little food
Distinguish between predator and prey.
Predator = kills other animals for food
Prey = animal that is killed for food
What is a natural habitat?
where the basic needs of an organism are met: food, water, shelter from weather and place to
breed its young
Different types of adaptations.
Adaptations can be physical/structural, the way the body works or behavioral
Adaptations of eagles
- excellent eye-sight. Can see up to x8 more clearly than the sharpest human eye.
- Forward facing eyes to judge the distance of their prey.
- Hooked beaks to tear flesh and 4 toed talons to impale prey
Adaptations of snakes
- Vipers, cobras, rattlesnakes have poison injecting fangs
- Boa constrictor coils around and crushes it’s victim to death
Adaptations of arachnids
- Spiders paralyze their prey with posion using hypodermic needle-like fangs
- Scorpions have a hollow sting at the end of their tails
Adaptations of other animals
Lions, leopards, cheetahs depend on speed to catch their prey. Cheetahs achieve over 100 km/h in a short sprint.
Crocodiles and other predatory reptiles have a mouth full of conical teeth.
Lions, tigers and other members of the feline family have long, pointed canine teeth and sharp claws to hold and kill
prey.
Name the 4 types of animal defences.
- Mimicry
- Camouflage
- Armour plating
- Flight and fight
Examples of mimicry.
- Stingless hoverflies have the yellow and black stripes of wasps and bees.
- The harmless scarlet king snake copies the red and black bands of the venomous coral snake
Examples of camouflage
- Frogs can be the same color as plants
- Some insects look like leaves
Examples of armour plating
- mussel, oyster, clam shells
- Crabs and other crustacean’s exoskeletons
- Tortoise + terrapin shells
- Spines of porcupines + hedgehogs
Examples of flight and fight
- horses, deer, antelopes rely on speed and endurance to escape carnivores and use horns or kicks from hooves as a last resort.
- Wild pigs + boars deter predators with tusks and extremely aggressive behavior.
Adaptations of xerophytes
- Thick, waxy, waterproof cuticle.
- Stomata sunk deep inside pits/grooves in leaves or under a dense mat of woolly hairs so they are not exposed to hot, dry
winds. - Succulent plants, like cacti, store water.
- Extensive shallow roots.
- Heat resistant seeds
Adaptations of carnivorous plants
For plants to make proteins they need to absorb nitrate from the soil.
Waterlogged and acid soils have very little nitrate so some plants have evolved adaptations to catch and digest insects to extract
nitrates from proteins in their bodies.
Prey is attracted to these plants by scent and a sugary bait and is then trapped by a sticky fluid or enfolding leaves. The insects
are digested and their nitrates are absorbed to make proteins.
Adaptations of plants to deter herbivores
- Sharp thorns
- Sharp spines
- The poison sting of nettles
- Razor-edged leaves
- Leaves which fill with poison when nibbled
