Ecology Flashcards
Define population
All the organisms of one species that live in the same ecosystem as the same time
Define community
All the populations of all the species that live in the same ecosystem at the same time
Define habitat
The place where an organism lives
Define ecosystem
A distinct, self supporting system of biotic organisms interacting with each other and with the physical, abiotic environment
Define abiotic
Non living components in a ecosystem
Define biotic
Living components in an ecosystem
Define biodiversity
The amount of variation shown by organisms interacting within an ecosystem. The measure of the number of species and the abundance of species
What abiotic factors affect population size
Weather can freeze of heat animals too much, PH and temperature affects enzymes, oxygen affects the rate of respiration
What biotic factors affect population size
Predators reduce population, diseases caused by pathogens reduce population
What are the five tropic levels in order
Producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, decomposers
What is an example of a producer
Grass
What is an example of a primary consumers
Cricket
What is an example of a secondary consumer
Frog
What is an example of a tertiary consumer
Snake
What are two examples of decomposers
Fungi, bacteria
Define a food chain
A food chain shows how energy is transferred between organisms
How is a food chain unrealistic
They oversimplify feeding relationships as it implies that every organism only feeds on one other organism
What is a food web
A group of inter-locking food chains
Why are food webs more realistic than food chains
Plants and animals are eaten by more than one species
What is a pyramid of numbers
A pyramid of numbers represents the relative number of each type of organism at each trophies level
What is a pyramid of biomass
The amount of living material in any animal or plant
Why is a pyramid of biomass a pyramid shape
The biomass contains the energy. As energy is lost between trophies levels so is the biomass
What is a pyramid of energy transfer
Represent the amount of available energy at each level in the food chain
If a food chain is parasites where is the parasite shown on the pyramid
At the top
