Ecology Flashcards
Environment
Everything that surrounds an animal or plant. (for example air, water, rocks and soil)
Habitat
The place where an animal or plant lives.
Interdependence
How organisms depend on each other for survival. E.g buttercups depend on bees and bees depend on butter cups.
Ecosystem
All the plants and animals in an area interacting with each other and their environment. E.g. desert, tropical rainforest, grasslands, seashore.
Producer
Plants that make their own food e.g. grass, dandelion, nettles
Consumer
Animals that get their food by eating plants or other animals
Herbivore
An animal that eats plants only e.g. rabbit, sheep, slug, snail.
Carnivore
An animal that eats other animals only e.g. fox, hawk, ladybirds
Omnivore
An animal that eats both animals and plants e.g. badger, thrush, blackbird and humans.
Decomposer
Organisms that feed on dead plants and animals e.g. earthworms, bacteria, fungi
Energy
The energy in any food chain comes from the sun. The amount of energy gets less and less as you go along the food chain.
Food web
Two or more interconnected food chains
Competition
Occurs when two or more organisms seek a resource that is limited
Plants compete for..
Light, water, minerals and space
Animals compete for…
Food, shelter, territory and mates
Adaptations
Features that give a organism a better chance of surviving in their habitat
Hedgehogs adaptations
Excellent sense of smell to make them good at finding food, spikes to find off predators, colour which makes them camouflaged so predators can’t find them easily.
Ecology
The study of plants, animals and their environment, and the relationship between them.
Conservation
The protection, preservation and careful use of our natural resources
Pollution
The adding of unwanted wastes to the environment causing damage to it
The balance of nature can be damaged
If one organism is damaged it can be harmful to many other plants and animals
Air pollution
Caused by smoke , dust and harmful gases - most of these come from cars, buses, factories and power stations
Acid rain
When fossil fuels are burned they produce gases called carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, these dissolve in rainwater to form carbonic acid and sulfuric acid. This acid rain damages plants and buildings
Soil pollution
Caused by pesticides, artificial fertilisers and acid rain. Chemicals sink into the soil and can be absorbed by plants, get passed up the food chain and can cause illness.
Water pollution
Rivers, lakes, seas are all polluted by fertilisers sewage, oil and detergents, they cause too much plant growth, bacteria polulations boom as they feed on dead plants and no oxygen
Incineration
Burning the waste, this can release dangerous gases into the atmosphere, difficulties with location nobody wants to live near an incinerator
Landfill
Burying the waste in the ground - damages soils, rive s and ground water, attracts rodents, disease causing, bad smell, difficulties as no one wants to live near it
3 R’s
Reduce, reuse, recycle
