Ecology Flashcards
Environment
Everything that surrounds an animal or plant (for example air, water rocks and soil)
Habitat
The HABITAT is the place where a plant or animal lives
What organisms live in a woodland habitat
Hedgehogs, snails, foxes and primroses and also oak, ash and beech trees
Interdependence
How organisms depend on each other for their survival, for example buttercups need bees and bees depend on buttercups so both depend on each other
What is an ecosystem
All plants and animals in an area interacting with each other and their environment. E.g. Desert, tropical rain forests, grasslands, seashore
Producer
A producer is a plant that makes its own food E.g. Grass, dandelions and nettle
Consumer
Animals that get their food by eating plants or other animals E.g. Herbivore or carnivores
Herbivore
Only eats plants E.g. Rabbits, sheep and snails
Carnivore
An animal that only eats other animals E.g. Ladybugs, foxes, hawks
Omnivore
Eats both plants and animals E.g. humans
Decomposer
Something that feeds of plants and animals when they are dead, E.g. Earthworms, bacteria and fungi (deco posers are very important as they break down dead things and release lots of minerals into the soil)
Food chain
A food chain shows how one organism eats another and so on, must start with green plants
Feeding level
The position of an organism in the food chain
Food web
A food web is two or more interconnected food chains
Competition
Occurs when two or more organisms seek a resource that is limited e.g. Plants compete for light, water, minerals and space and animals compete for food, shelter, territory and mates
Adaptations
Adaptations are features that give an organism a better chance of surviving in their habitat
How are dandalines adapted to their surroundings
Long roots to get water and can spread their seeds in the wind
How are hedgehogs adapted
Excellent sense of smell to find food spikes to fight off predictors and colour which makes them camouflaged
Consevation
Conservation Is the protection, preservation and careful use of our natural resources
Our natural resources
Our natural resources include land, rivers, seas, plants and animals
Pollution
Pollution is adding unwanted wastes to the enviourment causing damage to it
Air pollution
Caused by smoke, dust Nd harmful gases-most of these come from cars, buses, factories and power stations
How many different types of pollution is there?
There are three different types of pollution
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
Damage acid rain can do…?
Dissolve or burn plants and buildings
Soil pollution
Caused by pesticides, artificial fertilisers and acid rain
Water pollution
Rivers, lakes and seas are polluted by fertilisers, sewage, oil and detergents
Household waste
Rubbish
Medical waste
Disease
Industrial waste
Toxic chemicals
Nuclear waste
Radioactive
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 ground-damages soil, rivers and ground water, attracts rodents, disease causing, bad smell, difficulties as nobody wants to live near landfill sites
Recycling
Paper, glass, some metals and plastic can be processed and reused (made into something else) this reduces damage to the environment
Reduce
Use your own bag, do not pick the items with extra packaging (use less extra packaging)
Pollutiant
The actual thing that pollutes like the sewage into the sea
Ecology
Ecology is the study of plants, animals and their environment, and the relationship between them
