Ecology Flashcards
Habitat
The place where an organism lives
E.g., a field
Population
All organisms living in a certain area
Community
All different species in a habitat
Ecosystem
All organisms living in a particular area and all abiotic conditions
E.g., temperature
Plants compete for
Space
Light
Minerals
Water
Animals compete for
Good
Water
Mates
Intraspecific competition
Competition between organisms of the same species
Interspecific competition
Competition between organisms of different species
Community
A group of organisms of different species interacting with each other in the same habitat
Food chain
Shows what is eaten by what in an ecosystem
Starts from a producer, produce energy from the sun
Eaten by primary consumer
All consumers eaten by decomposes
Each stage, trophies level
Food pyramid
Bar shows number of organisms at each stage of food chain
Food webs
Gives a better presentation of many interactions of many organisms
Why is <1% of the sun’s energy used by plants
Can only use visible light Red, blue wavelengths Green is the worst Light does not fall onto leaves Light reflected off leaf
What do plants use energy for
Used to move substances
Respiration
Reproduce and seed flowers fruit lost from plant
What do animals use energy for
Maintain body temp
Active transport
Chemical reactions
Sampling techniques
Select an area by laying out 2 tape measures 10m x 10m at 90 degrees
Use random numbers as coordinates for where to place the quadrat
Count number of species in the quadrat
If species are under quadrat, count the ones under the bottom and left hand side
Scale up answer to estimate total number or biomass for whole area
Belt transect
Looks at effect of a change in the environment
Systematic sampling
