Ecology

Question 1

What is ecology?

Answer 1

Study of interactions between living things and organisms and their environment.

Question 2

What is a biosphere?

Answer 2

Part of the planet containing living things

Question 3

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 3

A group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their environment together.

Question 4

What is a habitat?

Answer 4

The place where a plant or animal lives

Question 5

What is a population?

Answer 5

All the members of the same species living in an area

Question 6

What is a community?

Answer 6

All the different populations in an area

Question 7

What are abiotic factors?

Answer 7

Non-living factors eg. Altitude

Question 8

What are biotic factors?

Answer 8

Living factors eg. Food

Question 9

What are climatic factors?

Answer 9

Refer to weather over a long period of time. Eg. Temperature

Question 10

What are edaphic factors?

Answer 10

Relate to soil eg. pH

Question 11

What are producers?

Answer 11

Organisms that carry out photosynthesis

Question 12

What are consumers?

Answer 12

Organisms that take in food from another organism

Question 13

Whats a (grazing) food chain?

Answer 13

Sequence of organisms in which each one is eaten by the next member in the chain

Question 14

What is a food web?

Answer 14

Consists of two or more interlinked food chains

Question 15

What is a pyramid of numbers?

Answer 15

Represents the number of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain

Question 16

Name special features of aquatic environments.

Answer 16

Light
Currents
Wave action
Salt content
Oxygen content

Question 17

What affect do currents have on aquatic environments?

Answer 17

Move non-attached plants

Question 18

What affect does wave action have on aquatic environments?

Answer 18

Can cause physical damage to organisms

Question 19

What affect does oxygen content have on aquatic environments?

Answer 19

Content lower in water than air so plants/animals need to be able to extract oxygen from water

Question 20

What affect does salt content have on aquatic environments?

Answer 20

Organism is adapted to its environment whether fresh or salt water

Question 21

What affect does light have on aquatic environments?

Answer 21

Water interferes with light penetration so plants are limited to upper layer of water or if attached to ground they can only grow in shallow water.

Question 22

What is an ecological niche?

Answer 22

The ecological niche of an organism is the functional role it plays in the community

Question 23

What is pollution?

Answer 23

Any harmful addition to the environment

Question 24

What are pollutants?

Answer 24

Substances that cause pollution

Question 25

What is conservation?

Answer 25

The wise management of our existing natural resources, in order to maintain a wide range of habitats and prevent the death and extinction of organisms.

Question 26

What are some problems with waste disposal?

Answer 26

1) Availability of suitable landfill sites
2) Toxic fumes from incineration
3) Decaying waste produces methane which contributes to greenhouse effect.
4) Harmful substances may leak into ground water supply

Question 27

How have we slowed down the depletion of the ozone layer?

Answer 27

Banned CFCs and fridges are recycled not dumped

Question 28

What can a decrease in ozone cause?

Answer 28

Skin cancer, damage to crops, damage to animals, plankton reduction

Question 29

What does the ozone layer do?

Answer 29

It’s a gas that absorbs harmful UV light.

Question 30

Name conservation practices in fisheries.

Answer 30

1) Use large-mesh nets to allow young to escape.

Question 31

What is a waste management problem in agriculture?

Answer 31

Slurry begin dumped into lakes adds extra nutrients (eutrophication). This causes growth of algae. When they die bacteria breakdown them down. Bacteria takes oxygen from lake to do this therefore there’s less oxygen in the water.

Question 32

What is a solution to an agricultural waste problem?

Answer 32

Store slurry in leak-proof pits and spread on dry summer days

Question 33

What is a waste problem in fisheries?

Answer 33

Waste from fish is highly alkaline

Question 34

What is a solution to a waste problem in fisheries?

Answer 34

Neutralise the waste

Question 35

What is a waste problem in forestry?

Answer 35

Waste from cutting down trees eg. Roots, branches.

Question 36

What is a solution to a waste problem in forestry?

Answer 36

Branches- spread on ground and passed over by machine.
Stumps/roots- naturally rot
Tops of trees/large branches- turned to sawdust to make MDF

Question 37

What role do microorganisms play in landfills?

Answer 37

Bacteria/fungi are in the soil that covers the waste. They breakdown the organic materials

Question 38

What is the primary treatment of sewage?

Answer 38

Removing particles from waste by screening and sedimentation

Question 39

What is the secondary treatment of sewage?

Answer 39

Bacteria and fungi breakdown organic waste.

Question 40

What is the tertiary treatment of sewage?

Answer 40

Removes minerals from waste

Question 41

What is reduce?

Answer 41

Use less, minimise waste

Question 42

What is reuse?

Answer 42

Use again for a different purpose

Question 43

What is a trophic level?

Answer 43

Feeding stage in a food chain

Question 44

What is nutrient recycling?

Answer 44

The way in which elements are exchanged between the living and non-living components of an ecosystem

Question 45

What is nitrogen fixation?

Answer 45

The conversion of nitrogen gas into ammonia, ammonium or nitrate

Question 46

What is nitrification?

Answer 46

The conversion of ammonia and ammonium compounds to nitrite and then to nitrate.

Question 47

What is denitrification?

Answer 47

The conversion of nitrates to nitrogen gas.