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Ecology Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

An interaction of a community of living organisms (biotic) with the non living (abiotic) parts of their environment

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2
Q

What is a habitat?

A

The place where an organism lives

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3
Q

What is a population?

A

All the organisms of one species living in a habitat

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4
Q

What is a community?

A

The populations of different species living in a habitat

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5
Q

What are abiotic factors?

A

Non living factors of the environment

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6
Q

What are biotic factors?

A

Living factors of the environment

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7
Q

What do organisms require in order to survive and reproduce?

A

A supply of materials from their surroundings and from the other living organisms there

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8
Q

What do plants and animals compete for?

A

Plants - compete with each other for light and space and for water and mineral ions from the soil
Animals - compete with each other for food, mates and territory

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9
Q

What is interdependence?

A

When within a community each species depends on each other for food, shelter, pollination, seed dispersal etc. If one species is removed it can affect the whole community

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10
Q

What is a stable community?

A

Where all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant

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11
Q

What are the abiotic factors?

A

Light intensity, temperature, moisture levels, soil pH and mineral context, wind intensity and direction, carbon dioxide levels for plants, oxygen levels for aquatic animals

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12
Q

What are the biotic factors

A

Availability of food, new predators arriving, new pathogens, one species outcompeting another so the numbers are no longer sufficient to breed

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13
Q

What are photosynthesis organisms?

A

The producers if biomass (energy) for life on earth

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14
Q

What do all food chains begin with?

A

A producer which synthesises molecules, this is usually a green plant or alga which makes glucose by photosynthesis

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15
Q

What are consumers and prey?

A

Consumers that kill and eat other animals are predators, and those eaten are prey. In a stable community the numbers of predators and prey rise and fall in cycles

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16
Q

What are the three types of adaptations?

A

1) . Structural - features of an organisms body structure eg shape or colour
2) . Behavioural - ways an organism behaves eg migration/hibernation
3) . Functional - adaptions that go on internally (inside your body) eg reproduction and metabolism

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17
Q

What are extemophiles?

A

Organisms that live in environment that are very extreme, eg they have high temperatures, pressures or salt concentrations
- bacteria living in deep sea vents are extremophiles

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18
Q

What do environmental changes cause?

A

They can cause the distribution lf organisms to change, they include seasonal factors, geograpical factors or human interaction
- availability of water, temperature or composition of atmospheric gases

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19
Q

What does the water cycle provide?

A

Freshwater for plants and animals on land before draining into the seas. Water is continuously evaporated and precipitated

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20
Q

What is the process of the water cycle?

A

1) . Energy from the Sun, makes water evaporate from land and sea, turning it into water vapour (also through transpiration)
2) . The warm water vapour rises, as it gets to higher levels the water cools and condenses to form clouds
3) . Water falls from the clouds as precipitation (rain, hail or snow) onto the land, where it provides freshwater for animals and plants
4) . It then drains into the sea, before the process starts again

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21
Q

Why do materials decay?

A

They’re broken down (digested ) by microorganisms, this happens fastest in warm, moist, aerobic conditions because microorganisms are more active in these conditions

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22
Q

What does decay do?

A

Puts substances plants need to grow eg minerals back into the soil and carbon dioxixe into the atmosphere

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23
Q

What is the Carbon Cycle?

A

1) . CO2 is removed from the atmosphere by plants&algae during PHS.
2) . When plants&algae respire, carbon is returned to the atmosphere as CO2
3) . When plants&algae are eaten by animals, some carbon becomes part of the fats and proteins in animals
4) . When animals respire, some C is returned
5) . When plants&algae or animals die, detritus feeders and microorganisms feed on their remains, and when they respire, CO2 is returned
6) . Animals also produce waste thats broken down by detritus feeders and microorganisms
7) . Combustion of wood and fossil fuels also releases CO2, back into the air

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24
Q

How does temperature affect the rate of decay of biological material?

A

Warmer temperatures makes things decompose quicker as they increase the rate the enzymes involved in decomposition work. If its too hot, decomposition slows down or stops as the enzymes become denatured, likewise cold temps slow the rate too

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25
Q

How does oxygen availability affect the rate of decay of biological material?

A

Many organisms need oxygen to respire, which they need to do to survive

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26
Q

How does water availability affect the rate of decay of biological material?

A

Decay takes place faster in moost environments as the organisms involved in decay need water to carry out biological processes eg PHS and respiration

27
Q

How does the number of decay organisms affect the rate of decay of biological material?

A

The more microorganisms and detritus feeders there are, the faster decomposition happens

28
Q

What does anaerobic decay produce?

A

Methane gas which is used in biogas generators which use methane gas to generate fuel

29
Q

What is used to make biogas?

A

Sludge waste from sewage works or sugar factories

30
Q

What two things need to be correct for biogas generators to work properly?

A

The generators need to be kept at a constant temperature to keep the microorganisms respiring away, it can’t be stored as a liquid, so it has to be used straight away, for cooking, heating, lighting etc

31
Q

What are batch generators?

A

They make biogas in small batches. They’re manually loaded up with waste, which is left to digest and the by-products are cleared away at the end of each session

32
Q

What are continuous generators?

A

They make biogas all the time. Waste is continuously fed in, and biogas is produced at a steady rate. These generators are used for large scale biogas projects

33
Q

What do all biogas generators have?

A
  • an inlet for waste material to be put in
  • an outlet for the digested material to be removed through
  • an outlet so that the biogas can be piped to where it is needed
34
Q

What do gardners and farmers try to provide?

A

Optimum conditions for rapid decay of waste biological material. The compost produced is used as a natural fertiliser for growing garden plants or crops

35
Q

What do humans reduce?

A

The amount of land available for other animals and plants by building, quarrying, farming and dumping waste

36
Q

What are Bogs?

A

Bogs are areas of land that acidic and waterlogged

37
Q

What are plants that live in bogs like?

A

They don’t fully decay when they die, because there was not enough oxygen. The partly rotted plants gradually build up to form peat. Carbon in the plants is stored in the peat instead of being released into the atmosphere

38
Q

How are peats often being used faster than they’re formed?

A

As they’re often drained so that the area can be used as farmland, or the peat is cut up and dried out to use as fuel. It’s also sold to gardners as compost but the habitats of many are destroyed therefore reducing biodiversity

39
Q

what happens when peat is drained?

A

it comes into more contact with air and some microorganisms start to decompose it. when these microorganisms respire, they use oxygen and release carbon dioxide contributing to global warming

40
Q

what is deforestation?

A

the cutting down of forests. this causes problems when done on a large scale eg cutting down rainforests in tropical areas, usually for reasons such as clearing land for farming (rice crops and cattle) and to grow crop from which biofuels based on ethanol can be produced

41
Q

how does less CO2 being taken in affect deforestation?

A

1 - cutting down loads of trees means the amount of carbon dioxide during PHS is reduced
2 - threes lock up some of the carbon that they absorb during PHS on their wood, which can remove it from the atmosphere for 100s of yrs, removing them means less is locked up

42
Q

how does deforestation add more CO2 to the atmosphere?

A

1 - carbon dioxide is released when trees are burnt to clear land
2 - microorganisms feeding on bits of dead wood releases CO2 as a waste product for respiration

43
Q

how does deforestation affect biodiversity?

A

it reduces it as habitats such as forests can contain a huge variety of species eg plants and animals, so when they’re destroyed there is a danger of many species becoming extinct

44
Q

what is biodiversity?

A

the variety of different of organisms on earth, or within an ecosystem

45
Q

what does a great biodiversity ensure?

A

the stability of ecosystems by reducing the dependence of one species on another for food, shelter and maintenance of the physical environment

46
Q

what does the future of human species rely on?

A

maintaining a good level of biodiversity, however ,many human activities are reducing biodiversity and only recently have measured have been taken to try to stop this

47
Q

how does water affect biodiversity?

A

sewage and toxic chemicals from industry can pollute lakes, rivers and oceans, affecting the plants and animals relying on the for survival and the chemicals used on land eg fertilisers can be washed into water

48
Q

how does land affect biodiversity?

A

use of toxic chemicals for farming harms animals and plants as well as this we bury nuclear waste underground, and dump a lot of household waste in landfill sites

49
Q

how does air affect biodiversity?

A

smoke and acidic gases released into the atmosphere can pollute the air eg sulphur dioxide causes acid rain which can damage habitats

50
Q

what are the trophic levels?

A

level 1: plants and algae make their own food and are the producers
level 2: herbivores eat plants and algae and are the primary consumers
level 3: carnivores that eat herbivores are secondary consumers
level 4: carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers (Apex predators are carnivores with no predators)
- decomposers break down dead plant and animal matter by secreting enzymes into the environment, small soluble molecules then diffuse into the microorganisms

51
Q

what is food security?

A

food security is having enough food to feed the population

52
Q

what are the biological factors that threaten food security?

A
  1. increasing birth rate has threatened food security in some places
  2. changing diets in developed countries means scarce food resources are transported around the world
  3. new pests and pathogens that affect farming
  4. environmental changes that affect food productions eg widespread famine occurring in some countries if rain fails
  5. cost of agricultural inputs
  6. conflicts that have arisen in some parts of the world could affect the availability of water or food
53
Q

how can we make food production more efficient?

A

limiting the movement of livestock and keeping them in a temperature controlled environment reduces the transfer of energy from livestock to the environment. this makes farming more efficient as the animals use less energy moving and controlling body temp so more food can be produced from the same input

54
Q

what are the other three ways to make food production more efficient?

A
  • livestock eg calves and chickens can be factory farmed, which involves raising them in small pens
  • fish can also be factory farmed in cages where their movement is restricted
  • some animals are fed high protein food to further increase their growth
55
Q

What are fish stocks like?

A

They are declining in the oceans, its important to maintain fish srocks at a level where breeding continues or certain species may disappear altogether in some areas

56
Q

What are the two ways to make sustainable fisheries?

A

1) . Fishing quotas - limits on the number and size of fish that can be caught in certain areas, which prevents certain species from being overfished
2) . Net size - different limits of mesh size of fish nets reduces the number of unwanted and discarded fish, it also using bigger mesh sizes will let the unwanted species escape, younger fish will slip through the net allowing them to reach the breeding age

57
Q

what is global warming?

A

its the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere due to the increasing levels of greenhouse gases eg CO2 and methane

58
Q

what are the biological consequences of global warming?

A
  1. higher temperatures cause seawater to expand and ice to melt, causing the sea level to rise. it could lead to flooding, resulting in a loss of habitats
  2. the distribution of many wild animals and plant species may change as temperatures increase and rainfall patterns change, which can become more widely distributed
  3. changes in migration patterns
  4. biodiversity could be reduced if some species are unable to survive a change in climate, so can become extinct
59
Q

what are some of the measures people have put in place to reduce the negative effects on biodiversity?

A
  1. breeding programmes for endangered species - they are bred in captivity to make sure the species survive & are released into the wild to re-establish a population
  2. protection and regeneration of rare habitats eg mangroves
  3. reintroduction of field margins and hedgerows in agricultural areas where farmers grow only one type of crop, they provide a habitat for organisms that can survive in a single crop habitat
  4. reduction of deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions by some governments
  5. recycling resources rather than dumping waste in landfill
60
Q

what are the conflicting measures of how biodiversity is maintained?

A
  1. costs money - some governments pay farmers subsidy to reintroduce hedgerows and can also cost to keep a watch on whether the programmes are followed
  2. jobs can be lost
  3. food security vs. biodiversity - sometimes pests are killed to protect crops so more food can be produced
  4. development - land with high biodiversity is sometimes used for housing developments
61
Q

What does modern technology enable?

A

Large amounts of microorganisms to be cultured industrially under controlled conditions in large vats for use as a food source

62
Q

What is microprotein?

A

The fungus fusarium is ised to make mycoprotein, a protein rich food suitable for vegetarians. The fungus is growm on glucose syrup, in aerobic conditions.
- the biomass is harvested and purified to produce mycoprotein

63
Q

How can bacteria be engineered to produce human insulin?

A

1) . A plasmid is removed from a bacterium
2) . The insulin gene is cut out of a human chromosome using a restriction enzyme, which recognises specific sequences of DNA and cut the dna at these points, the cut leaves one of the dna strands with unpaired bases a ‘sticky end’
3) . The plasmid is cut open using the same restriction enzyme leaving the same sticky ends
4) . The plasmid and human insulin gene are mixed together
5) . Ligase (enzyme) is added, it joins the sticky ends to produce recombinant dna
6) . The recombinant dna is inserted into a bacterium
7) . The modified bacterium is grown in a vat under controlled conditions, which will produce bacteria that make insulin, it can harvested and purified to treat people with diabetes

64
Q

What are pros and cons of biotechnology?

A

PROS:
- GM crops can be produced that are resistant to pests, improving crop yeildsy
- they can be modified to grow better in drought conditions m”
- provide more nutritional value in foods
CONS:
- need to tackle poverty first
- fears countries may become dependent on companies who sell GM seeds
- poor soil is the reason why crops fail, so GM crops wont survive

Biology (12 decks)

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