Ecology Flashcards
What is ecology?
Ecology is the study of ecosystems
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is an area where organisms interact with the physical environment
What are the two types of ecosystems?
Living/biotic and nonliving/abiotic
What are the three elements of a biotic ecosystem?
Producers - organisms which make their own food, photosynthesising plants
Consumers - eats other organisms and producers
Decomposes - organisms which decay and breakdown dead, organic matter to obtain their food. They help to recycle nutrients.
In what type of ecosystem would you find producers, consumers and decomposers?
Biotic
An abiotic ecosystem is a physical environment where all the abiotic factors affect growth and the survival of living things. What are some of these factors?
Temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, oxygen concentration, and quantity of minerals in the soil.
What the five kingdoms in ecology?
Animals, fungi, plants, bacteria and protoctista
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the variety of species found within the ecosystem.
In ecosystems the places where specific organisms live have a range of biotic and abiotic factors. What are these places called?
Habitats
What is the term for the total number of individuals of one species in a particular habitat at a particular time?
Population
In ecology, what does the term population mean?
Population means the total number of individuals of one species in a particular habitat at a particular time
What is the 50x50cm square that ecologists use to measure the size of the population in a habitat?
Quadrat
What is a quadrat?
A quadrat is a 50x50cm square, that ecologists use to measure the size of the population in a habitat.
When population sampling a habitat, the habitat may not be uniform. What factors might differ and affect the distribution of a population?
Abiotic conditions differ such as light intensity, or one area may be trampled. These differences affect the distribution of population.
What is a transect?
. A transect is a line across a habitat which is placed to pass through a range of abiotic conditions, from light to shade or across a path. The quadrat is placed at regular intervals along the transect and used to measure the number or percentage cover of the species
What are the five elements of CORMS, used for planning in ecology
Change Organism Repeats Measure Same
For CORMS in ecology, what does change and organism mean?
Change: name and describe how you will change the independent variable
Organism: name the organism or biological substance (e.g. enzyme) used in the experiment and describe how it will be kept the same
For CORMS in ecology, what do Repeats, mean?
Repeats: say how many repeats you will use for each value of the independent variable and explain why it is necessary to repeat (reliability - to check the results are consistent). A habitat will vary a lot so we need to take many measurements in order to get reliable data. You should use a minimum of 10 quadrants in any area.
For CORMS in ecology, what do Measure and Same mean?
Measure: say what the dependant variable is and how you are measuring it Same: say what variables you will keep the same and how you will ensure they are the same each time
What is ‘the populations of all species present in an ecosystem at a particular time’ called?
Community
How do species in a community interact with each other? (3 ways)
Feeding on each other Competition for resources Using abiotic resources
When species in a community interact with each other by feeding on each other what is achieved?
It allows nutrients to be recycled
When species in a community interact with each other by competing for resources what are they competing for?
Interacting By Competing for resources means they compete for food, mates, nesting sites, light, minerals ions etc (They also interact in two other ways - feeding on each other and use abiotic resources)
When species in a community interact with each other by using abiotic resources what are they competing for?
The mineral ions in the soil, which they absorb with water
The most simple way to show feeding relationships in an ecosystem is called a what? What do the arrows mean?
Chain The arrows mean “is eaten by”
In a food chain where the arrows mean “is eaten by”, what else does the arrow show?
In a food chain the arrow shows the direction that energy and biomass moves, from the species that is eaten to the animal that eats it
In a food chain or food web, what are the stages called?
Trophic levels
Although they are rarely drawn in food chains, what are decomposers vital for?
Decomposers are vital for Recycling nutrients
How is a food web more complex than a food chain?
It shows links between many species in a community
A food chain shows who eats who, a food web shows relationships in more complex ways but what does a ecological pyramid show?
An ecological pyramid respresents the number of organisms at each trophic level, the the amount of biomass. They are drawn to scale
What are the two types of ecological pyramid?
Pyramids of numbers - the number of organisms in the ecosystem
Pyramid of biomass - drawn to show the total biomass of organisms in each trophic level
Label the levels on this food chain
What how might the apex predator and decomposers appear in a food chain?
What does a food web look like?
