ecology

Question 1

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 1

Interaction of a community of living organisms with non-living parts of their environment

Question 2

What is interdependence?

Answer 2

In a community, each species depends on another species, for things such as food and etc

Question 3

What are the abiotic factors that affect a community?

Answer 3

Moisture levels
Light intensity
Temperature
CO2 levels 
Wind intensity and direction
Oxygen levels
Soil pH and mineral content

Question 4

What are the biotic factors that affect a community

Answer 4

Availability of food
New predators arriving
New pathogens
Competition- species out-competing another so numbers are too low to breed

Question 5

What are structural features?

Answer 5

Features of an animal’s body

Question 6

What are behavioural features?

Answer 6

The way organisms behave

Question 7

What are functional features?

Answer 7

Things that go on inside an organism’s body that can be related to processes like reproduction

Question 8

What is the chain of consumers?

Answer 8

Producer —–> primary consumer ——> secondary consumer ——-> tertiary consumer

Question 9

How do you do sampling?

Answer 9

Randomly place quadrat on field and count no. of daisies
Use random coordinates to place quadrat in 10 random locations
Calculate mean from 10 samples
Multiply mean by area of field

Question 10

How do you use a quadrat?

Answer 10

Lie 30m tape along field- transect line
Place quadrat every 0,5,10,15m…
Count no. of daisies in each quadrat
Calculate mean

Question 11

How do you find the mean?

Answer 11

Total no. of organisms/ No. of quadrats

Question 12

What environmental changes can affect the distribution of organisms?

Answer 12

Temperature
Availability of water
Composition of atmospheric gases

Question 13

What is the water cycle?

Answer 13

Energy from sun makes water evaporate
Water vapour cools and condenses
Water falls from clouds as precipitation
Drains back into the sea

Question 14

What is the rate of decay affected by?

Answer 14

Temperature
Water availability
Oxygen availability
No. of decay organisms

Question 15

Why does temperature affect decay?

Answer 15

Hotter= enzymes work faster
Too hot= denature
Too cold= enzymes don’t have enough energy

Question 16

Why does water availability affect decay?

Answer 16

More moist= easier to digest food+ grow faster

Question 17

Why does oxygen availability affect decay?

Answer 17

Need oxygen to break down food, transfer energy to grow+ reproduce
Oxygen = faster

Question 18

Temperature affecting decay practical

Answer 18

Add 5cm3 of lipase to test tube
Add 5cm3 of milk to different test tube
Add 5 drops of phenolphthalein to milk
Add 7cm3 of sodium carbonate to milk
Both test tubes in water bath of 30degrees
Put 1cm3 of lipase in milk
Start stopwatch
Soon as loses colour stop time
Repeat with different temperatures

Question 19

What is phenolphthalein?

Answer 19

Indicator that’s pink in pH 10 and becomes colourless when pH below 8.3

Question 20

What is biodiversity?

Answer 20

The variety of different species of organisms on Earth or withing an ecosystem

Question 21

What human activities impact biodiversity?

Answer 21

Waste management
Land use
Global warming
Deforestation

Question 22

Why does deforestation cause problems?

Answer 22

Less CO2 is taken in
More CO2 is released into the atmosphere
Less biodiversity as habitats are destroyed

Question 23

How does breeding programmes maintain biodiversity?

Answer 23

Species bred in captivity to prevent extinction

Question 24

How does habitat protection maintain biodiversity?

Answer 24

Protect and regenerate rare habitats like coral reefs

reintroduce hedgerows and field margins where only one type of crop is grown

Question 25

How does reducing waste maintain biodiversity?

Answer 25

Encouraged to recycle rather than going to landfill

Question 26

What conflicting pressures affect maintaining biodiversity?

Answer 26

Costs of programmes
Effect on local economy
Protecting food security
Development of society

Question 27

What does each bar on a pyramid of biomass show?

Answer 27

Their relative mass of living material

Question 28

What should you always do to each bar?

Answer 28

Label it

Question 29

How do you calculate the efficiency of biomass transfer?

Answer 29

Biomass transferred to next level
——————————————————– X100
Biomass available to the previous level

Question 30

What is food security?

Answer 30

Having enough food to feed the whole population

Question 31

What are the factors affecting food security?

Answer 31

Increased birth rate
Changing diets
Conflicts
Cost of agriculture

Question 32

How can fish stocks be maintained?

Answer 32

Fishing quotas

Net size

Question 33

Why does fishing quotas help food security?

Answer 33

Limits number and size of fish that can be caught in an area

Prevents certain species being over-fished

Question 34

Why does net size help food security?

Answer 34

Using bigger mesh let unwanted fish escape

Younger fish will slip through net allowing them to breed

Question 35

How does limiting movement of livestock make food production more efficient?

Answer 35

Reduces transfer of energy so more energy is available for growth

Question 36

How do fertilisers used by farmers affect water systems?

Answer 36

Contain nitrates
Washed off fields into streams
Increased nitrate in water cause algae to grow
Plants die coz of competition for light
Increase in microorganisms feeding on dead plants
Decrease of oxygen levels in water
Animals die to lack of oxygen
Called eutropication

Question 37

What fungi is used to make high protein meat substitutes?

Answer 37

Mycoprotein

Question 38

How does land use reduce biodiversity?

Answer 38

Population grows= more buildings= more habitat destroyed to make room
Quarrying= habitats destroyed
Farming= pesticides + water pollution
Peat bogs destroyed= plants, animals and bacteria killed