Ecology Flashcards
Ecology
The study of plants, animals and their environment, and the relationship between them
Environment
Everything that surrounds an animal or plant (for example air, water, rocks and soil
Habitat
The place where the plant or animal lives
Community
Each habitat has its own community of organisms. Community is all the populations that live in the habitat. Ex, Hedgehogs, snails, foxes and primroses belong to the Woodland habitat.
Interdependence
How organisms depend on each other for their survival, like a buttercup depend on bees and bees depend on buttercups for pollination.
Ecosystem
All the plants and animals in an area interacting with each other and their environment. E.g desert, tropical, rainforest, grasslands, seashore. A habitat would be the woodland area in the grassland.
Biome
An ecosystem that extends over a very large area
Biosphere
All of the Earths ecosystems together form one large one called the biosphere
Producer
Plants that make their own food, e.g grass, dandelion, nettles.
Consumer
Animals that get their food by eating plants or other animals
Herbivore
One that only eats plants, e.g rabbits, sheep, slug, snails.
Carnivore
An animal that eats other animals only, e.g fox, hawk, ladybird.
Omnivore
An animal that eats both plants and animals, e.g badger, thrush, blackbird, humans.
Decomposer
Organisms that feed on dead plants and animals e.g earthworms, bacteria, fungi. (Decomposers are very important as they break down dead things and release lots of minerals into the soil).
Food chain
Shows how one organism eats another and so on
Food chains must start with green plants
These are the only things that can make food
Feeding levels
The position of an organism in the food chain, the first feeding level is always a green plant
Amount of energy
Keeps getting less and less as you go along the food chain
Food web
Is two or more interconnected food chains
Competition
Occurs when two or more organisms seek a resource that is limited, plants compete for light, water, minerals and space. Animals compete for food, shelter, territory and mates
Adaptations
Features that give an organism a better chance of surviving in their habitat
Dandelion adaptation
The dandelion has a long root which means it reaches below the short root of grass to get water.
Dandelions are able to compete for space because they are able to spread their seeds in the wind.
Hedgehogs adaptation
They have an excellent sense of smell to make them good at finding food, they have spikes to fight off predators and also have a colour that makes them camouflage so they cannot be found by predators.
Abiotic factors
Are non living, e.g weather (temperature, light, intensity, rainfall, wind), soil and type of landscape
Biotic factors
Are living, e.g competition, predation, symbiosis
Predation
Controls the number of organisms in an ecosystem. E.g ladybirds eat aphids, lions eat zebra
Symbiosis
Is a relationship between organisms of different species where at least one benefits. E.g cleaner fish eat parasites out of the mouths of eels
Environment
Everything that surrounds an animal or plant (for example air, water, rocks and soil
Habitat
The place where the plant or animal lives
Community
Each habitat has its own community of organisms. Community is all the populations that live in the habitat. Ex, Hedgehogs, snails, foxes and primroses belong to the Woodland habitat.
Interdependence
How organisms depend on each other for their survival, like a buttercup depend on bees and bees depend on buttercups for pollination.
