Ecology Flashcards
Ecology
The study plants,animals and their environment, and the relationship between them
Environment
Is everything that surrounds an animal or plant
For example:air, water, rocks
Habitat
The place where a plant or animal lives
Community
Is all the different populations that live in the habitat
For example: hedgehogs, snails, foxes and primroses belong to the woodland community
Interdependence
Is how organisms depend on each other for their survival
For example: buttercups depend on bees for food, bees need buttercups for pollination
Ecosystem
All the plants and animals in area interacting with each other and their environment
For example:desert, tropical rainforest, grasslands, seashore
Biome
An ecosystem that extends over a very large area
For example: rainforest
Biosphere
All of the earths ecosystems together form one large ecosystem
Producer
Plants that make their own food
E.G grass
Consumer
Animals they get their food by eating plants or other animals
Herbivore
An animal that eats plants only
E.g rabbit, sheep, slug, snail
Carnivore
An animal that eats other animals
E.g fox, hawk, ladybird
Food chain
Shows how one organism eats another and so on
Feeding level
The position of an organism in the food chain
Amount of energy
The amount of energy gets 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 and mates
Adaptations
Are 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
Hedgehog adaptation
Hedgehogs have an excellent sense of smell to make them good at finding food
Hedgehogs have spikes to fight if predators
Hedgehogs have a colour which makes them camouflaged so predators can’t find them easily
Abiotic and biotic Factors
Plants and animals are affected by living and non-living factors in their environment
Abiotic- are non-living e.g weather
Biotic- are living e.g .competition, predation, symbols
Predation
Controls numbers of organisms in an ecosystem e.g ladybirds eat aphids, lions eat zebras
Symbiosis
Is a relationship between organisms of different species where at least one benefits. E.g. cleaner fish eats parasites out of the mouths of eels
Population
All of the individual organisms of the same species in a habitat
Balance of nature
Over time, the number and types of species in an ecosystem reach a steady state known as the balance of nature
Predator
An animal that hunts, kills and eats another animal (prey)
Prey
An animal that is hunted, killed and eaten by another animal (predator)
Feeding relationship
The way energy and nutrients are passed from one organism to another
Biomass
The quantity of matter in an organism
Omnivore
Animals that eat both plants and animals
Qualatitive survey
A list of the different species in a habitat
Quadrat
A square frame made of metal, plastic or wood that is used during quantitative surveys of habitats
Identification key
Used to identify an unknown animal or plant during a habitat study
Quantitative survey
Numerical data about the species in a habitat
Frequency
The percentage chance of a particular species being present in randomly chosen quadrat
Percentage cover
The proportion of ground covered by plants or animals. Percentage cover may be calculated during a quantitative of a habitat
Distribution
The areas in a habitat where a species is located
Line transects
A way of investigating the distribution of a plant species across a habitat. A rope is laid out across the habitat and marked with a knot at every metre. Each knot is checked to see if the species under survey has touched the line transect and the result is recorded
Abundance
The number of individuals in a population of a species in a habitat
Conservation
Is the protection, preservation and careful use of our natural resources e.g. land and rivers
Pollution
Adding unwanted waste to the environment causing damage to it. If one organism is damaged it can be harmful to many other plants and animals
Air pollution
Caused by smoke, dust and harmful gasses - most of these come from cars, buses, factories and power stations
Fossil fuels
When fossil fuels are burned they produce gasses called carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide
Soil pollution
Caused by Pesticides, artificial fertilisers and acid rain
Water pollution
Rivers, lakes and seas are polluted by fertilisers, sewage, oil and detergents
Fertilisers seep into rivers and cause too much plant growth, bacteria populations boom as they feed on dead plants and no oxygen is left for fish
Incineration
Burning the waste, this can release dangerous gasses into the atmosphere, difficulties with location nobody wants to live near an incinerator
Landfill
Burying waste in ground-damages soil, rivers and ground water, attracts rodents, disease causing, bad smell, difficulties as nobody wants to live near landfill sites
3 R’s
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to make sure that we do not damage our environment and that future generations will have a nice place to live
Reduce
Use your own bag, do not pick the items with extra packaging
Recycling
Paper, glass, some metals and plastics can be processed and reused
