Ecology (Y10) Flashcards
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What is:
Ecology
Ecology is the study of an organism’s environment and the factors that determine their distribution (where) and abudnace (how many) in that environment
What is a:
Food Chain
A chart showing the flow of energy(food) from one organism to the next beginning with a producer (e.g. tree -> caterpillar- small bird -> hawk).
What is a:
Food Web
A network of interconnected food chains showing the energy flow through part of an ecosystem.
What is a:
Producer
An organism that makes its own organic nutrients, usually using energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis.
What is a:
Consumer
An organism that gets its energy by feeding on other organisms.
What is a:
Habitat
The place where an organism lives
What is a:
Decomposer
An organism that gets its energy from dead or waste organic matter
What is an:
Ecosystem
A unit containing all the organisms and their environment, interacting together, in a given area e.g. decomposing log or a lake.
What is a:
Trophic level
The position of an organism in a food chain or web.
What is:
Population
A group of organisms of the same species living in a habitat
What is:
Intraspecific competition
Competition for resources e.g. food between members of the same species.
What is:
Interspecific competition?
Competition for resources e.g. food between different species
What is:
Biodiversity
The variety of different organisms within an ecosystem. This includes the total number of species and the number of individuals of each species.
Name each organism with technical term in this food chain and name ?
Oak tree -> caterpillar -> robin -> blue jay -> hawk-> ?
Oak tree- producer
Caterpillar -> primary consumer
Robin -> secondary consumer
Blue Jay -> tertiary consumer
Hawk -> quaternary consumer (apex predator)
? -> decomposers or detritivores
What is:
Biomass
Biomass is the total dry mass of an organism in a food chain or food web
What do arrows show in a food chain
The flow of energy. This starts at the producer and moves along the consumers
In a food chain, what is the source of
Energy
the Sun
What % of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next, and what is the exception to this
10% of energy is passed through each trophic level.
However, only 1% of the Sun’s energy is converted by plants and bacteria.
What are the reasons for only 1% of the sun’s energy being converted by plants and bacteria?
- Over 90% is reflected by atmosphere
- Not all sunlight will fall on a producer
- Some light will pass straight through leaves without hitting a chloroplast(transmission)
- Some light is the wrong wavelength(Green light is reflected)
- Some light energy is converted to heat during photosynthesis and respiration
- Some light energy is used to evaporate water from leaves
Why is 90% of energy loss from each trophic level to the next?
- Not all of the animal/plant is eaten e.g. bones
- Some food may be undigestible (e.g. cellulose)
- Energy is lost as heat energy to maintain a constant temperature and during respiration. This is especially high in mammals, as their body temperature is often much higher than the environment.
- Organisms move around, which uses energy
- Energy is lost through faeces and urine.
What are the different types of pyramids and what are their shape?
Number pyramids - May not always look like a pyramid
Biomass pyramids - Pyramid - gm^-2
Energy pyramids - Pyramid - (kjm^-2)(year^-1)
What are:
Detritus Feeders
Detritus feeders feed on dead organisms and produce their own waste material
e.g. maggots, worms, some invertebrates
Where is carbon found?
Proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, the 3 main molecules
Carbon cylcle
Nitrogen cycle
Why is nitrogen important?
Because it is found in proteins and DNA and RNA. It is needed to make amino acids, most vitamins, DNA, RNA and ATP.
What is nitrogen described as
inert
