Ecosystems Flashcards
What is an ecosystem
-A community of plants and animals that interact with each other and their physical environment (non-living components e.g. temperature, rainfall, soil, water, light)
What is a producer
An organism or plant that is able to absorb energy from the sun through photosynthesis. It also needs water, carbon dioxide and nutrients from soil/rock to produce what it needs for itself.
What is a consumer
Creature that eat herbivores and/or plant matter. They obtain the energy from what they eat e.g. if they eat a producer they will get the sugars they made
What is a decomposer
An organism such as bacterium or fungus that breaks down dead tissue which recycles their nutrients back to the environment
What is a food chain
The connections between different organism that rely upon one another as their source of food
Food web
A complex hierarchy of plants and animals relying on each other for food
Nutrient cycling
A set of processes whereby organisms extract nutrients (e.g. nitrogen, potash, and potassium) necessary for growth from soil or water, before passing them on through the food chain - and ultimately back to the soil and water when they die.
What are biotic factors
-Living things within an ecosystem; such as plants, animals and bacteria
What are abiotic factors
-Are non-living components; such as water, soil and atmosphere
In a freshwater pond what is the consumer
Great diving beetle
What consumers are in a freshwater pond
Midge larvae and fish
What would happen if one component of a food chain was wiped out (freshwater pond)
-If mayfly population wiped out the stonefly, caddis, fish and dragon fly would decrease as they have less food
-Algae and microscopic plants will increase as they are not being eaten
Biosphere meaning
The zone where life is found, it extends 3m below ground to about 30m above ground and up to 200m deep in the oceans
Biodiversity
-The range of plants and animals found in an area
Latitude meaning
How near to the equator an area is
