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A-level Biology > Ecosystems > Flashcards

Ecosystems Flashcards

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1
Q

Define exposure

A

facing into the sea with prevailing winds

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2
Q

What are the abiotic factors affecting periwinkles on the lower shore?

A
  • harsh winds
  • cold temperatures
  • tides
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3
Q

What are the abiotic factors affecting periwinkles on the upper shore?

A
  • lack of water
  • formations of sand dunes
  • litter from humans
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4
Q

What are the biotic factors affecting periwinkles on the upper shore?

A
  • humans destroying habitat
  • more predators
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5
Q

What are longworth traps?

A

Traps for small mammals

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6
Q

What are the limitations of a Longworth trap?

A
  • can become trap happy - not accurate if learn to come back for food
  • can’t record smallest mammals like shrews as will die due to high metabolism
  • sometimes don’t trip the trap
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7
Q

Define succession

A

progressive change in a community of organism’s overtime

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8
Q

Define an ecosystem

A

A community of animals, plants and bacteria integrated with the physical and chemical environment

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9
Q

Define habitat

A

Place where an organism lives

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10
Q

Define population

A

All the organisms of one species, who live in the same place at the same time and who can breed together

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11
Q

Define community

A

All the populations of different species who live in the same place at the same time and who can interact with each other

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12
Q

Define niche

A

Role of an organism within its habitat

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13
Q

What are examples of biotic factors?

A
  • competition
  • disease
  • predation
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14
Q

What are the examples of abiotic factors?

A
  • light levels
  • wind
  • humidity
  • soil structure
  • PH
  • Temperature
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15
Q

What are the 3 kinds of dynamic factors?

A
  • cyclic
  • directional
  • eratic
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16
Q

What are directional factors?

A
  • go in one direction
  • last longer than lifetime of organisms
  • e.g. deposition of silt, erosion of a coast line
17
Q

What are cyclic factors?

A
  • rhythmic changes
  • e.g. predator and prey relationship seasons
18
Q

What are erratic factors?

A
  • no rhythm and no constant direction
  • e.g. effects of hurricane and lightning
19
Q

What are biomass transfers?

A
  • at each trophic levels energy is lost
  • lost to life processes, dead organisms and waste material
  • represented in pyramid of numbers
20
Q

How is the efficiency of biomass calculated?

A

biomass at higher level / biomass at lower level X100

21
Q

Define gross primary productivity

A

The rate at which plants convert light energy and chemical energy through photosynthesis

22
Q

Define net primary productivity

A

The proportion of energy from the sun available to enter the food chain

23
Q

What is secondary relating to?

A

Animals

24
Q

What are the methods for improving primary productivity?

A
  • plant crops early so there is a longer growing season to harvest more light
  • plant drought resistant strains
  • grow plants in a green house as it makes it warmer and increases the rate of photosynthesis
  • crop rotation to stop reduction of particular ions in the soil
  • spraying with pesticides to stop from loosing biomass to insects
  • fungicides to stop the plants from dying
25
Q

What are the methods of improving secondary productivity?

A
  • harvest animals before adulthood to stop energy lost to growth
  • selective breeding
  • antibiotics to stop the loss of energy to pathogens
  • zero grazing/movement to stop energy loss
26
Q

Define decomposers

A

Organisms that feed on dead and organic waste material releasing the nutrients and energy

27
Q

What are the two types of decomposers?

A
  • Detritroves
  • Saprotrophs
28
Q

What are saprotrophs?

A

They secrete digestive enzymes externally and then absorb the small molecules

29
Q

What is an example of saprotrophs?

A

Fungi and bacteria

30
Q

What are detritroves?

A

Ingest larger amounts of dead matter and break this into smaller molecules

31
Q

What are examples of detritroves?

A

Earthworms and Woodlice

32
Q

Where is the nitrogen?

A
  • In the air (78%)
  • Amino acids/proteins
  • Urea
  • Ammonia
  • Ammonium
  • Nitrites
  • Nitrates
33
Q

What are the different processes cycle nitrogen?

A
  • feeding and assimilation
  • absorption of nitrates
  • deamination
  • ammonification
  • nitrogen fixation
  • nitrification
  • denitrification

A-level Biology (23 decks)

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