Ecosystems Flashcards
What is meant by a population?
The number of organisms of the same species living within an area
What is meant by a community?
All of the populations of species living in an area
What is meant by a habitat?
An environment where an organism naturally lives
What is meant by an ecosystem?
- An area with many biotic and abiotic factors interacting with eachother
- They can be large or small
How would you investigate the population size of an organism in two different areas?
- Measure the total area of the habitats (e.g. fields)
- Use a random number generator to find two different locations, one in each habitat
- Place two 1m² quadrats in both of these locations
- Count the number of plants of the given species found inside each quadrat, and multiply it by the total number of m² of the habitat to find the approximate population size in that habitat
- Compare the results for the two habitats
- The biodiversity in two different areas can be measured by counting the number of species in each quadrat and working out the percentage cover of each organism by measuring what percentage of squares (out of the 100) in the quadrat are occupied by a certain organism
What is meant by biodiversity?
- The range and variety of species in an ecosystem
- It takes into account the number of different species, but not the population size
- However it does take into account the distribution - the more evenly distributed the populations of each organism in an ecosystem are, the higher the biodiversity
How do biotic factors affect the population size and distribution of organisms?
- Higher numbers of prey mean more food is available and organisms can survive and reproduce for longer
- Higher numbers of predators means organisms may die before having the chance to reproduce
- If there are multiple organisms competing for the same resources (e.g. prey), the better adapted organism will get the resource more and survive longer while the other one may die before reproducing
How do abiotic factors affect the population size and distribution of organisms?
- Higher light intensity, carbon dioxide levels and wind speed (because it increases the rate of transpiration and therefore movement of water) will increase the rate of photosynthesis, increasing the population of plants
- Plants and animals require the correct temperature, levels of moisture, and levels of oxygen for survival
- Plants also rely on soil pH and mineral content
What are the six different trophic levels and what do each of them do?
- Producers - They produce their own nutrients from the sun
- Primary consumers - They feed on producers
- Secondary consumers - They feed on primary consumers
- Tertiary consumers - They feed on secondary consumers
- Quaternary consumers - They feed on tertiary consumers
- Decomposers - They feed on dead organisms or undigested waste through extracellular enzymes
What is a food chain?
They show the transfer of energy from one organism to the next through the consumption of eachother
What is a food web?
- A network of interconnected food chains
- It is a more realistic representation than a food chain because organisms rarely rely on just one other
What is a pyramid of numbers?
- A pyramid showing the number of each organism at each trophic level
- It is usually a pyramid shape though not always as 1 tree can feed 500 ladybugs (for example)
What is a pyramid of biomass?
- A pyramid showing the total biomass of the organisms at each trophic level (excluding the water levels)
- They will always be pyramid shaped as it is impossible for a larger mass to feed on a smaller mass
- They are much better at representing the amount of each organism and therefore the interdependence
What is a pyramid of energy transfer?
- They illustrate the amount of energy contained within the biomass of the organisms within a trophic level
- They will also always be pyramids as large amounts of energy are lost as you ascend the trophic levels
How is energy transferred along a food chain?
- Light energy from the sun is converted into chemical energy by producers, some of which is used for the plant to grow
- Primary consumers eat the producers and secondary consumers and tertiary consumers then eat eachother, using some of the energy they derive from the biomass of their food to grow
- Eventually, once the tertiary/quaternary consumers die, most of the energy is transferred to the environment - therefore this process is non-cyclical