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LS10 - Life Sciences > Ecosystems > Flashcards

Ecosystems Flashcards

0
Q

Ecosystem

A
  • Living and non-living parts of a particular area
  • that interact together
  • parts termed biotic and abiotic
  • can be any size
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1
Q

Terrarium

Aquarium

A

Small enclosed (glass) case holding:

  • a mini terrestrial ecosystem
  • a mini aquatic ecosystem
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2
Q

Biotic factors

A

Living organisms

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3
Q

Abiotic factors

A

Non-living parts of an ecosystem

E.g. Soil, water, temperature and sunlight

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4
Q

Producers

A
  • Make their own food from abiotic factors
  • Also called autotrophs
  • photosynthesis uses sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to make glucose and oxygen
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5
Q

Examples of producers

A
  • Plants
  • Algae
  • Cyanobacteria
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6
Q

Plants which grow in water

A

Hydrophytes

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7
Q

Plants growing on land that need a moderate supply of water

A

Mesophytes

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8
Q

Plants that grow in very dry regions

A

Xerophytes

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9
Q

Consumers

A
  • Organisms that must eat to get food
  • also called heterotrophs
  • E.g. animals
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10
Q

Different trophic levels of consumers

A
  • Primary consumers - eat producers
  • Secondary consumers - eat primary consumers
  • Tertiary consumers - eat secondary consumers
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11
Q

Different modes of feeding

A

Herbivores - only eat plants

Omnivores - eat both plants and animals e.g. Humans

Predators - eat different animals by hunting

Scavengers - eat leftovers

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12
Q

Decomposers

A
  • Break down organic material (organisms and wastes) to get their food
  • also called saprotrophs
  • return inorganic nutrients to the environment
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13
Q

Physiographic factors

A

Abiotic factors to do with position and shape of area

  • slope
  • aspect
  • altitude
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14
Q

Slope and slope effects of an ecosystem

A

How steep or flat an area is (inclination)

  • runoff
  • soil erosion rates
  • soil depth
  • soil fertility
  • types of plants and animals
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15
Q

Aspect of an ecosystem

A

Direction it faces (e.g. north, south, east or west)

  • amount of sunlight hitting the ecosystem
  • amount of rain, evaporation and moisture
  • depending on prevailing winds in the area
  • how sheltered
  • plant and animals living there
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16
Q

How aspect affects Table Mountain ecosystems

A
  • South slopes cool and moist
  • e.g. Newlands = forest
  • North slopes warm and dry
  • e.g. Front of table mountain = fynbos
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17
Q

Altitude (elevation) effects on ecosystems

A

Height above sea level (elevation)

As you go up:

  • temperatures get cooler
  • amount of precipitation increases
  • solar radiation increases
  • wind increases
  • fewer plant and animal species
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18
Q

Edaphic factors

A

Soil factors

  • pH
  • humus content
  • soil texture
  • soil air
  • Water-holding capacity
  • Water drainage
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19
Q

pH of soil

A
  • How alkaline or acidic
  • pH less than 7 is acidic
  • pH greater than 7 is alkaline
  • pH of 7 is neutral
  • different plants live in different levels
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20
Q

Humus content of soil

A
  • How much dead and decaying plant and animal material
  • humus makes soil fertile
  • provides nutrients
  • keeps oxygen in soil
  • holds water but allows excess to drain away
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21
Q

Soil texture

A

Different sized soil particles

  • sand - large particles
  • silt - small particles
  • clay - tiny particles
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22
Q

Properties of sandy soil

A
  • Large air spaces
  • allows water to pass through easily
  • low water retention
  • higher leaching of nutrients
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23
Q

Properties of clay rich soil

A
  • Tiny air spaces
  • does not drain easily
  • becomes waterlogged easily
  • high water retention
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24
Q

Loam soil

A
  • Mixture of all particle sizes and humus
  • excess water drains quickly
  • holds a good amount of water
  • lots of air in the soil
  • Generally rich in nutrients
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25
Q

Soil air

A
  • Found in spaces between soil particles
  • sand has large spaces
  • clay has small spaces
  • more air the more oxygen available for plant roots
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26
Q

Investigation of soil water retention

A
  • Different types of soil
  • each put into filter
  • Same volume of water added to each
  • Measure amount of water retained by each
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27
Q

Investigation of soils rate of drainage

A
  • Different types of soil each put into filter
  • Same volume of water added to each
  • Measure amount of time for water to stop draining
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28
Q

Physical factors in an ecosystem

A
  • Sunlight
  • Temperature
  • Water
  • Atmospheric gases
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29
Q

Sunlights effects on an ecosystem

A

Main source of energy

  • plants use sunlight during photosynthesis
  • more plants grow where there is higher light intensity
  • some plants suited to lower intensity (e.g. ferns)
30
Q

Photoperiodism

A

How organisms respond to the length of day and night

  • effect on plant growth or
  • flowering when the day is longer or shorter
  • also affects behaviour in animals
31
Q

Nocturnal

A
  • Animals more active at night
  • e.g. moths and bats
32
Q

Diurnal

A

Animals more active in the day

33
Q

Ectothermic animals

A
  • Cold-blooded animals
  • Animals that cannot regulate their own body temperature.
  • Become inactive when the temperature is too hot or cold
  • E.g. fish, amphibians, reptiles
34
Q

Endothermic animals

A
  • Warm-blooded animals
  • Regulate their body temperatures at a constant temperature
  • environment does not affect body temperature
  • e.g. mammals and birds
35
Q

How some animals survive seasonal changes in temperature

A
  • Migration (e.g. Birds)
  • Hibernation in cold months (e.g. Snakes and rodents)
  • Aestivation in hot months (e.g. Snails and insects)
36
Q

How some plants survive seasonal changes in temperature

A
  • Deciduous (dormant in winter) shed leaves and become inactive (e.g. Oak)
  • Above surface parts die back with underground storage (e.g. Potato)
  • Annuals die and leave seeds (e.g. Daisies)
37
Q

Limiting factors

A

A factor that limits the presence or growth of a particular type of organism

  • Too little of something
  • Too much of something
  • E.g. Too little or too much water for a terrestrial plant
38
Q

Xerophyte adaptations to conserve water

A

Limit water loss:

  • Waxy cuticle
  • bark on stems
  • leaves modified to be smaller to reduce surface area
  • thick organs to store water (e.g. succulents)

Increase water uptake:

  • shallow, branched roots to rapidly absorb surface water
  • long taproots to reach underground water
39
Q

Hydrophyte adaptations to survive excess water

A
  • floating leaves
  • Stoma on top surface of leaf to absorb gases
  • waxy cuticle on upper surface to encourage water to run off
  • little or no xylem (a plant tissue for transporting water)
  • large air spaces between cells to encourage floatation.
40
Q

Animal adaptations to conserve water

A
  • Scaly skins to reduce water loss
  • Excess water removed before urine formed in kidneys
  • Nocturnal behaviour
41
Q

Gases in the atmosphere

A
  • Oxygen (21%)
  • Carbon dioxide (0,035%)
  • Nitrogen (78%)
  • Water vapour (variable)
42
Q

Importance of oxygen in air

A
  • Produced by plants during photosynthesis
  • Used for cellular respiration in animals and plants
43
Q

Importance of carbon dioxide in the air

A
  • Produced by animals and plants during cellular respiration
  • Plants need it for photosynthesis
  • Increased levels due to human activity causes climate change
44
Q

Importance of nitrogen in the air for organisms

A
  • Converted into usable forms by bacteria
  • Plants need nitrogen to make proteins
45
Q

Wind in ecosystems

A
  • affects rainfall
  • affects transpiration and evaporation in plants
  • wind disperses seed and spores in plants and fungi
46
Q

Energy in an ecosystem is mainly lost as…

A

Heat loss from each trophic level

47
Q

Food chains

A
  • Shows energy flow from one organism to the next as a flow diagram
  • Arrows indicate direction of energy flow
48
Q

Levels in a food chain

A

Trophic or feeding level

49
Q

Food webs

A
  • Many interlocking food chains
  • Shows most of the feeding relationships in a community
  • Shows organisms with specialised and limited diets
  • Shows organisms with varied diets
50
Q

Food pyramids

A

Diagrams showing ‘how much’ at each trophic level

Include measurements of:

  • numbers
  • biomass
  • energy
51
Q

Energy amount generally passed on to the next trophic level

A
  • 10%
  • I.e. 90% is lost in the form of heat
52
Q

Effect of energy lost as heat at each trophic level

A
  • Organisms at the top of the food pyramid ultimately are using vastly more food to survive
  • There are able to be fewer carnivores than herbivores in any ecosystem
53
Q

Problems with using pyramids of numbers

A

Does not account for:

  • Organisms size
  • How quickly they reproduce
54
Q

Problems with using pyramids of biomass

A

Does not account for how quickly organisms reproduce

55
Q

Biomass measurement

A
  • Using the organic molecules to estimate amount of energy
  • Dry mass (e.g. kg) is measured for fair comparisons
56
Q

Steps in drawing an energy pyramid

A
  1. Lightly draw in pencil a set of rough axes (extending the ‘x-axis’ on both sides of the ‘y-axis’ forming an upside down T on your page)
  2. Start with the producers at the bottom and choose a suitable x-axis scale (e.g. 1cm = 1000Kj)
  3. Draw the producers bar to the length representing the energy of producers (extending equally on both sides of the y-axis).
  4. Using the same scale repeat for all trophic levels (ensure height of bars is equal)
  5. Label each trophic level and provide a title for the pyramid.
  6. Erase the rough axes.
57
Q

Nutrient cycles

A
  • Fixed amount of nutrients in biosphere
  • these need to be cycled over and over in ecosystems
  • e.g. water, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen cycles
58
Q

Water cycle

A

Driven by suns energy

  • Evaporation of water from land and sea
  • Water vapour condenses into clouds
  • Water falls as precipitation
  • Leaves land as run-off in streams and rivers

Biotic element:

  • Take water in through roots or by consuming it
  • Lost by evaporation: transpiration (plants) and excretion (animals)
59
Q

Carbon cycle

A
  • Plants take in carbon dioxide from atmosphere and make glucose through photosynthesis
  • Glucose metabolised by plants into other organic compounds
  • Animals get carbon by eating plants
  • Animals and plants respire releasing carbon dioxide as waste back into the atmosphere
  • Decomposers break down organic matter and carbon dioxide returns to the atmosphere
  • Some carbon is fossilised (e.g. coal)
  • When carbon rich material burnt, carbon dioxide returns to the atmosphere
60
Q

Three ways nitrogen is converted to nitrates for plants

A
  • Nitrogen fixing bacteria
  • lightning
  • Nitrifying bacteria
61
Q

Nitrogen fixing bacteria

A
  • Often found in soil and in root nodules
  • e.g. Legume plants
  • Can absorb nitrogen gas and convert it to nitrates
  • Nitrates used by plants to make proteins
62
Q

Role of lightning in nitrogen cycle

A

High temperatures causes nitrogen and oxygen to form oxides which dissolve in water and form nitrates in soil

63
Q

Role of nitrifying bacteria in nitrogen cycle

A
  • Dead organism proteins and wastes are rich in nitrogen compounds
  • which are broken down and converted into nitrates
64
Q

Role of denitrifying bacteria in the nitrogen cycle

A

Convert some nitrates back into nitrogen gas

65
Q

Oxygen cycle

A
  • Oxygen produced from photosynthesis
  • Used by organisms during cellular respiration
  • Linked closely with the carbon cycle
  • Oxygen also found as ozone (molecule with three atoms of oxygen) which protects biosphere from UV radiation
66
Q

Ecotourism

A
  • Visitors travelling in a caring and responsible way to natural areas
  • Enjoying the area in a way that conserves the environment
  • and improves the well-being of local people
67
Q

Stakeholders

A

People with an interest in and involved in something

68
Q

Examples of stakeholders in an ecotourism area

A
  • Developers building infrastructure
  • Tourism companies bringing in tourists
  • The tourists themselves
  • Local communities providing services
69
Q

Some economic benefits of ecotourism

A
  • Local people can earn money without harming the environment
  • Traditional lifestyle must be preserved
  • Brings in money for national parks and country as a whole
70
Q

Ethics and doing things ethically

A

Things done in a moral, thoughtful, acceptable and correct way

71
Q

Why it is important to involve local inhabitants in ecotourism

A
  • for long term success, locals need to become stakeholders
  • prevents problems and conflicts between stakeholders
  • avoid negative environmental, social and cultural effects by empowering locals
  • encourages locals to conserve environment and culture
  • traditions and lifestyles respected
  • more likely to support conservation laws
72
Q

Opportunities of ecoturism

A
  • Education and training of local communities
  • Job opportunities for local communities
  • Appropriate infrastructure developed

LS10 - Life Sciences (20 decks)

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