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Biology > Ecosystems > Flashcards

Ecosystems Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Definition of ecosystem?

A

Community of organisms along with all the non-living conditions

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2
Q

Definition of ecology?

A

is about how living things react with each other and their environment

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3
Q

Definition of biodiversity?

A

Many different species living in a particular area at a particular time

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4
Q

Definition of community?

A

All plants and animals that live in the habitat

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5
Q

Definition of habitat?

A

The place where the organisms live

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6
Q

Definition of niche?

A

The role/job of an organisms

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7
Q

Definition of species?

A

Reproduce to give fertile offspring

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8
Q

Definition of biotic factors?

A

Problems caused by other living organisms present in the community
e.g. predators, prey and competition

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9
Q

Definition of abiotic factors?

A

Problems caused by non-living organisms present in the community
e.g. temperature, rainfall, pH, minerals in the soil and drought

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10
Q

Definition of organism?

A

An animal, plant or single-celled life form

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11
Q

Definition of natural ecosystems?

A

Where humans don’t control it

e.g. woodland or oceans

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12
Q

Definition of artificial ecosystems?

A

where humans do control it

e.g. fields, greenhouse or a fish farm

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13
Q

Definition of interdependence?

A

When species depend on each other for resources

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14
Q

Definition of producers?

A

All plants

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15
Q

Definition of consumers?

A

All animals

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16
Q

Definition of trophic level?

A

Each step or stage along a food chain

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17
Q

Definition of top carnivore?

A

Not eaten by anything else (whilst it’s alive)

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18
Q

Definition of efficiency?

A

Efficiency of energy transfer means how good it is at passing on energy from one level to the next

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19
Q

What is the formula to calculate efficiency?

A

efficiency is energy available to the next level divided by energy that was available to the previous level x 100

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20
Q

Definition of interspecific competition?

A

competition between organisms from different species

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21
Q

Definition of intraspecific competition?

A

competition between organisms from the same species

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22
Q

Definition of mutualism/symbiosis?

A

a relationship between 2 organisms from which both benefit

e.g. bees and flowering plants, oxpecker and buffalo or finch and tortoise

23
Q

Definition of parasitism?

A

The parasite takes what it needs to survive but the host doesn’t benefit
e.g. fleas

24
Q

Definition of population?

A

All the organisms of one species living in a habitat

25
Q

Definition of indicator species?

A

Some organism are very sensitive to change in their environment and so can be studied to see the effect of human activities - these at known as indicator species

26
Q

Definition of biodiversity?

A

biodiversity is the variety of living organisms in an ecosystem. if the number of different species in an area decreases then the biodiversity decrease. Humans affect biodiversity usually in a negative way.

27
Q

What is an example of a low biodiversity biome?

A

Desert
Arctic
Australian Outback

28
Q

What is an example of a high biodiversity biome?

A

Great Barrier Reef
Jungle
Tropical Rain Forest

29
Q

What is Eutrophication?

A

1) Nitrates are put onto fields as fertilisers
2) They dissolve into the water
3) If it rains it “runs off” the fields into streams
4) The excess nitrates cause algae to grow fast and block out light
5) Plants underneath can’t photosynthesise so die
6) Due to the dead plants micro-organisms increase and use up the oxygen
7) Organisms that need the oxygen for aerobic respiration die e.g. fish
8) Result in decrease of biodiversity but increase of indicator species

30
Q

What is a pyramid of biomass?

A

Shows how much energy there is at each stage in the food chain

31
Q

Why do animals become extinct?

A 
Hunting
No food/water
Natural disasters
Used for medicine/clothes/accessories
Deforestation
Pollution
Competition
32
Q

How can we help endangered species ?

A 
Protecting habitats
Legal protection
Education programmes
Captive breeding programmes
Creating artificial ecosystems
Reforestation
33
Q

What is intensive farming?

A 
Monoculture
Small spaces
No disease/predators/competition
No extra energy wasted
use of herbicides/pesticides
Increased Yield
Price is less
Quicker and easier
34
Q

Give an example of intensive farming.

A

Battery hens

35
Q

What is organic farming?

A 
Polyculture
Takes up more land and time
Produce is better
Only use organic manure/compost
Crop rotation
Weeding
No herbicides/pesticides/fungicides used
Price is more
Yield is less
36
Q

Give an example of organic farming.

A

Free range hens

37
Q

what is hydroponics?

A

When you grow crops without soil and instead use water with nutrients and minerals so that you can have fruit and veg all year round

38
Q

What are the benefits of hydroponics?

A 
Less pesticides used
Environmentally friendly
Great for co-existing species as it doesn't destroy their habitat
Cheaper
Quicker
Still tastes as good
39
Q

How many people do not have access to potable drinking water?

A

1.4billion

40
Q

What are the stages of the water cycle?

A

1) Evaporation
2) Transpiration
3) Condensation
4) Precipitation
5) Transportation

41
Q

What are the stages for water purification?

A

1) Filtration
2) Sedimentation
3) Chlorination

42
Q

How can we collect/sample organisms?

A 
Quadrats
Pit-fall traps
Longworth mammal traps
Sweep nets
Dip nets
Pooters
43
Q

When does drought occur?

A

When there isn’t enough precipitation.

44
Q

What is desalination?

A

When you produce potable water from salt water. There are many methods to do this such as reverse osmosis.

45
Q

What is reverse osmosis?

A

1) Salt water is first treated to remove solids before being fed at a very high pressure into a vessel containing a partially permeable membrane.
2) The pressure causes the water molecules to move in the opposite direction to osmosis - from a higher salt concentration to a lower salt concentration.
3) As the water is forced through the membrane the salts are left behind by removing them from the water.

46
Q

What does the Carbon cycle show?

A

It shows how Carbon is recycled

47
Q

Summarise how the Carbon cycle works?

A

1) Living things are made up of elements they take from the environment e.g. plants take Oxygen and Carbon from the air and Nitrogen from the soil.
2) They turn these elements into the complex compounds (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) that make up living organisms. Elements are passed along food chains when animals eat the plants and each other.
3) The elements are recycled - waste products and dead organisms are broken down by decomposers and the elements in them are returned to the soil or air, ready to be taken in by new plants and put them back into the food chain.

48
Q

What does the Nitrogen cycle show?

A

It shows how Nitrogen is recycled

49
Q

How much Nitrogen is there in the atmosphere?

A

78%

50
Q

What are the 4 different types of bacteria involved in the Nitrogen cycle?

A

Decomposers
Nitrifying Bacteria
Nitrogen - Fixing Bacteria
Denitrifying Bacteria

51
Q

What is the role of Decomposers?

A

The decomposers (bacteria and fungi) break down proteins in rotting plants and animals, and urea in animal waste and turns it into ammonia. Ammonia forms ammonium ions in solution that plants can use. This returns the nitrogen to the soil - so the nitrogen is recycled.

52
Q

What are the 3 factors affecting the rate of decay?

A

Temperature
Water availability
Oxygen available

53
Q

What are ditritivores?

A

Worms/maggots/woodlice they eat the dead organic matter. They increase the rate of decay by producing a large surface area.

Biology (11 decks)

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