Ecosystems Flashcards
Give some examples of animals that are well-adapted and include what you believe is learned, and what is innate
living together - animals help to care for each other, they find food, defend against predators and care for young
flying - faster, escapes predators, discovers new territory
migration - helps them find food and mate
camoflage - helps them disappear from predators
hibernation - saves them from winter temps and needing to find food
resource conservation - camels store water and fat in humps
artificial bigness - puffer fish puffs up so prey can’t eat it
hair - shed in summer and grow thicker in winter
sea anenome -
squirrel with wings - flies away from prey
Why are abiotic and biotic factors so important when establishing an ecosystem?
abiotic factors - water, air, sunlight, soil, minerals
biotic factors - living organism that affects other living organisms
climate change may allow invasive plant species to migrate to where they shouldn’t be
weather makes a fox get a white coat in winter
- biotic animals benefit from abiotic things
- rocks provide shelter for biotic animals to escape prey
How does the introduction of a new species to an ecosystem help it?
- new species can populate an ecosystem that may have died away
How does the introduction of a new species to an ecosystem harm it?
- new species may not have natural predators, which causes it to take over
- asian carp - flooding allowed them to escape, and they eat 20% of body weight in a day of plankton
- stink bug - make dead spots on plants and they have no predators. leave foul odour
- zebra muscles - live on boats and eat plankton, promote algae bloom, eat fish food, pollute sandy beaches
How do harmful chemicals accumulate as the up the food chain?
- cause a crash in population
- the bottom of the food chain absorbs mercury, PCB and bottom of lead, then the predator eats it and becomes poisoned
What is primary vs. secondary succession?
primary succession - lichens produce acids that help break down rock, broken down rock and decomposing bodies of dead lichens contribute to soil formation
secondary succession - when something wipes out an ecosystem (fire, climate change, disease)
- when plants and animals come back after a fire
- when a tree falls little trees get access to sunlight
Should humans leave all natural ecosystems the way they are, or is it acceptable to make some changes?
animals lose their habitats from farming, deforestation, slansh n brun, off-roading and other human impacts.
What is a food chain?
- linear
- one animal eats another animal
- terrestrial food chain or marine food chain
What is a food web?
- when lots of animals eat one certain animal
- all over the place
What are some differences between a food chain and a food web?
chain: grass is eaten by a grasshopper, is eaten by a toad, is eaten by a snake, is eaten by a hawk
producer - consumer - predator (plant, animal, predator)
web: hawk might also eat mouse, squirrel or frog
shows the many different paths of plants and animals are connected (several food chains connected together)
Why do predator and prey have to be in balance?
- changes in the predator or the prey will affect the balance of each other
- owls and rodents: when the rodents are too many, they run out of food, so the owl runs out of food because the rodent population has decreased.
- deer and cougar: when deer have nothitng to eat, the predator and the prey crash
How can one person make a difference in our world today when in comes to our own biosphere?
- save energy, clean up garbage and have clean and affordable energy
Besides making humans sick, what other role does bacterium play in our ecosystem
good bacteria gets rid of bad bacteria. Don’t overuse antibiotics because it gets rid of all bacteria.
