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A2 Biology > Ecosystems and sustainability > Flashcards

Ecosystems and sustainability Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a place where an organism lives?

A

Habitat

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2
Q

What is a group of organisms and non-living factors and the inter-relationships between them known as?

A

Ecosystem

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3
Q

What is the role of an organism in its ecosystem?

A

Niche

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4
Q

What is all the individuals of the same species that live in the sam place called?

A

Population

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5
Q

What is all the individuals of different species that live in the same place called?

A

Community

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6
Q

How do biologists describe ecosystems?

A

Ecosystems are said to be dynamic. This is because the populations of different species will always change over time.

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7
Q

What is a biotic factor?

A

The ways living organisms can affect the other organisms in an ecosystem.

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8
Q

What is an abiotic factor?

A

The ways that the non-living environment can affect organisms in an ecosystem.

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9
Q

Give examples of biotic factors.

A

Parasitism
Predation
Disease
Food supply

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10
Q

Give examples of abiotic factors.

A

Temperature
Light intensity
Soil type
Water pH.

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11
Q

Why is it important for an ecologist to take samples from an area without trees?

A
  • Increased inter-specific competition
  • Lower light intensity
  • Tree roots will decrease the levels of water in the soil.
  • Tree roots will decrease the levels of minerals in the soil.
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12
Q

What do the arrows in a food chain show?

A

Transfer of energy

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13
Q

Why is not all available energy converted into biomass for the next trophic level?

A
  • Energy is lost as heat
  • Aerobic respiration
  • Not all organism is eaten and parts wasted.
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14
Q

Why are there usually no more than 5 organisms in each food chain?

A

The amount of energy decreases. if there was a fifth organism, there could not be enough energy to transfer ti the fifth tropic level to support a variable population.

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15
Q

What are the properties of pyramid of energy?

A
  • These are always pyramid-shaped

- This width of each rectangle represents the amount of energy entering each trophic level.

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16
Q

What are the properties of pyramid of biomass?

A
  • This width of each rectangle represents the actual; biomass (dry mass) of organisms at each trophic level.
17
Q

What are the properties of pyramid of numbers?

A
  • The width of each rectangle represents the number of individuals present at each trophic level.
18
Q

What does a pyramid of numbers show?

A

The population of each species is counted or estimated.

19
Q

What does a pyramid of biomass show?

A

Place all organisms in an oven at 80c until all water has evaporated and record the dry mass.

20
Q

What does a pyramid of energy show?

A

Burn the organisms in a calorimeter and record how much heat energy is released per gram of living tissue.

21
Q

What are the advantages of pyramids of number?

A

This type of pyramid is an improvement on a food chain as it shows a quantitative measurement of the number of organisms at each trophic level.

22
Q

What are the advantages of pyramids of biomass?

A
  • This type of pyramid is an improvement on a food chain as it shows a quantitative measurement of the number of organisms at each trophic level.
  • This type of pyramid takes into account the size of individual organisms at each tropic level.
23
Q

What are the advantages of pyramids of energy?

A
  • This type of pyramid is always pyramidal in shape.
  • This type of pyramid is an improvement on a food chain as it shows a quantitative measurement of the number of organisms at each trophic level.
  • This type of pyramid allows you to compare the efficiency of energy transfer between different trophic levels.
24
Q

What are the disadvantages of pyramids of number?

A

This type of pyramid is not always pyramid shaped and can sometime become inverted.

25
Q

What are the disadvantages of pyramids of biomass?

A
  • This type of pyramid is not always pyramid shaped and can sometime become inverted.
  • This type of pyramid only records a “snap shot” of the organisms in an ecosystem at any time. It does not take into account the productivity of the ecosystem.
  • This type of pyramid is destructive to the ecosystem as its requires living organisms to be incinerated.
26
Q

What are the disadvantages of pyramids of energy?

A
  • This type of pyramid is destructive to the ecosystem as its requires living organisms to be incinerated.
27
Q

What does Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) mean?

A

This is the rate at which plants convert light energy into chemical energy.

28
Q

What does Net primary productivity (NPP) mean?

A

This is the amount of energy that remains after respiration that can be used to make plant biomass.

29
Q

What does Gross secondary productivity (GSP) mean?

A

This is the amount of energy that animals obtain from their food.

30
Q

What is Net secondary productivity (NSP) mean?

A

This is the amount of energy that remains after respiration that can be used to make animal biomass.

A2 Biology (8 decks)

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