Ecosystems- Basic info Flashcards
What are ecosystem?
A set of biotic organisms living together with their abiotic, physical environments. They exists on a variety of scales from micro habitats, such as a single leaf, to biomes, such as deserts and rain forests
What are biotic factors?
Animals, plants and microorganisms
What are abiotic factors?
Soil, climate relief and geology
What factors could upset the equilibrium of ecosystems?
Human activity, climate change and disease
Describe a producer?
A producer is an organism which creates its own food. Plants do so using photosynthesis
What is a carnivore?
an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging.
What is a herbivore?
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage, for the main component of its diet.
What is an omnivore?
An omnivore is a kind of animal that eats either other animals or plants.
What are the 2 main processes that ecosystems rely on?
- The flow of energy
- The recycling of materials.
How is energy lost through an ecosystem?
- Respiration
- Egestion
- Heat loss during transfers between trophic levels
- The decay of dead organisms
Name an autotrophic organism.
Producers are autotrophic organisms as they are capable of carrying out photosynthesis and making food for themselves.
Name a heterotrophic orgnism.
Consumers are heterotrophic organisms as they get their energy from eating plants or organisms which have eaten plants.
What are trophic levels?
They are the feeding positions for each link in the food chain for example autotrophs, herbivores, carnivores and omnivores.
What is a food web?
A food web consists of interlocking food chains. You can trace back along the chains to find the producer.
