Ecosystems/biodiversity + experimental skills

Question 1

What is an ecosystem? give an example

Answer 1

A community of living organisms (biotic factors) interacting with their non-living environment (abiotic factors).
Example: A rainforest, where plants, animals, and microbes interact with soil, sunlight, and rainfall.

Question 2

abiotic factors

Answer 2

Non-living physical and chemical components of an environment.
Example: Temperature, light, water, and soil nutrients.

Question 3

biotic factors

Answer 3

Living organisms that influence or interact with each other in an ecosystem.
Example: Plants providing food for herbivores, predators hunting prey, or microbes decomposing organic matter.

Question 4

habitat

Answer 4

The natural environment where an organism lives, grows, and reproduces.
Example: A pond is a habitat for frogs, fish, and aquatic plants.

Question 5

microhabitat

Answer 5

A small or specialized part of a habitat that supports specific organisms.

Example: Underneath a rotting log in a forest, where insects, fungi, and worms thrive.

Question 6

niche

Answer 6

A specific role an organism plays and or habitat with specific conditions which it occupies.

Example: Dung beetles collect and decompose animal faeces.

Question 7

Structural Niche

Answer 7

The physical and spatial role of a species in its environment.

Example: Coral reefs providing a structure where fish can live and breed.

Question 8

feeding niche

Answer 8

The role a species plays in the food web, including its diet and how it obtains food.

Example: Bees as pollinators and primary consumers feeding on nectar.

Question 9

Ecological Niche

Answer 9

The role and position a species has in its environment, including interactions with other species and resources.

Example: A jaguar is a top predator that controls herbivore populations.

Question 10

species

Answer 10

A group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.

Example: Humans (Homo sapiens).

Question 11

population

Answer 11

A group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area.

Example: A herd of elephants in a savanna.

Question 12

Community

Answer 12

All the populations of different species living and interacting in an area.

Example: A forest community with trees, birds, insects, and mammals.

Question 13

biodiversity

Answer 13

The variety of life in a particular ecosystem, including species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecosystem diversity.

Example: The Amazon Rainforest has high biodiversity, with millions of species.

Question 14

stratification

Answer 14

The vertical layering of different organisms within an ecosystem.

Example: In a rainforest, there are canopy, understory, and forest floor layers.

Question 15

zonation

Answer 15

The horizontal distribution of organisms in an ecosystem based on environmental conditions.

Example: Mangroves show zonation with salt-tolerant plants closest to the water.

Question 16

photosynthesis

Answer 16

The process by which green plants and some bacteria convert sunlight into chemical energy (glucose).

Example: A sunflower converting sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar.

Question 17

producer

Answer 17

Organisms that make their own food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.

Example: Grass in a meadow is a producer.

Question 18

consumer

Answer 18

Organisms that obtain energy by eating other organisms.

Example: A lion eating an antelope.

Question 19

decomposers

Answer 19

Organisms that break down dead organic material into nutrients.

Example: Fungi decomposing fallen leaves.

Question 20

autotroph

Answer 20

(producers) Organisms that produce their own food using light or chemical energy.

Example: Cyanobacteria in oceans.

Question 21

heterotroph

Answer 21

(consumers) Organisms that rely on consuming other organisms for energy.

Example: Humans eating plants and animals.

Question 22

biomass

Answer 22

The total mass of living organisms in a given area.

Example: The biomass of a forest includes all its trees, animals, and microorganisms.

Question 23

primary succession

Answer 23

The development of an ecosystem in a previously uninhabited area.

Example: Lichens growing on volcanic rock.

Question 24

secondary succession

Answer 24

The re-establishment of an ecosystem after a disturbance.

Example: Forest regrowth after a wildfire.

Question 25

competition

Answer 25

Interaction between organisms or species competing for the same resource.

Example: Plants competing for sunlight in a dense forest.

Question 26

predation

Answer 26

A biological interaction where one organism (the predator) hunts and eats another (the prey).

Example: A cheetah hunting a gazelle.

Question 27

Mutualistic Symbiosis

Answer 27

A relationship between two species where both benefit.

Example: Bees pollinating flowers while feeding on their nectar.

Question 28

keystone species

Answer 28

A species that has a disproportionately large impact on its ecosystem relative to its abundance.

Example: Sea otters controlling sea urchin populations to maintain kelp forests. The kelp forrest then provides food and shelter for many other species.

Question 29

photosynthesis equation: producers harness the Sun’s energy through photosynthesis (give equation)

Answer 29

carbon dioxide + water = oxygen and glucose
6CO2+6H2O→C6H12O6+6O2

Question 30

human impact

Answer 30

we have caused pollution through littering, hunting, land clearing, pollution, introduced species in

Question 31

trophic levels

Answer 31

quaternary consumers ( vulture)
tertiary consumers (snakes)
secondary consumers (frog, birds)
primary consumers (insects, rats, small animals)
producers (grass)
goes from bottom to top

carnivore
herbivore
producer
decomposer

Question 32

Describe how biotic factors change abiotic factors and visa-versa

Answer 32

Biotic factors, such as plants, animals, and bacteria, can change the geology and geography of an area. For example, beavers build dams that slow the flow of water and create ponds.
Abiotic factors, such as temperature, sunlight, soil, and water, determine which biotic factors will survive and how many there will be. For example, plants need sunlight and water for photosynthesis.

Question 33

best way to protect a species

Answer 33

protect its natural ecosystem. all the abiotic and biotic factors of the ecosystem

Question 34

hypothesis

Answer 34

a prediction that can be tested.
if independant varible increase/decreases the dependent variable with increase/decrease

Question 35

indépendant and dépendant varible

Answer 35

independent is the one ur r controlling which should have an influence on the defendant variable the one ur measuring

Question 36

factors to hold constant

Question 37

accuracy, reliability, validity and precision?

Answer 37

reliability, if the same results are measured on multiple trials,

precision is how well the measurements of the same item are the same to one another (less scatter in results means higher precision)

accuracy is how close the values are to the true value (the acceptable value you are trying to get from the experiments)

validity, whether the experiment is measuring what it is intended to measure