Ecosystmes TOPIC 7

Question 1

define ecology

Answer 1

the study of organisms and the environment in which they live in as well as how they both interact

Question 2

define habitat

Answer 2

a natural home or environment of an animal, pan or other organism

Question 3

define population

Answer 3

the total number of inhabitants in a particular place

Question 4

define community

Answer 4

a group of species living in the same place

Question 5

define ecosystem

Answer 5

the interaction betweeen a community of living and non-living parts of their environment

Question 6

define interdependance

Answer 6

all the organisms in an ecosystem are dependant on each other to survive

Question 7

define stable community

Answer 7

the species and environmental factors are in balance so population size remains relatively constant

Question 8

what are the two types of competition

Answer 8

• intraspecific competition
• interspecific competition

Question 9

what is itraspecific competition

Answer 9

competition between the same species

Question 10

what is interspecific competition

Answer 10

competition between different species

Question 11

what do plants compete for

Answer 11

• light
• space
• mineral ions
• water

Question 12

what do animals compete for

Answer 12

• food
• water
• territory
• mates

Question 13

what are abiotic factors

Answer 13

non-living factors (light intensity, temperature)

Question 14

what are biotic factors

Answer 14

living factors (food availability, new predators)

Question 15

what cna the change in an abiotic or biotic factor lead to

Answer 15

the increase or decrease in size of the popution in a community

Question 16

what is a trophic level

Answer 16

a feeding stage within a food chain

Question 17

what trophic level are producers in

Answer 17

1

Question 18

what trophic level are tertiary consumers in

Answer 18

4

Question 19

what is biomass

Answer 19

the total amount of living material in an organism

Question 20

what do pyramids of biomass show

Answer 20

the amount of living material in each level of a food chain

Question 21

what happens to the energy at each step along the food chain

Answer 21

it decreases because of heat, bones etc

Question 22

how much of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next

Answer 22

10%

Question 23

wha are the reasons for loss of biomass

Answer 23

• heat
• energy used in repiration
• not all ingested (bones and urine)

Question 24

what is interdependance shown in

Answer 24

food webs

Question 25

explain a predator prey relationship

Answer 25

• if the population of prey increases then the population of predators will increase after a lag period
• the increase in predators causes a decrease in prey
• this then causes a decrease in number of prey available so predators decrease
• the decrease means prey will increase

Question 26

define adaptation

Answer 26

features whihc enable an organism to survive in the conditions in which they live in

Question 27

what are the different types of adaptation

Answer 27

• structual = body structure
• behavioural = behaviour (hibernation etc)
• functional = internal chnages (urine levels)

Question 28

what are extremophiles

Answer 28

organisms that live in very extreme conditions (high temp, high pressure, high salt concentration)