Ecosytems 🌍 Flashcards
Define ecosystem
An ecosystem is a community of organisms and the physical environment they live in
What is a community?
Populations of different species that live and interact with each other
What is a population
All the organisms of a particular species living in the same are
What does interdependence mean
All the organisms depend on each other for resources
What is a habitat
A place in which the organism lives
What are the two main ways energy is lost in a food chain
Waste materials
Different living processes such as movement or growth
3 ways to improve efficiency of a food chain
Reduce the number of stages in a food chain
Limit the animals movement or keep it warm
Use plant hormones to regulate the ripening of fruit (ethene )
What are abiotic factors
Non living factors eg. temperature, rainfall
What are the effects of too hot temperatures (abiotic factors)
Raining temp causes sea ice to melt and so habitat size is decreasing.
Affects organisms such as polar bears living in the Arctic
What are the effects of too cold temperatures (abiotic factors)
Both plants and animals would be affected as it would become increasingly difficult to regulate internal body temperatures- chemical reactions wouldn’t be able to take place
What are the effects of too much water (abiotic factors)
Excessive moisture in the soil decreases oxygen levels which causes the plant growth to slow or even stop
What are the effects of too little water (abiotic factors)
Plants lacking water means they can’t photosynthesise
What are the effects of too little light (abiotic factors)
Without adequate light plants can’t photosynthesise and so die
What are the effects of too much light (abiotic factors)
Too much light can cause the breakdown of chlorophyll in the leaf and eventually they die
What are biotic factors
The organisms in an ecosystem that affect other living organisms
What are the 2 biotic factors
Predation
Competition
What is predation
Where one organism predates on another
What is competition
Occurs between species when they both need a limited resource
What is symbiosis
The ecological relationship between 2 or more organisms living closely together with some sort of feeding relationship involved
What is mutualism
Where both organisms benefit
(Eg. A bumble bee and a pollinating flower)
What is Commensalism
Where one organism benefits and the other is not harmed
(Eg. Cattle egrets & livestock)
What is Parasitism
Where one organism is benefited and causes harm to the other
(Eg. Endoparasites & ectoparasites)
What is an endoparasite and give 2 examples
Parasites that live inside the host
Eg. Tapeworms and roundworms
What is an ectoparasite and give 2 examples
A parasite that lives outside the body of the host
Eg. Lice & ticks
What is nitrogen used for in living organisms
To make proteins and dna
Why can’t the nitrogen be used directly by our cells
Although the atmosphere is 80% nitrogen it can’t be used directly as it is UNREACTIVE