Exology Flashcards
What is an organism
Any form of life
What is a species
Individuals similar in appearance, behaviour and Chromosomes
Can breed with eachother to produce fertile offspring
Population
All the individuals of the same species living in a particular place. Live close enough to breed together
What is community
Made up of all the populations of all the different species in a particular place
Ecosystem
Unit in nature made up of living (biotic ) and non living (abiotic) things that interact with eachother
A number of communities together with their physical enviroment
Biosphere
The parts of the earth, where living organisms exist
Atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere
What does ecology involve
The study of ecosystems , of relationships between organisms and their abiotic and biotic enviroment
Abiotic factors
The non living components of the enviroment
Soil, water,temp, sun
Biotic factors
The living organisms found in the enviroment
Plants, animals, micro oganjsms
Biomes
Biosphere is further divided into different aquatic and terrestrial biomes. Regions of the earth where specific types of plants and amimals are found , depending on the climate
Community
Consists of naturally occurring groups of organisms living together in the same area
Lions , impala , birds and thorn trees
Habitat
Physical place or enviroment organism lives in
Population
Group of organisms from the same species , that live in the same Area . That interbreed with eachother
Auto graphics / producers
Organisms that can produce their own food during photosynthesis.
Cacti, aloes , water lillies , fruit
Heretrophs / consumers
Organisms that can’t produce their own food, feed on plants and other animals
Zebra, leopereds, hawks and snakes
Food chain
Order in which organisms feed on eachother . Beginning with producer
Trophic levels
Feeding levels within a food chain
Omnivores
Organisms which feed on both plants and animals
Humans , pigs and baboons
Scavengers
Animals that feed on the remains of dead organisms
Hyenas, vultures, crayfish
Decomposers/ salhrotrophs of saprophytes
Organisms that break down dead organisms or their waste into nutrients in the soil for plant roots to use,
Fungi , bacteria
Parasites
Organisms both plants and animals that obtain their food from a living host
Tapeworm, flees,barnacles
Food webs
In reality organisms have various food sources , many organisms feed on the same things within an ecosystem
Competition
When more than one organism feeds on the same source in an ecosystem . It ensures a balance in the ecosystem
Plants compete for water , sun
Animals compete for food water space
Interspecific competition
Competition that exists between organisms of different species
Intraspecifc competetion
Competetion that exists between organisms of the same species
Biodiversity
The variety of living organisms in our natural world
Species, genetic , ecology
Niche
The role of the organism in the community
Particular place organism does job
What is a biome
And area of the earth that have similar species , comparable climates and consistent soil type
What is the world divided up into
Areas called biomes
What does each biome contain
Has its own set of environmental conditions and a unique set of plants and animals that live there
What affects the distibution of species in an ecosystem
Rainfall, Tempreature, soil types and the types of plant and animal life found in these areas
Why are conservation and preservation vital issues of biomes
They play a huge role in altering the biomes
What is fynbos known as
Cape floral kingdom
How is the cape floral kingdom different from the other 5 floral kingdoms
It is the smallest and richest floral kingdom
What is fynbos nearest rival
South American forest
What does endemic mean
Found nowhere else in the world
What does it mean if things are endemic
They are threatened with extinction
Why can fynbos support Herds of large mammals
The nutrient poor soil don’t provide enough nitrogen for the protein requirements of large mammals
What small animals are found in fynbos
Chacma baboon, grysbok , Dessie’s and the striped mouse
What birds does the fynbos biome support
Not large amounts of birds , Cape sugar bird and organebreasted sunbird
Why are the little bird very important in fynbos
They play an important role in pollinating flowers including ericas and proteas from which they drink nectar
What large numbers of butterfly does fynbos support
Myrmecophilous
What is the worlds second rarest turtle , that lives in fynbos
Geometric tortoise
How much percent of South Africa’s rare and threatened fynbos plants are found in fynbos
75 percent
Name 3 threats of fynbos
Spread of alien plants like hakea, roiikrans, pine trees
Frequent fires in the wrong season
Commercial afforestation (development of housing estates and farms)
What are solution to the threats of fynbos name 3
Promotion of public awareness of cape floral kingdom
Encouraging land owners to care for fynbos
Setting aside important areas of land as nature reserves or national parks
What is something you can do to help fynbos
Join the botanical society of South Africa , and learn about fynbos ecology and how to grow indeignous plants
What does ecology deal with
Things larger than cells, tissues , organs and organ systems
But smaller than the earth , planets , solar system
Decribe the Savanah ecoregion
Open woodland, famous for big 5, understorey of grass , rainfall is mainly in summer, grass and shrubs
Describe the grassland ecoregion
Sea level to over 2000 m, richness of species , different grassland types, rainfall is mainly in summer , duikers and small rodents , grass and wildflowers, perinnial rivers
Describe the estuarine ecoregion
Where rivers meet sea , marine fish
Describe the forest ecoregion
Smallest biome,giant trees, ferns and mosses, bush pig , bush buck, most threatened, summer rainfall
Thicket ecoregion
Sparse to dense, evergreen shrubs, some trees , huge variety of woody plant species , low wind
Describe the marine ecoregion
Deep ocean , shallow subtidal , rocky shores , sandy beaches, coastal dunes
Describe the fynbos ecoregion
Cool wet winters, hot dry summers Proteas, ericas, restios Grysbok, Cape sugar bird, protea seed eater Leopards, baboons , eagles, porcupines Frequent winds Nutrient poor soil
Freshwater ecoregion
Rivers, streams , wetlands,
Natural sponges for water storage and purification
Succulent Karoo ecoregion
Annual flower display , succulent plant species , rainfall is winter, warm temp all year round,
Nama Karoo ecoregion
Namaland area of Namibia , Karoo reg of SA , semi dessert, low rainfall, cold winter, small shrubs and grasses, succulent species (retain water, no water in desert)
