Foundation: B7 - Ecology Flashcards
What is an ecosystem?
The interaction of a community of living organisms with the non-living parts of their environment.
What do plants compete for in a community?
Light, space, water and mineral ions from the soil
What do animals complete for in a community?
Mates, food and territory
What is interdependence?
Species in a community depend of each other species for food, shelter, pollination, seed dispersal, etc. If one species is removed it can affect the whole community.
What is a stable community?
A community where all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant.
What are the abiotic factors that can affect a community?
Light intensity, temperature, moisture levels, soil pH and mineral content, wind intensity and direction, carbon dioxide levels for plants, oxygen levels for aquatic animals.
What are the biotic factors that affect a community?
Availability of food, new predators arriving, new pathogens, one species outcompeting another so the numbers are no longer sufficient to breed.
What does abiotic mean?
Non-living
What does bioitic mean?
Living
What is an adaptation?
A feature that enables an organism to surve in the conditions which they normally live.
What is an extremophile?
An organism that lives in an extreme environment, such as one with high temepratures, high pressure or high salt concentration.
What is a producer?
An organism that produces its own food, usually by using energy from the sun.
How are quadrats used in random sampling?
- Mark 1m intervals along the axes of the area you will sample.
- Using a random number generator to select coordinates, place the quadrat in the area.
- Count the number of organism, eg. daisies, in that quadrat.
- Repeat placing the quadrat & counting at least 10 times.
- Calculate the average number of organism in one quadrat.
- Using the area of the area, and the average, calculate an estimate for the number of organism in the area.
What is a consumer?
An organism that eats other organisms in a food chain.
What process removes carbon from the atompshere?
Photosynthesis
What processes add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?
Respiration, combustion, decomposition
Why are microorganisms an important part of an ecosystem?
They help to cycle material through the ecosystem by decomposing dead organic matter. They release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere & mineral ions to the soil.
What is biodiversity?
The variety of all the different species of organisms in an ecosystem, or on earth.
Why is it important to maintain a high level of biodiversity?
To maintain stable ecosystems by reducing the dependence of one species on another for food and shelter.
What types of poolution occur in water?
Sewage, fertiliser, toxic chemicals
What types of pollution occurs in the air?
Smoke and acidic gases
What types of pollution occurs on land?
Landfills & toxic chemicals
What human activities reduce the amount of land available for other animals?
building, dumping waste, quarrying, farming
What is a carbon sink?
An area where carbon is removed from the atmosphere and stored for a long period of time, such as peat or in a fossil fuel
Why are peat bogs being destroyed?
to produce garden compost.
What are the negative effects of destroying peat bogs?
It reduces the habitat available for plants, animals and microorganisms that live there. Burning or decay of peat releases carbon dioxide inot the atmosphere.
Why has large-scal deforestation occured in tropical areas?
To provide land for cattle and rice fields, to grow crops for biofuel
What programs area there to help maintain biodiversity?
Breeding programs for endangered species, protection and regeneration of rare habitats, reintroduction of field margins and hedgerows in areas where farms grow only one type of crop, reduction of deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions by some governments, recycling
