interactions within ecosystems Flashcards

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1
Q

state the conseration of energy

A

energy cannot be created or destroyed
it can only be transfered from one form to another

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2
Q

state the conservation of mass

A

atoms cannot be created or destroyed
the atoms can only be rearrenged in the particle

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3
Q

what are some actions that negatively impact the environment

A
  • wasting food
  • using more electricity
  • using more water
  • creating excessive waste
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4
Q

how does wasting food impact the environment

A

green house gases due to incineration

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5
Q

how does creating excessive waste impact the environment

A

green house gases due to incineration

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6
Q

how does using more electricity impact the enviornment

A

carbon emmisions casuing pollution

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7
Q

how does reducing the use of fossil fuels impact the environment

A

less greenhouse gases contirbutes to less climate change

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8
Q

what are some actions that positvely impact the environment

A
  • reducing the use of fossil fuels
  • reducing consumption
  • introducting environmentally friendly practices
  • reforestation
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9
Q

how does reducing consumption impact the environment

A

less greenhouse gases

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10
Q

how does introducing environmentally friendly practices impact the environment

A

reduce greenhouse gases and pollution that reduces climate change

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11
Q

how does reforestation impact the environment

A
  • protectes the soil (stores carbon)
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12
Q

factors that environmentally influence the survival of organisms are

A
  • physical factors
  • adaptations in organisms
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13
Q

definition of physical factors

A

factors that distuinguish different environments

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14
Q

examples of physical factors

A
  • air
  • water
  • temperature
  • light
  • minerals
  • acidity/alkalinity
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15
Q

what are some instruments physical factors can be measured

A
  • data loggers
  • probes (to test something for a factor)
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16
Q

what are the adavptive traits in organisms

A
  • structural
  • behavioural
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17
Q

what is structural adaptation in organisms

A

physical characteristics of an organism that helps it to survive in its habitat

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18
Q

definition of behavioural adaptation in organisms

A

different behaviours of an organism that allows it to survive in its habitat

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19
Q

what happens when environmental conditions in habitats change

A
  • organisms that unable to survive under new conditions will die
  • organisms that are able to survive will reproduce
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20
Q

what happens to the offsprings of the organisms that are able to survive the new conditions

A

the offsprings will have similar adaptive traits of the organism and thus wil be able to survive under the new environmental conditions

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21
Q

what are the parts making up an ecosystem

A

organisms → population → community → ecosystem

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22
Q

what is an organism

A

an organism is any living entity that is able to reporoduce, respirate etc

23
Q

what is a population

A

organisms of the same kind living in the same environment

24
Q

what is a community

A

different populations of plants and animals living and interacting in a particular environment

25
Q

what is an ecosystem

A

the interactions between a community and its physical environment

26
Q

what are the types of interrelationships in an ecosystem

A
  • predator-prey
  • mutalism
  • parasitism
27
Q

what is predator-prey relationship

A
  • predators hunt down the prey using their adaptations
  • likewise, preys have adaptations to avoid being caught by the predators
28
Q

what are some adaptations of a predator

A
  • sharp teeth
  • strong claws
  • high speed
  • sharp senses
  • different hunting strategies (mimicking their prey)
29
Q

what are some adaptations of a prey

A
  • high speed
  • small size
  • effective camouflage
  • defensive body parts (horns etc.)
  • mimicking unpleasant objects (fool predator)
30
Q

what is mutualism relationship

A

2 or more organisms that support or benefit one another

31
Q

an example of mutualisms

A

a crocodile and a plover bird, the bird will pick the food out of the crocodiles mouth. the bird will obtain food and the crocodile will not get food decay

32
Q

what is parasitism relationship

A

when an organism benefits off another organism by harming it

33
Q

example of parasitism

A

round worms living in humans small intestine. they obtain food but humans get infected

34
Q

what are the factors involved in maintaining a stable food web

A
  • energy from food in plants
  • flow of energy and nutrients in food chains and food webs
35
Q

explain energy from food in plants

how does it maintain a stable ecosystem

A

green plants are producers
- they make food from the sun
- the food produced can be used to provide energy needed for life proccess in the plants (cellular respiration)
- energy released by the plants is used for growth (some energy is stored in the plant as chemical potential energy)

36
Q

what is the name of the plant in a food web

A

producer

37
Q

what is the term for the organism that directly eats the plant

A

primary consumer

38
Q

what is the term for the organism that eats the primary consumer

A

secondary consumer

39
Q

what is the term for the organism that eats the secondary consumer

A

tertiary consumer

40
Q

what is the term for the organism that eats the tertiary consumer

A

apex consumer (usually no more than 4 consumers)

41
Q

why is there usually no more than 4 consumers

A

There is not enough energy in the tertiary / quaternary consumers to support another level of consumers

42
Q

what is the transfer of energy from one organism to another

A

10% of energy is transfered

43
Q

why is the energy transfer only 10%

A

the other 90% is used for:
- respiration
- growth
- movement (consumers only)
- warmth (consumers only)
- excretion(consumers only)

44
Q

what does prey and predator relationship mean in a food web

when it comes out in a test

A
  1. cannot be producers
  2. cannot be decomposers
  3. find a relationship between 2 consumers (where one eats the other)
45
Q

what is the diffence between energy flow and nutrient flow

A
  • Nutrient cycles are cyclic while energy flow is linear
  • Nutrients can be recycled while energy is lost from the ecosystem
46
Q

water cycle

(what happens)

A
  • evaporation
  • condensation
  • transpiration
  • sublimation
  • deposition
  • precipiation
  • infiltation
  • runoff
  • percolation
47
Q

what is the nutrient cycle

A
  • water and air penetrate soil
  • dead plant and animal matter
  • decomposers break down organic matter
  • minerals and other nutrients are released into the soil
  • plant growth
  • rocks broken down
48
Q

why do we not have a stable ecosystem

A

Human activities tend to unbalance ecosystems

49
Q

example

of how human activities unbalance ecosystems

A

production of greenhouse gases over and above pre-industrial levels after the industrial revolution started

50
Q

what are greenhouse gases

A

gases that have the property of being able to absorb infra-red radiation / heat

51
Q

what is in greenhouse gases

A
  • carbon dioxide (CO₂)
  • nitrous oxide (N₂O)
  • carbon manoxide (CO)
  • sulphur dioxide (SO₂)
  • methane (CH₄)
  • chlorofluoro-carbon (CFC)
  • ozone (O₃)
52
Q

what is the greenhouse effect

A
  1. some solar radiation is reflected by the earth and the atmosphere
  2. most radiation is absorbed by the earths surface and warms it
  3. some if the infared radiation passes through the atmosphere, some is absorbed and re-emitted in all directions by greenhouse gas molecules → warms the earths surface and the lower atmosphere
  4. infared radiation is emitted by the earths surface
53
Q

definition of food chain

A