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National 5 Biology > Life On Earth > Flashcards

Life On Earth Flashcards

1
Q

What is biodiversity?

A

Total variety of all living things on Earth.

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2
Q

What is a habitat?

A

The place where a organism lives.

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3
Q

What is a population?

A

All the members of one species living in a habitat.

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4
Q

What is a community?

A

All the different organisms living in a habitat.

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5
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

All the living organisms in a habitat + the non-living components with which they interact.

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6
Q

What is a producer?

A

Green plant that makes its own food by photosynthesis.

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7
Q

What is a consumer?

A

Organism that eats a producer / another consumer for energy.

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8
Q

What is a herbivore?

A

Organism that eats only plant material.

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9
Q

What is a carnivore?

A

Organism who only eats animal material.

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10
Q

What is a niche?

A

The role an organism plays within a community.

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11
Q

What is an omnivore?

A

Organism that eats both plant and animal material.

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12
Q

What is a predator?

A

Organism that hunts other animals for its food.

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13
Q

What is a prey?

A

Organisms hunted by a predator.

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14
Q

What is a species?

A

A group of organisms that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring.

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15
Q

What is a food chain?

A

A diagram which shows how energy is passed on from one organism to another in an ecosystem, when they are eaten.

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16
Q

What does a food chain always start with?

A

Producer

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17
Q

What do the arrows in a food chain represent?

A

Direction of energy flow

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18
Q

Organise these organisms into a food chain: lion, grass, zebra.

A

grass → zebra → lion.

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19
Q

What are the three ways that energy is lost from a food chain?

A

Heat, movement, undigested material.

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20
Q

Refer to this food chain:

zoo plankton → animal plankton → clownfish → shark.

What will happen to the number of clownfish and zooplankton if the shark becomes vegetarian?

A

Clownfish: Increase because they are not being eaten by sharks anymore.
Zooplankton: decrease because they are eaten by sharks.

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21
Q

What is a pyramid of numbers?

A

Diagram that represents the number of organisms at each stage.

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22
Q

What is a pyramid of energy?

A

Represents the energy available at each stage of a food chain. As energy is lost at each stage, it is always a pyramid shape.

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23
Q

When will competition between organisms occur?

A

When they require the same resources but they are in short supply.

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24
Q

What might animals compete for?

A

Food, water, shelter, mates

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25
Q

What might plants compete for?

A

Light, water, soil nutrients, root space.

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26
Q

What are the two types of competition?

A

Intraspecific and interspecific

27
Q

Give an example of intraspecific competition?

A

Polar bears fighting for one prey animal.

28
Q

Give an example of Interspecific competition.

A

Rabbits and cats fighting for shelter.

29
Q

What type of competition is more intense?

A

Intraspecific, because it is for all resources required.

30
Q

What are the two types of factors that affect biodiversity?

A

Abiotic, biotic

31
Q

What are abiotic factors?

A

Non-living factors

32
Q

What are biotic factors?

A

Factors directly related to living organisms.

33
Q

Describe how soil pH can be measured

A

Insert the probe of a pH meter into the soil and take a reading

34
Q

What are examples of biotic factors?

A

Predation, competition, food availability, disease, grazing

35
Q

Describe how light intensity can be measured

A

Direct the solar panel of a light meter towards the light source being measured and take a reading

36
Q

What are examples of abiotic factors?

A

Temperature, pH, moisture, light intensity.

37
Q

Describe how temperature can be measured

A

Insert a thermometer into the soil and take a reading

38
Q

How can predation affect biodiversity?

A

Affects the numbers of population of prey and predators. The two will have a delicate balance.

39
Q

Describe how the moisture level can be measured

A

Insert the probe of a moisture meter into the soil and take a reading

40
Q

How can disease affect biodiversity?

A

Could remove whole species from food webs.

41
Q

What are quadrats?

A

Quadrats mark off an exact area of ground so that the organisms:in that area can be identified and counted.

42
Q

What sources of error occur when measuring soil pH and how can they be minimised?

A
  • Reading may be contaminated from a previous measurement
  • Wipe the probe clean between each use
43
Q

What sources of error occur when measuring light intensity and how can they be minimised?

A
  • Sensor could be blocked
  • Stand to the side of the meter when taking a reading
44
Q

What are some sources of error regarding quadrats and how can you minimise them?

A

Sources of error:
- Non-random sampling
- Sample size too small

How to minimise:
- Throw quadrat at random
- Throw many quadrats

45
Q

What are transects?

A

A line across a habitat or part of it. It can be a string or a rope placed on the ground. The number of organisms can be observed and recorded along the transect.

46
Q

What sources of error occur when measuring soil moisture and how can they be minimised?

A
  • Reading may be contaminated from a previous measurement
  • Wipe the probe clean and dry between each use
47
Q

What sources of error occur when measuring temperature and how can they be minimised?

A
  • Reading may be inaccurate
  • Leave it for some time to adjust before taking a reading
  • Or you insert the probe to the same depth each time
48
Q

What is the word equation for photosynthesis?

A

carbon dioxide + water (light energy + chlorophyll) → oxygen + water

49
Q

Where does photosynthesis take place?

A

Chloroplasts

50
Q

What is chlorophyll?

A

A chemical found in the chloroplasts of plant cells.

51
Q

What method can be used to represent the population of organisms in an ecosystem?

A

A sample

52
Q

What is the function of chlorophyll?

A

To absorb light energy and convert it to chemical energy in ATP.

53
Q

What are the two stages of photosynthesis?

A

Light reactions and carbon fixation

54
Q

What would you use to sample small, invertebrate animals?

A

Pitfall traps

55
Q

What happens in the light reactions stage?

A

The light energy absorbed by chlorophyll is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is a by product which is released from the leaf by diffusion. The hydrogen is carried forward to carbon fixation.

56
Q

What is carbon fixation controlled by?

A

Enzymes.

57
Q

Give some sources of error of pitfall traps, its problems associated with them and how to fix them.

A
  • Trap not level with soil surface, organisms don’t fall in**, make sure trap is level with soil so insects fall in
  • Too many fall into the trap because it was left for too long, organisms eat each other, don’t leave trap for too long
  • Trap not camouflaged, predation occurs, camouflage the trap
  • No drainage holes, trap floods and organisms lost, make drainage holes small enough but not too big so organisms don’t fall out
58
Q

What happens in carbon fixation?

A

The ATP and hydrogen produced during the light reactions are used. The energy from ATP allows hydrogen to join with the gas carbon dioxide to form sugar.

59
Q

What are the 3 limiting factors of photosynthesis

A
  • Light intensity
  • Temperature
  • Carbon dioxide concentration
60
Q

The sugar produced contains chemical energy. What is the sugar used for?

A

Respiration, converted to starch for storage, converted to cellulose to build up the cell wall.

61
Q

Why is temperature a limiting factor?

A

Because photosynthesis is an enzyme-controlled reaction

62
Q

How can you measure the rate of photosynthesis?

A

Measure the number of oxygen bubbles per minute

63
Q

How can you determine limiting factors on a graph?

A
  • When the line is diagonal, then the limiting factor is the one on the x-axis.
  • When the line is horizontal, then the limiting factor one that’s not the one being measured.

National 5 Biology (7 decks)

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