N4 Unit 3 Part A Flashcards
What is a biome?
A region of the planet which has a characteristic climate and organisms living within the region.
Name two factors which can affect the distribution of a biome.
Temperature and rainfall
Give two examples of land biomess.
Rainforest and tundra
Give two examples of water biomes.
Freshwater and marine
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem consists of all the organisms living in a particular habitat and the non-living components with which the organisms interact.
What name is given to a diagram of interconnected food chains?
Food web
What do the arrows in a food web represent?
The flow of energy
What is a producer?
An organism which makes its own food
What is a consumer?
An organism which eats other organisms for food
Name three things animals and plants depend on each other for.
Food, shelter and pollination
What is pollination?
The transfer of pollen from one plant to another
What are biotic factors?
Living factors
Give two examples of biotic factors.
Food availability and predation
What is a predator?
An animal which hunts and kills another animal for food
What is prey?
An animal that is killed and eaten by another animal
Name two things animals compete for.
Food and territory
Name two things plants compete for.
Water and space
Name two pieces of equipment used to find out the distribution of an organism in a given habitat
Quadrats and pitfall traps
What are quadrats used for?
Estimating the abundance of plants or slow-moving animals
What has happened to the human population in the last hundred years?
It has increased dramatically
Give two reasons for the dramatic increase in the human population.
Better healthcare and more efficient food production systems
Give one consequence of human population growth.
Increased competition for space might mean species become extinct
Define biodiversity.
How many different species are found in a particular area
Name two human activities which affect biodiversity.
Acid rain and deforestation
Describe how deforestation reduces biodiversity.
It causes loss of habitat so organisms have nowhere to live.
List three natural hazards which reduce biodiversity.
Earthquakes, flooding and volcanic activity
What is acid rain?
Rain that is unusually acidic
Name two gases which can cause acid rain when released into the atmosphere.
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
How does acid rain effect animals living in ponds and lakes?
It alters the pH of the water and some animals can’t tolerate this.
How does acid rain effect plants?
The leaves and roots of trees can be damaged by acid rain, making them less able to make food (photosynthesise) and absorb nutrients.
What is climate change?
A long-term shift in the Earth’s weather patterns and average temperatures
Name three greenhouse gases.
Carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour
Name one human activity which releases greenhouse gases.
Burning fossil fuels
Name one organism which is effected by climate change.
Polar bear
What is conservation?
The protection of natural resources and the environment.
Which conservation strategy protects plants and animals in their natural environment.
Nature reserves
Which conservation strategy protects animals in artificial environments, use captive breeding programmes to try to increase the population of endangered species
Zoos, wildlife parks and botanic gardens
Which conservation strategy makes it illegal to hunt certain species; wardens protect the animals from poachers.
Hunting laws
Which conservation strategy places a limit on the number of an endangered species of fish that can be caught.
Fishing quotas
