Paper 1 - Ecology

Question 1

what is population

Answer 1

all the organisms of one species in a habitat

Question 2

what is habitat

Answer 2

the place where an organism lives

Question 3

what is community

Answer 3

all the different species in a habitat

Question 4

what is ecosystem

Answer 4

all the organisms living in a particular area and all the non-living (abiotic) conditions such as temperature, climate etc…

Question 5

what are abiotic factors and examples of them

Answer 5

non living factors such as temperature

Question 6

what are biotic factors and examples of them

Answer 6

living factors such as availability of food, competition, predation

Question 7

what is bioaccumulation

Answer 7

the accumulation of toxic chemicals in a food chain

Question 8

different trophic levels

Answer 8

producer - primary consumer - secondary consumer - tertiary consumer - apex predator (+ decomposers)

Question 9

which is the only pyramid that is always a pyramid shape

Answer 9

energy transfer

Question 10

which pyramid is almost always pyramid shaped

Answer 10

biomass

Question 11

which pyramid is sometimes not a pyramid shape

Answer 11

numbers

Question 12

how much energy is usually transferred to the next trophic level

Answer 12

10%

Question 13

why is energy transfer not 100%

Answer 13

not all organism is eaten (roots or bones left behind)
not all the organism is digested (removed as faeces in egestion)
most of the energy is lost by radiation of heat to surroundings
energy used in respiration by the animal who ate it, so next animal wont get all the energy from original animal