Populations and ecology

Question 1

What is a population?

Answer 1

Members of the same species living in one habitat

Question 2

What is an individual?

Answer 2

A living thing

Question 3

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 3

A group of organisms of different species and their biotic and abiotic factors in one area.

Question 4

What is a community?

Answer 4

A group of organisms of different species and their biotic factors in one area

Question 5

What is the biosphere?

Answer 5

The part of the earth that contains all ecosystems

Question 6

What is a biome?

Answer 6

An area in the biosphere that contains one type of vegetation.

Question 7

What is an ecological niche?

Answer 7

The role and position a species has in its environment, for food and habitat

Question 8

What is a species niche?

Answer 8

All interactions with biotic and abiotic factors

Question 9

What are biotic factors?

Answer 9

Living factors, e.g. plants

Question 10

What are abiotic factors?

Answer 10

Non-living factors, e.g. sunlight

Question 11

What is interspecific competition?

Answer 11

Competition between different species

Question 12

What is intraspecific competition?

Answer 12

Competition within a species.

Question 13

Which encounter more competition broad niches or narrow niches?

Answer 13

Broad niches

Question 14

What happens when niches overlap?

Answer 14

This leads to competition

Question 15

What is a habitat?

Answer 15

The physical or abiotic part of an ecosystem

Question 16

What is a species?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What is a producer?

Answer 17

An organism that produces food from carbon dioxide and water using photosynthesis

Question 18

What is an autotroph?

Answer 18

An organism that can produce its own food

Question 19

What is a heterotroph?

Answer 19

An organism that obtains energy and mass from other organisms

Question 20

What is symbiosis?

Answer 20

Organisms living together in a close relationship

Question 21

What is mutualism

Answer 21

Two organisms living together for mutual benefit

Question 22

What is commensalism?

Answer 22

A relationship in which only one organism benefits

Question 23

What do arrows in food webs and chains represent?

Answer 23

The movement of energy

Question 24

What do blocks in ecological pyramids of numbers represent?

Answer 24

The numbers of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain

Question 25

What do blocks in ecological pyramids of biomass represent?

Answer 25

The dry mass of an organism (as water doesn’t store energy). Usually a normal pyramid as energy is lost down the food chain.

Question 26

What is primary succession?

Answer 26

Organisms populate an area for the first time. At this point there is no competition since this is the base of building the community. Takes a long time.

Question 27

What is secondary succession?

Answer 27

Occurs after a smaller disturbance or after primary succession. Other surrounding organisms may return to how they used to be.

Question 28

What is ecological succession?

Answer 28

This describes how the make-up of a community develops over time after a disturbance to the environment, this can be beneficial

Question 29

What is a climax community?

Answer 29

The theoretical point at which a community has completed all stages of succession and has reached a state of stability.

Question 30

What is the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?

Answer 30

Intermediate disturbances are ideal. This would allow there to be more niches and more biodiversity without too much destruction.