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Biology > Section 4: a) The organism in the environment & b) Feeding relationships > Flashcards

Section 4: a) The organism in the environment & b) Feeding relationships Flashcards

1
Q

What is ecology?

A

The study of inter-relationships between organisms and their environment.

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2
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

The interaction of all the organisms in a specific area and the environment around them. It includes all the physical and biological factors that are present.

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3
Q

What is a community?

A

This is all the organisms of different species that live in an ecosystem.

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4
Q

What is a population?

A

A group of interbreeding organisms of the same species living together in a habitat.

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5
Q

What is an individual?

A

A single organism (animal or plant) distinguished from others of the same habitat.

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6
Q

What is an environment?

A

All the conditions that surround a living organism.

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7
Q

What is a habitat?

A

This is the place where a community lives.

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8
Q

What are biotic factors?

A

Interactions associated with living organisms. They can also influence the distribution of organisms in an ecosystem.

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9
Q

What are abiotic factors?

A

Non-living variables that can influence where organisms live.

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10
Q

What is biodiversity?

A

The range of animals and plants in a given area.

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11
Q

What is a quadrat?

A

A square frame of known area used for sampling the abundance and distribution of slow or non-moving organisms.

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12
Q

What is a transect?

A

A line created, for instance, with a tape measure, along which sampling occurs.

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13
Q

What is random sampling?

A

Collecting data occurring without a pattern; it is unpredictable. Each item has an equal probability of being selected.

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14
Q

What is systematic sampling?

A

Collecting data in an ordered or regular way, e.g. every 5 metres or every fifth person.

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15
Q

Give examples of abiotic factors.

A

Rainfall, pH and type of soil, temperature, humidity, day length, wave action, salinity, solar radiation, atmospheric gases, wind, fire

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16
Q

Give examples of biotic factors.

A

Bacteria, animals, plants, fungi, pathogens, human activity, predators, parasites, competitors

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17
Q

What are the two main kinds of data that can be gathered for the number of organisms in a particular area?

A

Qualitative (‘there are lots of daisies in the field’) and quantitative (‘there are 5087 daisies in the field’)

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18
Q

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative data?

A

Quantitative data gives a specific measure for your subject, whereas qualitative data only gives a rough idea.
Quantitative data is usually more useful.

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19
Q

What does sampling involve?

A

It involves taking a selection of individuals from the target population, i.e. counting the number of organisms in a small part of the area being investigated.

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20
Q

What do the individuals (single organisms) represent?

A

They represent the population as a whole.

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21
Q

What can be calculated due to sampling?

A

An estimate of the population size (abundance) for the whole habitat can be calculated.

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22
Q

What two factors can affect sampling results?

A

Sampling Bias and Chance

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23
Q

How might sampling bias and chance mean that your results are not representative of the whole area?

A

Sampling Bias-The investigators may be making unrepresentative choices, either deliberately or unwillingly.

Chance-The individuals chosen, by pure chance, may not be representative.

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24
Q

How can we reduce the effects of both sampling bias and chance?

A

Sampling Bias-Using random sampling and repeating this multiple times

Chance-Using a large sample size

25
Q

What are the two main sampling methods?

A

Random sampling and systematic sampling

26
Q

What can be used when doing random sampling?

A

A quadrat

27
Q

How can you make sure that your findings are representative of the whole population?

A

By sampling as many areas as possible at random always using the same sized quadrat

28
Q

How can you ensure that the quadrats are placed randomly?

A

You can place a tape measure along two sides of the area being studied. Then find random coordinates e.g. using a random number generator.

29
Q

What can be used to calculate an estimate for the whole area under investigation?

A

The mean number of organisms per quadrat

30
Q

What is the most commonly used type of transect?

A

A line transect

31
Q

What is a line transect?

A

A line transect is where a rope is stretched between 2 points and organisms are sampled at regular intervals along the line using a quadrat.

32
Q

What are transects used to measure?

A

Change in distribution over a range of habitats, e.g. down a seashore or across a woodland edge.

It is also possible to measure the physical factors that may affect the growth of plants along the transect, e.g. soil pH or light levels.

33
Q

Give a brief method for sampling a field of daisies.

A
  1. Select at least three quadrats and count how many daisies are in each (e.g. 4, 8, 3).
  2. Calculate the mean number of daisies per quadrat (e.g. 5).
  3. Estimate the total number of daisies in the field by multiplying the mean by the total number of quadrats that would fit into the field (e.g. if the field would fit 20 quadrats in it the estimate would be 100).
34
Q

If you don’t know the exact size of your field, what can you estimate and how?

A

You can estimate the percentage cover by seeing what percentage of each quadrat contains the organism and then calculating the mean.

35
Q

What does each letter in the ACFOR Scale stand for?

A 
A=Abundant
C=Common
F=Frequent
O=Occasional
R=Rare
36
Q

What variables would you need to control in order to make your findings valid?

A 
~Measuring/comparing the same habitat
~The size of the quadrat
~The time of day
~The number of samples taken
~The person counting
37
Q

How can you ensure that you are not disturbing the habitat or causing harm to the organisms that you are investigating?

A

~Collect data from a small area of the habitat and make an estimate for the total.
~Stick to paths to avoid trampling.
~Don’t remove organisms from the habitat and return them to the positions you found them.

38
Q

What is a food chain?

A

A food chain is a diagram which shows the flow of energy from one organism to another as they eat one another.

39
Q

What does a food chain/web always begin with?

A

A producer

40
Q

What is a producer?

A

The plant in the food chain-they produce food by photosynthesis.

41
Q

What is a primary consumer?

A

An animal that eats the producer, e.g. rabbits, caterpillars, cows and sheep.

42
Q

What is a secondary consumer?

A

It usually eats animal material; it is a carnivore (e.g. cats, dogs and lions).

43
Q

What is a herbivore?

A

An animal that eats plants only.

44
Q

What is a carnivore?

A

An animal that eats meat only.

45
Q

What is an omnivore?

A

An animal that eats both plants and meat.

46
Q

What are predators?

A

Animals that kill for food. They are either secondary or tertiary consumers.

47
Q

What are prey?

A

The animals that predators feed on.

48
Q

What are scavengers?

A

Animals that feed on dead animals, e.g. crows, vultures and hyenas.

49
Q

What are decomposers?

A

Organisms that feed on dead and decaying organisms, and on the undigested parts of plant and animal matter in faeces.

50
Q

What is a pyramid of numbers?

A

A diagram that represents the number of each organism at each tropic level of a food chain.

51
Q

What is a trophic level?

A

Each level on a pyramid of numbers is called a trophic level. It is another term for energy level.

52
Q

Why can pyramids of numbers be misleading?

A

They do not take into account the size of the organisms.

53
Q

What is a pyramid of biomass?

A

A pyramid of biomass represents the mass of each organism at each trophic level.

54
Q

When constructing a pyramid of biomass, why is it essential to obtain the value of the dry mass of the organism first?

A

How wet or dry the weather is can affect the mass of the organisms, so their dry weight is taken to ensure that the measurements of biomass are accurate and consistent.

55
Q

Is the amount of biomass at each trophic level smaller or larger than at the level before?

A

It is usually smaller.

56
Q

What is a disadvantage of pyramids of biomass?

A

They only show the mass at a particular time in an area. If some trophic levels have a shorter life span than others, they will be underrepresented in the pyramid which may cause an irregular shape.

57
Q

What is a pyramid of energy?

A

A diagram which represents the amount of chemical energy in the organisms at each trophic level over a certain time period.

58
Q

Why do pyramids of energy always produce a typical pyramid shape?

A

They always produce a typical pyramid shape as the amount of energy at each trophic level is ALWAYS less than the one before.

Biology (10 decks)

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