SECTION A ECOLOGY Flashcards
Why is a pooter used? Draw a poster?
A pooter is used to capture small animals in small places.
Why is a Plankton Net used? Can you draw one?
A plankton net is used to collect plankton.
Why are Pitfall Traps used? Can you draw one?
Pitfall traps are used to capture walking or crawling animals.
Why is a Tullgren Funnel used? Can you draw a Tullgren Funnel?
A Tullgren Funnel is used to collect small animals in soil samples or leaf litter.
Why are nets used? Can you draw a net?
Nets are used to collect flying insects/aquatic animals.
Why are quadrats used? How is it used? Example? How is it calculated? What is distribution and abundance?
A quadrat is used to study the distribution and abundance of stationary organisms like plants and fungi.
It is placed randomly and the number of organisms within the square are counted. This is repeated several times as practical.
Example an area of grassland.
The average number of organisms per quadrat is found and multiplied by the size of area.
Distribution is where the organisms are and abundance is how many organisms there are.
What is a Line Transect?
A line transect is a measuring tape or string that has marks at regular intervals placed in a straight line across the ecosystem and the species of plants and stationary or slow-moving animals touching the line or touching the line at each mark are recorded. Useful for where there is a transition of organisms across the ecosystem. Example - down a rocky seashore. Line transects give a quick idea of the species present and how they change across the ecosystem.
What is a Belt Transect?
A belt transect is a strip of fixed width. It is made by placing two parallel line transects across an ecosystem. The species found between the lines are recorded. A quadrat can be placed alongside one line transect and the number of individuals of each species found within its boundaries are counted. The quadrat is then moved along the line and counting is repeated at regular intervals.
Can you explain Capture - Release?
Capture - Release is used to estimate population sizes of mobile organisms. Humanely capture a sample of organisms of a species. Count and mark the animals. Release the organisms back to their habitat. A second sample is collected and the number of marked organisms are counted.
N = first capture x second capture / recaptures
This is an estimation.
The larger the sample size > accuracy
multiple samples = reliability
What are abiotic factors?
The abiotic factors are all the non-living components and physical conditions of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of the ecosystem.
Sweet Words Adam To Sunflower
soil water air temperature sunlight
What are biotic factors?
The biotic factors are the living components like producers and consumers of an ecosystem.
What is a habitat?
A habitat is an environment in which an organism naturally lives.
What is a niche?
A niche is the role of an organism in an ecosystem.
What is a Community? Example?
A community consists of all the populations of different species coexisting in a habitat. For example a forest community includes animals, plants and decomposers in an area defined by trees.
What is a Population? Example?
A population consists of all the members of one species living together in a particular habitat. For example all the dogs living in a kennel form a population.
What is the definition of species?
A species is a group of organisms of common ancestry that closely resemble each other and are capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring
Can you list 6 edaphic factors that affect living organisms? Can you list 5 climatic factors that affect living organisms?
- Texture
- Water
- Humus
- Mineral Ions
- pH
- Salinity
- Light
- Temperature
- Water Availability
- Humidity
- Wind
Can you discuss the impact of soil on living organisms?
Plants depend on fertile soil for survival and animals depend on plants for food.
- Texture - influences how easy it is for plant roots to penetrate and animals to burrow through the soil. The larger the particles the easier to penetrate and burrow through.
- Water - water in soil dissolves minerals so that they can be absorbed by plant roots. Water prevents the desiccation of soil organisms without waterproof body coverings eg. earthworms. Life processes cannot occur as cell functions rely on water to survive.
- Humus is formed by bacteria and fungi decomposing dead or waste organic matter. Humus coats topsoil. Humus improves the air content by binding soil particles together into small clumps called soil crumbs. It improves the mineral ion content by adding minerals. It improves the water content by absorbing and retaining water.
- Mineral Ions - plants need minerals for healthy growth. They are absorbed through the roots by active transport as mineral ions dissolved in soil water.
- Soil pH affects the amount of nutrients and chemicals that are soluble in soil water, and therefore the amount of nutrients available to plants. Some nutrients are more available under acid conditions while others are more available under alkaline conditions.
- Salinity - as the water is taken up by plants through transpiration or lost to the atmosphere by evaporation, soil water salinity increases because salts become more concentrated in the remaining soil water. Excess salinity can cause plant stress.
The smaller the soil particles the more water held by capillarity and chemical forces and the higher the water content. The larger the soil particles the larger the air spaces and the higher the air content. The smaller the soil particles the harder it is to leach and the higher the mineral content.
Can you discuss the impact of climate on living organisms?
- Sunlight - producers rely on sunlight energy to perform photosynthesis. Light synchronizes the activities of plants and animals with the seasons. Example, flowering in plants, migration, hibernation and reproduction in animals. Animals use light to see their prey and some use the absence of light to escape predators.
- Temperature - at low temperatures ice crystals may form in cells and damage them. At high temperatures, enzymes are denatured.
- Water availability - living organisms use water to help regulate body temperature and maintain bodily functions. Plants need a continuous supply of water to manufacture organic food by photosynthesis. Aquatic organisms have a constant environment in which to live.
- Humidity - affects the rate of transpiration in plants. It affects the rate of evaporation of water in some animals.
- Air - oxygen is necessary for aerobic respiration in heterotrophs and for bacteria and fungi to decompose organic matter aerobically to form humus. Nitrogen in the air is necessary for nitrogen fixing bacteria to form nitrates. Carbon dioxide in the air is necessary for photosynthesis. Wind is moving air. Wind helps to disperse plant seeds and aid in pollination.
What is a producer?
A producer (autotroph) is an organism that traps energy from the sun through the process of photosynthesis and converts and stores it as chemical energy in the form of organic food.
What is a consumer?
A consumer is an organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms.
What is a Herbivore? (ants)
What is a Carnivore? (frog)
What is an Omnivore? (blackbird)
A herbivore is an animal that gets energy from consuming plants only.
A carnivore is an animal that gets energy from consuming other animals only.
An omnivore is an animal that gets energy from consuming both plants and animals.
What is a Food Chain?
A food chain is a diagram that shows how the food or nutrients (the E source) is passed from one organism to another.
What is an ecological pyramid?
An ecological pyramid shows the E, biomass and number of organisms at successive levels in a given ecosystem. Due to the loss of E and biomass at each level, food chains rarely exceed 4/5 trophic levels.
