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Separate Science - Biology Paper 2 > Separate Biology - B7 Ecology > Flashcards

Separate Biology - B7 Ecology Flashcards

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1
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

The interaction of a community of living organisms (biotic) with the non-living (abiotic) parts of the environment

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2
Q

What four things do plants compete for?

A
  1. Light
  2. Space
  3. Water
  4. Mineral ions
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3
Q

What is a community?

A

A group of animals and/or plants of different species

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4
Q

What are extremophiles? Give examples of conditions they might live in.

A

Organisms which live in extreme environments

e.g. high temperature, pressure or salt concentration

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5
Q

What is a population?

A

A group of animals or plants of the same species

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6
Q

What three things do animals compete for?

A
  1. Food
  2. Mates
  3. Territory/space
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7
Q

List three biotic factors which can affect a community.

A

Any three from:

  • Availability of food
  • New predators arriving
  • New pathogens
  • One species outcompeting another (so numbers are no longer sufficient to breed)
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8
Q

List three abiotic factors which can affect a community.

A

Any three from:

  • Light intensity
  • Temperature
  • Moisture levels
  • Soil pH and mineral content
  • Wind intensity and direction
  • CO2 levels for plants
  • O2 levels of aquatic animals
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9
Q

Give two examples of producers

A

Plants and algae

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10
Q

What gases are contributing to global warming?

A
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Methane
  • Water Vapour
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11
Q

Name three processes in the carbon cycle

A

Any three from:

  • Photosynthesis
  • Respiration
  • Decay
  • Burning/combustion
  • Carbon locked up in fossil fuels
  • Animals eating plants and other animals
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12
Q

What are the reasons for people doing deforestation?

A
  • To provide land for cattle and rice fields
  • Growing crops for biofuels
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13
Q

Give two examples of factors that reduce biodiversity.

A
  • Deforestation
  • Global warming
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14
Q

Give three things that are in place to reduce the negative impact on biodiversity?

A

Any three from:

  • Breeding programmes for endangered species
  • Protection / regeneration of rare habitats
  • Reintroduction of field margins
  • Reduction of deforestation and CO2 emissions
  • Recycling resources
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15
Q

What are the four main stages in the water cycle?

A
  • Evaporation
  • Condensation
  • Precipitation
  • Transpiration
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16
Q

What is biodiversity?

A

The variety of all the different species of organisms on Earth.

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17
Q

What environmental problem does sulfur dioxide cause?

A

Acid rain

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18
Q

What environmental problem does soot/solid particulates cause?

A

Global dimming

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19
Q

Give an example of interdependence in a community.

A

Examples include:

Species depending on each other for:

  • Food
  • Shelter
  • Pollination
  • Seed dispersal
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20
Q

What are the three different types of adaptations?

A
  • Structural
  • Behavioural
  • Functional
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21
Q

Give three ways humans have used land and, as a result, reduced biodiversity?

A

Any three from:

  • Quarrying for metals
  • Building
  • Farming
  • Deforestation
  • Landfill sites
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22
Q

What environmental problem does carbon dioxide cause?

A

Global Warming

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23
Q

What is a stable community?

A

Population size remains fairly constant

(because the species and environmental factors are in balance)

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24
Q

Name the primary consumer in the food chain below:

Grass -> Rabbit -> Fox -> Eagle

A

Rabbit

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25
Q

Name the organisms that are responsible for decay.

A

Microorganisms

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26
Q

What are the two major impacts of a rapidly increasing human population?

A
  • More resources used
  • More waste produced
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27
Q

How does the destruction of peat bogs affect biodiversity?

A

Reduces biodiversity (because it removes habitat for the species that live there)

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28
Q

Peat can be used as a fuel. How does this impact the environment?

A
  • Peat is burned
  • Carbon dioxide is released
  • Carbon dioxide causes global warming
29
Q

How does decay contribute to global warming?

A
  • Microorganisms are involved in decay.
  • Microorganisms respire and release carbon dioxide
30
Q

What are the three main categories of pollution?

A
  • Water (sewage, fertilisers or toxic chemicals)
  • Air (smoke and acidic gases)
  • Land (landfill and toxic chemicals)
31
Q

Explain how the destruction of peat bogs contributes to global warming.

A
  • Peat is dug and removed or water is drained from the peat bog.
  • Oxygen enters the peat bog.
  • Microorganisms decay the plant material in the peat bog.
  • Microorganisms respire and release carbon dioxide.
32
Q

Name the secondary consumer in the food chain below:

Grass -> Rabbit -> Fox -> Eagle

A

Fox

33
Q

Name the tertiary consumer in the food chain below:

Grass -> Rabbit -> Fox -> Eagle

A

Eagle

34
Q

What do the arrows in the food chain represent?

Grass -> Rabbit -> Fox -> Eagle

A

The transfer of energy

35
Q

Name the grid used to randomly sample organisms.

A

Quadrat

36
Q

Name the sampling technique shown in the image.

A

Transect

37
Q

Name the producer in the food chain below:

Grass -> Rabbit -> Fox -> Eagle

A

Grass

38
Q

What are predators?

A

Consumers that hunt and kill other animals

39
Q

What are prey?

A

Animals eaten by predators

40
Q

Give three consequences of global warming.

A

Examples include:

  • Change in species distribution
  • Changes in rainfall patterns
  • Flooding
  • Droughts
  • Sea level rise
  • More frequent extreme weather events
41
Q

What is a bog?

A

An area of land that is acidic and waterlogged

42
Q

Separate Q. What are the three things that make the optimum conditions for decay?

A
  • Warm
  • Moist
  • Good oxygen supply
43
Q

Separate Q. What gas is produced in anaerobic decay?

A

Methane gas

44
Q

Separate Q. Describe the required practical to investigate the effect of temperature on the rate of decay of milk by measuring pH change.

A
  • In one test tube, add 5 cm3 of lipase solution.
  • In a second test tube, add 5 cm3 of milk, a few drops of phenolphthalein and 7 cm3 of sodium carbonate. This will turn pink because the mixture is alkaline.
  • Put both test tubes in a water bath at 30 oC.
  • Remove 1 cm3 of the lipase solution. Add this to the 2nd test tube containing milk & start a timer.
  • Record the time it takes to lose its pink colour.
  • Repeat this for a range of temperatures (10 oC, 20 oC, 40 oC & 50 oC). Repeat each temperature 3x and calculate a mean.
  • Calculate rate of decay for each temperature using the equation: Rate = 1000/time
45
Q

Separate Q. What two products are produced when waste material is fed into a biogas generator?

A
  • Digested material (to be used as a fertiliser)
  • Biogas (methane – to be used as a fuel)
46
Q

Separate Q. What is compost used for?

A

As a natural fertiliser for growing garden plants or crops.

47
Q

Separate Q. What is the methane produced in biogas generators used for?

A

Fuel

48
Q

Separate Higher Q. What three main environmental changes can affect the distribution of a species in an ecosystem?

A
  • Temperature
  • Availability of water
  • Composition of atmospheric gases
49
Q

Separate Q. In what tropic level are the producers found?

A

Trophic Level 1

50
Q

Separate Q. In what trophic level are herbivores found?

A

Trophic Level 2

51
Q

Separate Q. Describe how decomposers break down dead animal and plant matter

A
  • Decomposers (e.g. microorganisms) secrete enzymes into the environment.
  • The enzymes break down large molecules into smaller ones.
  • The small soluble molecules then diffuse back into the decomposer.
52
Q

Separate Q. What percentage of the incident energy from light is transferred for photosynthesis by producers?

A

About 1%

53
Q

Separate Q. What equation is used to calculate the efficiency of biomass transfer between trophic levels?

A
54
Q

Separate Q. What is an apex predator?

A

Carnivore at the end of the food chain with no predators

55
Q

Separate Q. Why does not all of the biomass get passed up to the next trophic level? Give three reasons.

A
  • Not all ingested material is absorbed into the body, some is lost as faeces.
  • Some of the absorbed material is lost when the animal respires (e.g. as carbon dioxide and oxygen)
  • Waste products of water and urea are lost in urine.
56
Q

Separate Q. What percentage of biomass from each trophic level is transferred to the level above?

A

About 10%

57
Q

Separate Q. What is food security?

A

Having enough food to feed a population

58
Q

Separate Q. What six biological factors are threatening food security?

A
  1. Increasing birth rate
  2. Changing diets
  3. New pests and pathogens
  4. Environmental changes (e.g. famine in drought)
  5. Cost of agricultural inputs
  6. Conflicts
59
Q

Separate Q. Why are some farmed animals fed a high protein diet?

A

To increase the growth of the animals

60
Q

Separate Q. Give two controls put into place for fisherman so that fish stocks are maintained.

A
  • Control of net size
  • Fishing quotas
61
Q

Separate Q. Label the trophic levels on the pyramid of biomass.

A
62
Q

Separate Q. Give two ways by which the efficiency of food production be improved.

A

Restricting the energy transfer from food animals to the environment by:

  • Limit their movement
  • Control temperature of enclosures
63
Q

Separate Q. What is happening to fish stocks in the ocean?

A

They are declining

64
Q

Separate Q. Give two solutions we could use to meet the food demands of a growing population.

A
  • Create more food using biotechnology
  • Grow more GM crops
65
Q

Separate Q. What is Fusarium?

A

A fungus useful for producing mycoprotein (a protein-rich food suitable for vegetarians)

66
Q

Separate Q. How is mycoprotein produced?

A
  • Fusarium fungus is grown on glucose syrup in aerobic conditions.
  • The biomass is harvested and purified.
67
Q

Separate Q. What is golden rice?

A
  • A GM crop which could provide food with improved nutritional value.
  • Golden Rice has been genetically engineered to produce a chemical that’s converted to Vitamin A in the body.
68
Q

Separate Q. Describe how bacteria are genetically modified to produce insulin.

A
  • The gene for insulin production is cut from human DNA using restriction enzymes (leaving sticky ends).
  • The same restriction enzymes cut open a bacterial plasmid (leaving the same sticky ends).
  • The ligase enzyme is used to join the sticky ends of the insulin gene to the sticky ends of the plasmid.
  • Tis recombinant DNA is inserted into a bacterium.
  • The bacteria multiply rapidly and the insulin is harvested and purified.

Separate Science - Biology Paper 2 (3 decks)

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