The Living World - Ecosystems Flashcards
Q: What is an ecosystem?
A: A community of plants and animals living together in a habitat, interacting with each other and their physical environment.
Q: What are the largest types of ecosystems called?
A: Biomes.
Q: How are the lives of plants and animals in an ecosystem linked?
A: They are closely linked to each other and to the climate and soil of their habitat.
Q: Give an example of a small-scale and a large-scale ecosystem.
A: Small-scale: pond; large-scale: lake or woodland.
Q: What is a biome, and how is it different from other ecosystems?
A: A biome is a large-scale ecosystem, usually defined by abiotic factors and found on a global scale, like tropical rainforests.
Q: Define “Producer” in an ecosystem.
A: An organism, like algae, that absorbs energy from the sun through photosynthesis to produce its own food.
Q: What is a “Consumer” in an ecosystem?
A: A creature that eats plants or other animals, obtaining energy from what it eats.
Q: Define “Decomposer” in an ecosystem.
A: An organism, like bacteria or fungi, that breaks down dead material, recycling nutrients back into the environment.
Q: What is a food chain?
A: The connections between organisms that rely on each other for food.
Q: What is a food web?
A: A complex hierarchy of organisms that depend on each other for food.
Q: Explain nutrient cycling.
A: The process where organisms extract nutrients for growth and pass them through the food chain, eventually returning them to the soil or water when they die.
Q: What does “biotic” mean?
A: Refers to all living organisms, like humans, animals, and plants.
Q: What does “abiotic” mean?
A: Refers to non-living components, such as rain, rocks, and sunlight.
Q: List key abiotic factors that define biomes.
A: Climate, relief, geology, soils, and vegetation.
Q: Describe the tropical rainforest biome.
A: It is hot and wet, located around the equator.
Q: What are deciduous forests like?
A: They experience few climate extremes and have four distinct seasons.
Q: Describe the temperate grasslands.
A: Rolling terrain of grasses, flowers, and herbs; suited to growing grains like wheat.
Q: What characterizes the alpine biome?
A: Below-freezing temperatures at night year-round; covers 1/5 of Earth’s land.
Q: Describe the desert biome.
A: Very hot and dry, located around 30° north and south of the equator.
Q: What defines the savannah biome?
A: Dry, hot grassland with scattered shrubs and isolated trees.
Q: Describe temperate boreal forests.
A: Also known as taiga; consists of evergreen forests north of temperate deciduous forests.
Q: What is the Mediterranean biome known for?
A: Vegetation adapted to survive droughts, commonly found around the Mediterranean Sea.
