Unit 1 Flashcards
habitat
The place where an organism lives
Comunnity
all the organisms that live tgether in one place
population
the number of organisms of one species
ecosystem
- A natural biological unit made up of living and non-living parts, ie the community and the habitat.
biodiversity
the variety that exists among living things
species
a group organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile off-spring
biotic
A living feature of an ecosystem like disease, food supply, predation
Abiotic
a non living feature of an ecosystem like light intensity, precipitation etc.
adaption
any feature that makes a organism well suited to its environement
competition
a negative interaction that occurs between organisms whenever there is a demand for food source
what are biotic factors
fungai, bacteria, plants, protists, animals, archaea
what are the abiotic factor
air, salinity, soil, temperature, sun light, water, minerals, pH, humidity
what are the two adaptions
behavioural adaptions - Adaptions in how the organism acts which improves survivability; for example living in herds for protection, only being active at night etc.
structural adaptions - Adaption in the physical shape of the organism which improves survivability; for example fur in cold climates, claws for digging etc.
3 examples of aniamals that have adapted to their environment
Mountain Hare
The coats of Mountain Hares change colour between summer and winter coats in order to better camouflage themselves from predators.
Mugo Pine
The needles of the Mugo Pine are long, thin and waxy to reduce water loss, allowing the leaves to be retained all year round.
Timber Wolf
The Timber Wolf lives in a famly group known as a Pack. Hunting as a pack allows the wolves to bring down large prey that individually they could not.
two types of competition
Intra-specific competition
Inter-specific competition
sampling techniques
Quadrat
Transect (line)
Nets
Traps (pitfall or camera + mammal)
Capture – mark – recapture
quadrat
Number of an individual species - The total number of individuals of one species (eg daisies) is recorded.
Species richness - The number of different plant or animal species is recorded but not the number of individuals within a species.
Proportional cover - The number of segments of the quadrat’s area that a species is present within, as a fraction or percentage of the total area.
Proportional cover is used when it is difficult to identify individual plants, such as grasses or moss.
Transect (line)
Quadrats are also used in a more systematic way, using a Transect. A transect involves using the quadrat along a straight line across an area, and is used to investigate how species changes across an area. Abiotic factors (such as moisture level or temperature) influence the species that are present in a particular location.
Net Sampling
Quadrats and Transects work well for stationary organisms such as plants or barnacles, but they do not work for moving organisms. In order to sample moving organisms, Net sampling can be used. In net sampling, a net is swept through an area being sampled to collect small organisms (usually invertebrates or fish), allowing their abundance to be recorded.
Traps (Pitfall, Camera + Mammal)
A Pitfall Trap is a simple device used to catch usually ground dwelling invertebrates - such as beetles . A Pitfall Trap consists of a container buried so that its top is level with the surface of the ground, with a covering to prevent birds eating the trapped invertebrates, as well as preventing rainwater from filling the trap. Once, counted, the invertebrates are released back into the environment.
Camera Traps are composed of a digital camera connected to an infrared sensor to detect animals moving past the camera. When an animal moves past the sensor it causes the camera to trigger, recording an image or video to a memory card for later retrieval.
Camera traps provide data on species location, population sizes and how species are interacting. They also allow observation of species without direct human interaction.
Mammal Traps are humane traps used to temporarily capture small mammals (such as mice) in order to calculate their abundance in the ecosystem. The traps have a one way entrance; once the mammal enters it cannot escape. Once counted, the mammals are again released unharmed back into the environment.
Carnivore
Carnivore - An animal that only eats other animal material
Herbivore
Herbivore - An animal that only eats plant material
Omnivore
Omnivore - An animal that eats both plant and animal material
Detrivore
An animal that eats off of dead organic matter, e.g. woodlouse, earthworm, maggot ect.
Decomposer
Decomposer - Bacteria and fungi that feed on dead organic matter at microscopic level
Producer
Producer - An organism that can produce its own food; usually a green plant that produces its own food via photosynthesis
Primary consumer
Primary consumer - A herbivore that eats the producer in a food chain
Secondary consumer
An animal that eats the primary consumer in a food chain
Tertiary consumer
An animal that eats the secondary consumer in a food chain
Niche
Niche - The role played by a species within a community: where it lives, what it eats and what eats it
The adaptions that the organism has to suit its habitat
The food/ nutrients it consumes
What preys on the organism
Food Chains
A food chain shows how plants and animals get their energy. At each link in a food chain 90% of the energy is lost, so the organism next in the chain only gains 10%. This is why there are relatively few top predators (such as lions) compared to their prey (such as wildebeest).
Energy can be lost from a food web in different ways:-
Wasted as undigested food (faeces)
Used by the organism for heat and movement
Predation
an organism that consumes all or part of the body of another—living or recently killed—organism, which is its prey.
What is intra-specific
Competition within a species for resources, for example male Red Deer competing for territory and mates.
What is inter-specific
Competition between different species for resources, for example Lions and Cheetahs both preying on Gazelle.
