UNIT 1 Chapter 4-ECOLOGY Flashcards
What is meant by the biosphere ?
It is the part of the planet containing living things.
What is ecology ?
it is the study of interaction between organisms and between organisms and there environment ?
what is an ecosystem ?
it is a group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their environment as a unit
what is a habitat ?
it is a place where a plant or animal lives
what is a population ?
it is the number of all the same species living in an area
what is community ?
it is all the different populations in an area
what are abiotic factors ?
they’re non-living factors
what are biotic factors ?
they’re living factors
what climatic factors ?
they refer to weather over a long period of time
what are edaphic factors ?
they relate to soil -( soil pH, soil type and moisture, air and mineral content of soil)
what are producers ?
they are organisms that carry out photosynthesis
what are consumers ?
they’re organisms that take in food from another organism
what is a food grazing chain ??????????
it is a sequence of organisms in which each one is eaten by the next organism in the chain
what is a trophic level ????????????????
it is a feeding stage in a food chain
what is a food web ????????
it consists of two or more interlinked food chains
what is a pyramid of numbers ?
it represents the number of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain
what is an ecological niche ?
the ecological niche of an organism is the functional role it plays in the community
what is a nutrient cycle ?
it is the way in which elements are exchanged between the living and non-living components of an ecosystem
what is the carbon cycle ?
it is the process whereby carbon from the enviroment is converted to carbon in living things
example of carbon cycle ?
plants change carbon dioxide to oxygen for human
what is the role of organisms in the carbon cycle ?
1-plants remove carbon from the environment in photosynthesis and return it in respiration
2-animals obtain their carbon by eating plants and they release carbon in respiraton
3-micro organisms (such as fungi and bacteria) return carbon to the environment when they decompose dead plants and animals
what is the nitrogen cycle ?
it the process whereby nitrogen is taken in from the air and made available for use by living things
what is the role of organisms in the nitrogen cycle ?
- Bacteria play a central role in the nitrogen cycle- there are four types of bacteria and their functions are-1: nitrogen-fixing bacteria which converts atmospheric nitrogen to nitrates - 2: bacteria of decay which converts decaying nitrogen waste to ammonia - 3: nitrifying bacteria which converts ammonia to nitrates - 4: denitrifying bacteria which converts nitrates to nitrogen gas.
- Fungi helps convert dead plants and animals and their wastes into ammonia in the soil.
- Plants absorbed nitrates from the soil and use the nitrogen to form proteins.
- Animals consume plants and use their nitrogen to form animal protein.
what is nitrogen fixation ?????????????
it is the conversion of nitrogen gas into ammonia(NH3), ammonium(NH4+) or nitrate(NO3-)
