Unit 3 Flashcards
What do density-dependant factors include?
- competition for nutrients
- the transmission of disease
- the level of predation
- the build-up of toxic wastes
what is population density?
the number of individuals present per unit area (or volume) of a habitat
What happens when a population density increases?
each individual has access to fewer resources
What is our human populations dependant upon?
sufficient and sustainable food production from the harvest of a relatively narrow range of crop and livestock species
What is food security?
the ability of human populations to access food of sufficient quality and quantity
What do humans rely on to increase crop yields worldwide?
use of fertilisers and pesticides
Why must agriculture methods change?
to minimise the damage and degradation of natural resources
What do autotrophs (producers) use the light from the sun for?
to synthesise sugars and other organic compounds, which they use as fuel for cellular respiration and building materials for growth.
What do autotrophs include?
plants and algae
What is Arable land?
land which is suitable for growing crops
What do agricultural productions depend on?
factors that control plant growth
Factors that affect plant growth include:
- temperature
- moisture
What does the level of soil nutrients affect?
productivity and yield of crop plants
What do water irrigating systems do?
increase the availability of water
What do greenhouse and polythene tunnels do?
provide shelter and controls the temperature and wind exposure
What do fertilisers do?
improve soil mineral levels
Factors to improve efficiency include:
- breeding of higher yielding cultivars
- protection of crops from pests
- protections of crops from diseases
- protections of crops from competition
- use of fertilisers
what is a Cultivar?
(Cultivated Variety)
a plant selected for desirable characteristics
Problems associated with upkeep of livestock ;
livestock produce less food per unit area than plant crops due to loss of energy between trophic levels.
How much energy is lost between each level?
90%
Why are food chains relatively short?
because of the inefficiency of energy transfer along the chain
Energy enters most ecosystems as what?
sunlight
What is Net Assimilation?
Increase in mass due to photosynthesis - loss due to respiration
How can net assimilation be found?
by measuring the increase in dry mass per unit leaf area
What is productivity?
the rate at which plants accumulate or generate new biomass over a period of time.
what is productivity measured in?
grams per square metre per year
What is of low economic value?
a wheat stalk
What is of high economic value?
a kernel
What is a biological yield?
the total biomass produced
what is a economic yield?
the biomass of the desired product
What is harvest index?
Dry mass of biological yield
What absorbs sunlight?
a plants leaves
What is the energy of sunlight converted to?
chemical energy of food
Where does photosynthesis occur?
chloroplasts
What is the equation for photosynthesis?
carbon dioxide + water + light energy —-> glucose + oxygen
Light is a form of energy known as what?
electromagnetic energy
What 3 things can happen to light when it hits an object?
- reflected
- transmitted
- absorbed
Substances that absorb light are known as what?
pigments
Why does a leaf appear green?
contains the pigment chlorophyll
Where is the chlorophyll contained within?
Thylakoid membrane
What is the space within the chloroplast called?
stroma
The ability of a pigment to absorb various wavelengths of light can be measured with what?
Spectrophotometer
what does an absorption spectrum show?
the “amount” of light energy absorbed by a pigment at each wavelength
What are the 4 main photosynthesis pigments?
- chlorophyll a
- chlorophyll b
- carotene
- xanthophyll
What are the Carotenoids made up of?
carotene and xanthophyll
What are accessory pigments?
broadened or extended range of wavelengths absorbed by the leaf
What is an action spectrum?
shows the rate of photosynthesis at each wavelength
What drives the rate of photosynthesis to the greatest extent?
red and blue light
What are “packets” of energy known as? (light)
photons
What are the two processes in photosynthesis?
- light reactions
- Calvin cycle
Where does the first process take place?
Thylakoid membrane
What is split to provide a source of electrons and protons(H+) and oxygen?
Water
What does the light absorbed by the chlorophyll do?
drives the transfer of the electrons and hydrogen ions to an acceptor
what is the name of the acceptor in the first process of photosynthesis? and what is its function?
NADP+
temporarily stores the electrons and hydrogen ions
What generates ATP?
light reactions
What is photophosphorylation?
the addition of a phosphate group to ADP, during the light stages
What are photosystems?
Chlorophyll molecules that are situated along protein complexes
What is light said to do to the electrons?
“excite”’
What are “high-energy” electrons transferred across to generate ATP?
electron transport chains
What happens to oxygen during the light reactions?
it is evolved
What happens to hydrogen during the light reactions?
transferred to the coenzyme NADP
What happens to NADP when it is reduced ?
NADPH
What happens during the electron chain stage?
protons are pumped into the thylakoid lumen, providing the driving force for synthesis of ATP via ATP synthase
What is the role of NADPH?
“‘shuttles” the energy to the Calvin cycle
What else is energy used for?
photolysis
Where does the Calvin cycle take place?
the Stroma
What does the Calvin cycle use the products of the light reactions for?
to synthesise sugar from CO2
What are the 3 phases of the Calvin cycle?
- carbon fixation
- reduction
- regeneration of RuBP
What is the equation for carbon fixation?
RuBisCO
RuBP + CO2 ————-> 3 - PGA
What is the equation for reduction?
ATP ————————-> ADP
3 -PGA ——————–> G3P
NADPH ———————> NADP
What does RuBP stand for?
Ribulose Bisphosphate
What does 3-PGA stand for?
3-phosphoglycerate
What does G3P stand for?
Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
what happens to the remaining 5 molecules of G3P?
recycled
What is the starting material for metabolic pathways that synthesise organic compounds?
G3P
Examples of organic compounds?
Glucose, sucrose, cellulose and starch
What does intensive farming reduce?
species diversity
What is a weed?
any plant that grows where it is not wanted
What are the 2 types of weeds?
- annual
- perennial
What is an annual weed?
completes its life cycle in 1 year
Properties of an annual weed:
- rapid growth
- short life cycle
- high seed output
- long-term seed viability
Give an example of an annual weed.
chickweed
What is a perennial weed?
persists from one year to the next
Properties of a perennial weed
- storage organs
- reproduce vegetatively
Give an example of a perennial weed
Dandelion
What are the 3 invertebrate groups which are crop pests? and give an example
- Insect (aphid)
- Nematode worms (potato cyst)
- Mollusc (snail)
What does a plant disease alter?
plants growth, appearance or function
What do pathogens include?
bacteria, fungi and viruses
How are most pathogens transmitted?
by invertebrates
What 2 factors are important to the success of the pathogen?
temperature and moisture
What are the results of a pathogen?
- reduction in plant health
- a lower productivity
- poorer yield of crop
What does the genetic uniformity of the crops create?
a population that is at a high risk of any pest
What creates a uniform habitat?
large scale monocultures
Examples of cultural practises
- ploughing
- time of sowing
- weeding
- removal of crop residue
- crop rotation
What are the 2 types of chemical agents?
- selective
- systemic
examples of chemical agents and their actions
- Herbicide (kills weeds)
- pesticide ( pests)
- Insecticide (insects)
- Molluscicide ( molluscs)
- Nematocide (nematodes)
- Fungicide (fungi)
What does a systemic herbicide do?
destroys the whole plant
What does a selective herbicide do?
will only kill broad-leaved plants
What are the optimal conditions for fungal growth?
- high humidity
- high moisture levels
- moderate temperatures
Why are air temperatures and humidity levels monitored every hour?
predict the most suitable time to spray crops with fungicides
What is the Smith Period?
the period when a crop plant is at greatest risk to infection
What should plant protection chemicals be?
specific, short-lived and relatively safe
What happens to toxic molecules as they are passed along the food chain?
become more and more concentrated at each level
What Is a toxic pesticide?
DDT
What effect does biomagnification have?
relatively harmless pesticides can become rapidly lethal in top predators
What is biomagnification?
chemicals build up in the cells of the organism and increase in concentration at each transfer
What is bioaccumulation?
build up in the cells of organisms to a higher concentration than in the surrounding environment
What is persistence?
not broken down in the bodies of the organisms
What is resistance?
organisms which are not affected by the pesticide
What is a biological control?
the control of a pest population through the deliberate introduction of another organism that is a potential threat or “enemy”
What are 3 types of biological controls? and give some examples
- Predator (aphid–ladybug)
- Parasite (whitefly)
- Pathogen (leaf eating caterpillar)