Unit 3-Ecosystems Flashcards
The variety of life forms in a particular area.
The higher it is the better
Biodiversity
Organisms which produce their own food source
Producers
Organisms which require to eat other organisms to survive
Consumer
Organism which only eats plant material
Herbivore
Organism which eats both plant and animal matter
Omnivore
Organism which only eats animals
Carnivore
Define the word: Species
Organisms that can reproduce to have fertile offspring
The number of one species of organism in a habitat
Population
All the different species in a habitat
Community
Define the word: Ecosystem
All the living organisms and non-living components in a particular habitat
Define the word: Niche
The role an organism plays within a community
Intraspecific competition occurs between …
Members of the SAME species
Interspecific competition occurs between …
Members of different species
Give an example of something organisms would compete for
Sunlight (plants)
Habitat
Food
Mates
Why is intraspecific competition more intense than interspecific?
Organisms of the same species all require the exact same resources
Used to show the feeding relationships that exist in an ecosystem
Food chain
Represented by arrow in food chain
Direction of energy flow and mean ‘gets eaten by’
% of energy transferred at step of food chain
Around 10%
% of energy lost at each step in food chain
Around 90%
In a food chain, the majority of energy is lost as
Heat
movement
undigested materials
Describe an ecosystem that would have this type of pyramid of numbers
Grass→ Grasshopper→Frog→Hawk
Describe an ecosystem that would have this type of pyramid of numbers
Few producers with a very large biomass that support a larger number of smaller consumers.
Oak tree→ insects→woodpeckers
Describe an ecosystem that would have this type of pyramid of numbers
An ecosystem where the community contains parasites.
Heather plants→ red deer→deer ticks
