Unit 3 - Life On Earth Flashcards
What is Habituation?
Behaviour when an animal learns to stop responding to a repeated harmless stimulus.
What is Imprinting?
Learning process by which a newborn animal recognises and is attracted to its parents.
What is Migration?
A pattern of behaviour in which animals travel from one habitat to another in search of food, better conditions or reproduction needs.
What is the Nitrogen Cycle?
A sequence of events or processes involved in the recycling of nitrogen.
What are Decomposers?
Organisms such as bacteria and fungi that are responsible for the breakdown of dead organic material.
What are Nitrogen-fixing bacteria?
Bacteria found in soil or in the root nodules of some plants and that convert nitrogen gas into nitrates.
What is an Ecosystem?
A living community and its physical environment.
What is a Habitat?
The place an organism lives.
What is a Community?
All the organisms living in a habitat.
What is a Population?
The members of a species living in a defined area of a habitat.
What is Biodiversity?
The abundance of different species in a particular area.
What are some examples of Biotic factors?
- Predation
- Disease
- Competition
- Grazing
What are some examples of Abiotic factors?
- Light intensity
- Soil moisture
- Temperature
- pH
What is a quadrat?
A quadrat is a square frame divided into smaller squares.
Give 3 examples of organisms whose abundance could be measured using a quadrat?
Any slow moving or non-moving organism.
1. Limpets
2. Daisies
3. Seaweed
What is the photosynthesis equation?
Carbon dioxide + Water»_space;> Glucose + Oxygen
Name 3 things that a plant can use the sugar made in photosynthesis for?
- Starch (storage)
- Cellulose (structural)
- Energy source for respiration
Describe the test that can be used to test for the presence of starch?
Iodine - turns from orange/red to blue/black in the presence of starch.
What are some examples of human activities that affect biodiversity?
- Deforestation
- Mining
- Pollution
- Overfishing
What are some examples of natural disasters that can affect biodiversity?
- Earthquakes
- Floods
- Drought
- Volcanic Activity
What is an adaption?
A feature of an organism that helps it to survive.
Example of a Structural adaption?
- White coat is polar bears
- Long eyelashes in camels
Example of a Physiological adaption?
- Salmon kidney can later filter rates so fish can cope with fresh and salt water
Example of a Behavioural adaption?
- Camels drink huge volumes of water at once
- Salmon migrate between fresh water and the sea
What is removed from the soil when crops are harvested?
Nitrogen
What replaces nitrogen when crops are harvested to improve crop yield?
Fertilisers
List 3 examples of natural fertilisers?
- Manure
- Compost
- Peat
What type of fertilisers are produced in factories from inorganic substances?
Artificial fertilisers
What is an algal bloom?
An algal bloom is a rapid growth of microscopic algae in water.
Name 5 commercial uses of plants?
- Food: Rice, wheat
- Fuels: Bioethanol, biodiesel
- Raw materials: Timber for building, paper etc
- Pharmaceuticals: Aspirin, morphine, quinine
- Pharming: Vaccines for HIV are hepatitis B
Advantage of natural fertilisers?
Release nitrate slowly, inexpensive
Disadvantage of natural fertilisers?
Contains low quantity of nitrogen, application is labour intensive
Advantage of artificial fertilisers?
High quality nutrients, released into soil quickly
Disadvantage of artificial fertilisers?
Expensive, environmental damage
4 examples of things that can be done to reduce the effects of human activities on biodiversity?
- Nature reserves
- Breeding programmes
- Reintroduction schemes
- Protection laws
What is the difference between innate and learned behaviour?
Innate behaviour is instinctive. Learned behaviour can only be performed by individuals who have learned it, not all the members of the species
The production of what type of substance requires nitrogen?
Proteins
List some producers?
Oak leaf, acorn, leaf litter
What do the arrows in a food chain represent?
Direction of energy flow
Name some organisms that is both predator and prey?
Weasel, ladybird, shrew
