unit 4 Flashcards
producers
plants that photosynthesis to produce food
consumers
animals that eat plants or other animals
decomposers
organisms that break down dead material and help recycle nutrients
physical environment
all the non-biological components of an ecosystem. e.g; soil, water
biotic
living components of an ecosystem
abiotic
non living (physical) components of an ecosystem
habitats
place where an organism lives, e.g’ pond
population
all organisms of a specific specie found in an ecosystem at a certain time, e.g; tadpoles in a pond
community
population of all species found in an ecosystem at a certain time
what does a quadrat do
-when you want to know how many organisms are in a particular habitat, count a smaller, representative part of population using quadrat
-sampling should be carried out randomly
how do organisms interact in an ecosystem
- interact with each other and physical environment
-feeding among organisms- recycling same nutrients
-competing among organisms-food, shelter
biotic factors
-availability of food
-predators
-parasites
-diseases
abiotic factors
-light intensity/water/temp
-soil conditions
-pollution
-oxygen conc in water
food chain
simplest way of showing feeding relationships in ecosystem
—-) means eaten by
primary consumer
animal that eats producer- herbivore
secondary consumer
animal that eats primary consumer (carnivore)
trophic levels
different feeding levels in a food chain
food web
diagram showing the way different food chains are linked in an ecosystem
can predict changes in number of organisms in one food chain and how they may affect those in another
what are ecological pyramids and the two main types
-represent relative amount of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain
two main types;
PYRAMIDS OF NUMBERS= represent number of organisms in each trophic level
PYRAMIDS OF BIOMASS= show total mass of organisms in each trophic level
why biomass is lost at each trophic level
-only about 10% is passed on
-organisms don’t eat whole part
-organisms don’t absorb all of it
-lose in waste
key aspects involved in flow of energy through ecosystems
-photosynthesis
-respiration releases energy
-biological processes release energy
-if energy is used to produce new cells, it is ‘fixed molecules’ that can be passed on
carbon cycle process
carbon is stored in different places
-photosynthesis-plants take in co2 from atmosphere and convert it into biological molecules, glucose.
-carbon can either be respired by plants back out, or passed to animals that eat them
-feedings/ assimilation pass carbon along food chains
-animals could respire or eaten
-when animals and plants die they either 1) decay my microorganisms 2) can be converted into fossil fuels, burned by humans, combustion
the greenhouse gasses and their effect
Sulphur dioxide- combines with water to form acid rain, damages plants, acidic lakes
carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methan, CFCs
contribution= burning fossil fuels, livestock, deforestation
-leads to enhanced greenhouse effect-increased warming
enhanced greenhouse effect summary
-G.G trap radiation is atmosphere
-many human activities release G.G into atmosphere
-more radiation=higher temp
