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BIOLOGY GCSE > ECOLOGY #2 > Flashcards

ECOLOGY #2 Flashcards

1
Q

What do food chains always start with

A

they always start with a producer

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2
Q

what are producers and give examples

A

producers make their own food using energy from the sun

examples are green plants or algae

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3
Q

what is biomass

A

the mass of a living material

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4
Q

what are producers eaten by

A

primary consumers

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5
Q

what are primary consumers eaten by

A

secondary consumers

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6
Q

what are secondary consumers eaten by

A

tertiary consumers

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7
Q

what is the food chain

A

Producers———primary—-secondary——-tertiary

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8
Q

examples of primary consumers

A

herbivores - sheep fish etc

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9
Q

examples of secondary consumers

A

carnivores - lions seals etc

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10
Q

what happens if the population of prey increases

A

the population of predators increases

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11
Q

what happens if the population of predators increases

A

the population of prey decreases

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12
Q

what are the environmental changes that can affect the distribution of living organisms

A

availability of water
temperature
atmospheric gases

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13
Q

the water cycle

A
  1. energy from the sun makes water evaporate from the land and sea turning it to water vapour. Water is also evaporated from the plants
  2. the warm water vapour is carried upwards when it gets higher up it cools and condenses to form clouds
  3. water falls from the clouds as precipitation onto land where It provides fresh water for plants and animals
  4. it then drains into the sea where the process starts again
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14
Q

how does the water cycle benefit plants and animals

A

by providing them with fresh water

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15
Q

examples of decomposers

A

bacteria and fungi

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16
Q

what causes materials to decay

A

microorganisms break them down

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17
Q

the carbon cycle

A
  1. photosynthesis removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which can be used to make organic molecules.
  2. green plants and algae respire which returns the carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere
  3. animals eat the green plants and build carbon in their bodies
  4. when the animals respire some carbon is returned back into the atmosphere
  5. when plants algae and animals die organisms feed on their remains and carbon dioxide is returned into the atmosphere
  6. in addition to this aniamals also produce waste which is broken down by microorganisms
  7. the combustion of wood and fossil fuels also releases co2 back into the air
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18
Q

what is compost

A

decomposed organic matter

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19
Q

what is the rate of decay affected by

A

temp
oxygen availability
water availability
number of decay organisms

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20
Q

how does temp affect decay

A

temp- warmer temperatures make things decompose quicker because they increase the rate at which the enzymes work at
if its too hot the enzymes will be destroyed and the rate of decomposition will slow down
when its cold the rate of decomposition slows down too

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21
Q

how does oxygen availability affect rate of decay

A

many organisms need oxygen to respire which they need to do to survive

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22
Q

how does water availability affect rate of decay

A

decay happens faster in moist environments because the organisms involved in decay need water to carry out biological processes

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23
Q

how does the number of decay organisms affect rate of decay

A

the more microorganism or detritus feeders there are the faster the rate of decomposition

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24
Q

what are detritus feeders

A

Detritus feeders include things like earth worms and woodlice which help break up decaying material

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25
Q

what is biogas

A

made up of methane which can be burned as a fuel

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26
Q

how is biogas made

A

by the anaerobic decay of waste material

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27
Q

when plant and animal waste decay anaerobically what do they produce

A

methane gas

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28
Q

why do biogas generators need to be kept at constant temperatures

A

so that microorganisms can continue to respire

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29
Q

what are the two types of biogas generators

A

batch generators and continuous generators

30
Q

what is a batch generator

A

make biogas in small batches and theyre manually loaded up with waste which is left to digest

31
Q

what is a continuous generator and where are they more suited

A

makes biogas all the time and waste is continuously fed it and biogas is produced at a steady rate
they are more suited to a large scale biogas projects

32
Q

why are green plants referred as producers

A

they photosynthesise and produce glucose

33
Q

name three gases recycled in nature

A

carbon dioxide
water vapour
oxygen

34
Q

what is a primary consumer also known as

A

herbivore

35
Q

how is carbon dioxide returned to the environment from plants

A

respiration by cells releases carbon dioxide which diffuses from the leaves into the air by stomata

36
Q

explain why the number of predators will eventually fall and the effect it will have on its prey

A
  1. predators would reduce the amount of prey animals by eating them
  2. fewer prey animals would mean less food for the predators making predator numbers fall
  3. this makes the prey number increase again
37
Q

what is biodiversity

A

biodiversity is the variety of different species of organisms on earth or within an ecosystem

38
Q

why is high biodiversity important

A

it makes sure that ecosystems are stable because different species depend on each other for things like shelter and food

39
Q

what human actions reduce biodiversity

A

waste production, deforestation and global warming

40
Q

what gases in the atmosphere trap energy from the sun

A

carbon dioxide and methane gas

41
Q

consequences to global warming also explain why each problem is bad

A

higher temperatures cause sea water to expand and ice to melt causing sea level to rise this can cause flooding and loss of habitats in low lying area

biodiversity can reduce if some species are unable to survive a change in the climate so become extinct

42
Q

how do the gases in the atmosphere increase the temp of the planet

A

the gases in the atmosphere naturally act as an insulating layer
the absorb most of the energy that would normally be radiated out into space and reradiate it in all directions

43
Q

what do humans pollute

A

waterways with sewage and toxic chemicals
air with smoke and gases
land with toxic chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides

44
Q

what is deforestation

A

deforestation is the cutting down of forests

45
Q

why is deforestation done

A

to clear land for farming to provide more food

to grow crops from which biofuels based on ethanol can be produced

46
Q

what problems may deforestation cause

A

less carbon dioxide taken in
more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
less biodiversity

47
Q

why does deforestation cause less carbon dioxide to be taken in

A

cutting down loads of trees means that the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere during photosynthesis is reduced

48
Q

why does deforestation result in more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

A

if land is cleared by burning the trees this means that carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Microorganisms feeding on leftover dead wood release carbon dioxide as a waste product of respiration

49
Q

why does deforestation cause less biodiversity

A

habitats like forests contain a huge number of species of plants and animals so when trees are destroyed many species are in danger of extinction causing less biodiversity

50
Q

what does more co2 in the atmosphere result in

A

global warming

51
Q

what other than deforestation can lead to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

A

the destruction of peat bogs

52
Q

how do peat bogs cause an increase in co2

A

peat is removed from the bogs and used in compost in gardens where it is decayed by organisms releasing carbon dioxide

53
Q

what has been set up to protect ecosystems and biodiversity

A

breeding programmes have been set up to help prevent endangered species becoming extinct

programmes to proect and regenerate rare habitats protecting these habitats helps to prtect the species that live there preserving the ecosystem and biodiversity in the area

some programmes to reduce level of deforestation which could reduce the amount of global warming

54
Q

what are the conflicting pressures of maintaining biodiversity

A

it costs money
lose jobs- tree felling industry
food security

55
Q

what are trophic levels

A

different stages of a food chain

56
Q

whats in trophic level 1
level 2
level 3 and
level 4

A

level 1 contains producers
lv2- primary consumers(herbivors)
lv3 - secondary consumers (CARNIVORES)
lv4 - tertiary consumers carnivores that eat other carnivore they are top of the food chain

57
Q

HOW DO DECOMPOSERS BREAK DOWN DEAD MATERIAL

A

THEY SECRETE ENZYMES THAT BREAK THE MATERIAL DOWN INTO SMALL SOLUBLE MOLECULES WHICH THESE ARE THEN DIFFUSED INTO THE MICROORGANISMS

58
Q

why are pyramids of biomass constructed

A

to represent the relative amount of biomass at each level of a food chain

59
Q

what trophic level is always ay the bottom

A

1

60
Q

what is lost between ech trophic level

A

biomass

61
Q

why is biomass lost between each tropic level

A

oeganisms don’t eat every single part of the organism theyre consuming
some biomass is converted into other substances that are lost as waste eg organisms use glucose to provide energy for movement instead of more biomass

62
Q

effiecinecy =

A

biomass transferred to the next level
DIVIDED BY
biomass available at the previous level
ALL TIMES BY 100

63
Q

what factors affect food security

A

population keeps increasing
diets in developed countries change demands for certain foods increase meaning already scare food can become more scarce
high input costs of farming

64
Q

how can fish stocks be maintained

A

fishing quotas- limits on the number and size of fish that can be caught in an certain area this prevent certain species from being overfished

net size- this is to reduce the number of unwanted fish the one that are accidentally caubht

65
Q

how can food production (from livestock) be more efficient

A

by limiting the movement of livestock and keeping them in a temperature controlled environment. this means that they use less energy moving around and controlling thoer own body temp so more enrgy is availabele for groeht

some aniamls can be fed high protein foods

66
Q

what is mycoprotein used for

A

used to make high protein meat substitutes for vegetarian meals

67
Q

what does biotechnology enable us to do

A

use large amounts of microorganisms and grow them industrially under controlled conditions in large vats for use as a food source

68
Q

how is mycoprotein made

A

made from the fungus fusarium which is grown in aerobic conditions on glucose syrup it is then harvested and purified

69
Q

how can biotechnology help

A

in developing countries gm crops can be produced that are resistant too pests improving crop yield]

crops can become gm to grow better in drought conditions
some crops can be modified to provide more nutritional value

70
Q

disagreements with biotech

A

some people argue that people cannot afford the food not tht there isn’t enough

some countries might become dependent on comapainies who sell gm seeds

poor soil is the reason why some crops fail so gm crops might not even survive

BIOLOGY GCSE (15 decks)

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