B17 Organising An Ecosystem

Question 1

What is the official scientific name for a feeding relationship?

Answer 1

A food chain

Question 2

What do the arrows in a food chain represent?

Answer 2

The transfer of energy from the prey to the predator

Question 3

What does a food chain always begin with?

Answer 3

A producer

Question 4

What is a producer?

Answer 4

A producer is an organism that can photosynthesise (meaning it does not rely on another organism for it’s food), these are always the beginning of a food chain

Question 5

What is the organism that eats the producer called?

Answer 5

A primary consumer

Question 6

What is the organism that eats the primary consumer called?

Answer 6

A secondary consumer

Question 7

What is the organism that eats the secondary consumer called?

Answer 7

A tertiary consumer

Question 8

Who do we call each level of the food chain?

Answer 8

A trophic level

Question 9

What trophic level is the: producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer

Answer 9

Producer –> Trophic level 1
Primary consumer –> Trophic level 2
Secondary consumer –> Trophic level 3
Tertiary consumer –> Trophic level 4

Question 10

What is the definition of biomass?

Answer 10

Biomass is the total mass of living material at each trophic level of a food chain

Question 11

True or False: Biomass decreases as it goes from one trophic level to the other (e.g from trophic level 2 to trophic level 3)

Answer 11

TRUE - Just like energy, biomass decreases as it goes from one trophic level to the other

Question 12

Why does energy decrease from one trophic level to the other? (e.g from trophic level 2 to trophic level 3)

Answer 12

As the majority of the energy is lost to the environment as it is transferred

Question 13

What happens to the number of predators and preys in a stable community?

Answer 13

The number of predators and the number of preys in the community will both fluctuate in correlation to each other

e.g when there are more predators, there will be less prey - but when there are less prey , there will be more predators (and this cycle repeats)

Question 14

What is it called when the number of predators and preys in a community constantly fluctuate in correlation to each other?

Answer 14

A cyclical pattern

Question 15

What is the name of a graph that shows the number of predators and preys in a community?

Answer 15

A predator-prey graph

Question 16

What are herbivores?

Answer 16

Animals that only eat plants

Question 17

What are carnivores?

Answer 17

Animals that only eat other animals

Question 18

What are omnivores?

Answer 18

Animals that eat other animals and also plants

Question 19

What type of animals are primary consumers?

Answer 19

Herbivores

Question 20

What type of animals are secondary consumers?

Answer 20

Carnivores or omnivores

Question 21

What type of animals are tertiary consumers?

Answer 21

Carnivores

Question 22

What are apex predators?

Answer 22

Animals that have no predators and are therefore at the top of the food chain

Question 23

What can be used to represent extremely large and complicated food chains?

Answer 23

A food web

Question 24

What are the stages of the water cycle?

Answer 24

1) Energy/heat from the sun hits the surface of the earth and causes some water from the earths’ oceans, rivers and lakes to evaporate

2) This water vapour that is now in the sky condenses back into the clouds

3) The water vapour in the clouds then returns to earth in liquid form (as water) through precipitation (rain)

4) This water then enters back into the earths oceans, lakes or rivers and the cycle starts again

Question 25

What are the 5 main areas on earth where carbon is stored?

Answer 25

- In the air - In plants - In the soil - In fossil fuels - In animals

Question 26

What are the main ways in which carbon moves between the air, plants and animals?

Answer 26

1) Green plants take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to use in photosynthesis 2) This carbon is then either passed back into the air through respiration, or passed to the animal that eats the plant 3) This carbon is then passed back into the atmosphere during respiration or when the animals die

Question 27

How does carbon pass between animals, plants, the soil and fossil fuels?

Answer 27

1) When an animal or plant dies, it will either be decayed by microorganisms in the soil or it will decay naturally over time 2) If it is decayed my the microorganisms in the soil, then it's carbon will be passed to the soil 3) However if the plants and animals decay naturally over time then they may turn into a fossil fuel, meaning the carbon is also passed over to the fossil fuel

Question 28

What are the main 3 factors that affect the rate of decay in plants and animals?

Answer 28

- Temperature - Water - Availability of oxygen

Question 29

How does temperature affect the rate of decay?

Answer 29

In warmer temperatures the enzymes involved in decomposition can work at a faster rate, increasing the rate of decay

Question 30

How does water affect the rate of decay?

Answer 30

Decomposers require water to survive, so if there is a lack of water then less decomposers will be able to work on the decay, reducing the rate of decay

Question 31

How does availability of oxygen affect decay?

Answer 31

Most decomposers require oxygen to survive, so if there is a lack of oxygen then less decomposers will be able to work on the decay, reducing the rate of decay