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S1 Biology - Individual Topics > Ecological relationships and energy flow > Flashcards

Ecological relationships and energy flow Flashcards

1
Q

What is a population?

A

The number of organisms of the same species living in the same area

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2
Q

What is a habitat?

A

The area where a population lives

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3
Q

What is a community?

A

A group of populations living in habitats close together

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4
Q

What is biodiversity?

A

The measure of the number of different species living in the area

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5
Q

What is the environment?

A

The conditions which surround and effect an organism in their habitat

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6
Q

What is an abiotic factor?

A

A non-living factor such as temperature, humidity, light intensity

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7
Q

What is a biotic factor?

A

A living factor such as the effect of a predator on its prey

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8
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

An area in which a community of organisms interact with each other and their physical surroundings

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9
Q

What is sampling?

A

A process used to give a good estimate of the number, or percentage cover, of an organism in a particular area

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10
Q

What is a quadrat?

A

A square frame used as a subsection for sampling

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11
Q

What is number sampling? When is it used?

A

Counts the number of organisms in a sample. Used when the number of individuals is easy to determine

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12
Q

What is percentage cover sampling? When is it used?

A

Measures the percentage area an organism or individual covers in a sample. Used when it is difficult to determine where one individual stops and another one starts

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13
Q

What is random sampling? (3)

A
  • Drawing samples from an area at random intervals.
  • Carried out when the area is uniform.
  • Enough samples should be used to give a representative sample of an area and quadrats should be positioned using random numbers to avoid bias.
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14
Q

What is belt transect sampling?

A

Sampling using quadrats placed at regular intervals. Used when zonation is present

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15
Q

What is competition in animals usually for? (4)

A

Food, water, territory, and mates

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16
Q

How can competition occur?

A

When a number of animals or plants have to compete for the same desired resources

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17
Q

What is competition in plants usually for? (5)

A

Light, carbon dioxide, water, minerals and space

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18
Q

What is a food chain?

A

A sequence of organisms which feed off each other, passing nutrients and energy

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19
Q

What is a food web?

A

A number of interlinked food chains

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20
Q

What is a producer in a food web?

A

An organism that produces, a plant, which is at the start of a food chain

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21
Q

What is a consumer?

A

An animal that gains its food from consuming other organisms

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22
Q

What do the arrows in a food chain represent?

A

Energy flow

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23
Q

What are trophic levels? (2)

A
  • The level at which an organism feeds in a food chain or web
  • The different stages of the feeding process in a food chain or web
24
Q

What is the source of energy in a food chain?

A

The sun

25
Q

What is a pyramid of numbers?

A

A diagram showing the numbers of organisms at each stage (trophic level) of a food chain

26
Q

What is a pyramid of biomass?

A

A diagram showing the mass of living tissue, biomass, at each stage of a food chain

27
Q

Why are pyramids of numbers and biomass referred to as a pyramid?

A

The number of organisms usually decreases with increasing trophic level

28
Q

Why is a pyramid of numbers not accurate?

A

Many small organisms could feed off of one big one such as 5mm long insects feeding off a single 100m tall tree

29
Q

How is energy lost at each trophic level? (3)

A
  • Not all the available food is eaten (skeleton, fur)
  • Not all the food is digested, some is egested as faeces
  • Energy is lost as heat in respiration
30
Q

What is competition?

A

The ‘battle’ between living organisms for the same resource or resources

31
Q

What is a nutrient cycle?

A

The cycling of substances in the environment

32
Q

What is a decomposer?

A

An organism which breaks down the tissues of dead organisms and excretory products

33
Q

What is decomposition?

A

The breaking down of dead organisms into small pieces

34
Q

What do fungi and bacteria do in the decomposition process?

A

Breaking down the organic compounds into their simplest components, which plants can absorb and use again

35
Q

What is meant by the term saphrophyte?

A

A bacterium or fungus which decomposes material by releasing enzymes onto the surface and absorbing the breakdown products

36
Q

What is humus?

A

The organic content of the soil formed from decomposing plant and animal material

37
Q

What are the optimum conditions for decomposition? (3)

A
  • A warm temperature
  • Adequate moisture
  • A large surface area in the decomposing organism
38
Q

What is the carbon cycle?

A

The cycling of carbon-containing substances in the environment

39
Q

What are the main processes in the carbon cycle? (6)

A
  • Photosynthesis
  • Feeding
  • Respiration
  • Decomposition
  • Fossilisation
  • Combustion
40
Q

What processes have added to the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and what is a result of this?

A

Combustion and deforestation have allowed the carbon dioxide concentration to become unbalanced as more carbon dioxide is being given off than can be taken in

41
Q

How does carbon dioxide assist global warming?

A

Carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere create a ‘greenhouse blanket’ which traps the heat from the sun within the atmosphere

42
Q

What are the effects of global warming? (5)

A
  • Climate change
  • Polar ice caps melting
  • Increased sea levels and flooding
  • More land becoming desert
  • Loss of habitats
43
Q

What can be done to lessen the effects of global warming? (3)

A
  • Plant more trees
  • Reduce deforestation
  • Burn fewer fossil fuels (use more efficient fuels)
44
Q

What are the three parts of the nitrogen cycle?

A
  • Nitrification
  • Nitrogen fixing
  • Denitrification
45
Q

What is nitrification?

A

The process by which ammonia is converted to nitrates

46
Q

What are nitrifying bacteria?

A

The bacteria which converts ammonia to nitrates

47
Q

What are nitrogen fixing bacteria?

A

A special group of bacteria that can convert nitrogen gas into nitrates

48
Q

Where can nitrogen fixing bacteria be found?

A

In nodules in the roots of legumes (such as peas, beans and clover)

49
Q

What is nitrogen fixation?

A

A process which allows bacteria to change nitrogen gas into nitrates

50
Q

What are denitrifying bacteria?

A

Bacteria that convert nitrates into atmospheric nitrogen

51
Q

How can the processes of nitrification and nitrogen fixation be accelerated? (2)

A
  • Higher temperatures
  • Aerated soil
52
Q

Where are denitrification bacteria most commonly found?

A

In waterlogged soils

53
Q

What are the 3 beneficial bacteria for the nitrogen cycle?
Also
What is the negative bacteria for the nitrogen cycle?

A

Beneficial:
- nitrifying
- nitrogen-fixing
- decay

Negative:
- denitrifying

54
Q

Why is soil more fertile when legumes (peas, beans, clover etc) are grown? (3)

A
  • legumes contain nodules in their roots which contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria
  • which converts Nitrogen gas to Nitrates
  • which fertilises the soil
55
Q

What is meant by the term decay? (2)

A
  • saprophytic digestion via decomposers (decay bacteria and fungi)
  • which convert dead organic matter to ammonia

(Preceded by breakdown by detritivores)

S1 Biology - Individual Topics (2 decks)

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