ecology

Question 1

ecosystem

Answer 1

a group of living organisms and their environment

Question 2

community

Answer 2

all the different species of organisms in an ecosystem

Question 3

population

Answer 3

all the individuals of one species of an organism

Question 4

habitat

Answer 4

the place where an organism lives

Question 5

producer

Answer 5

plants - they produce food by photosynthesis for the whole ecosystem

Question 6

herbivore

Answer 6

an organism that only eats plants

Question 7

carnivore

Answer 7

an organism that only eats animals

Question 8

omnivore

Answer 8

an organism that eats plants and animals

Question 9

primary consumer

Answer 9

an animal that eats producers

Question 10

secondary consumer

Answer 10

an animal that eats primary consumers

Question 11

tertiary consumer

Answer 11

an animal that eats secondary consumers

Question 12

decomposer

Answer 12

organisms that obtain energy from dead or waste organic material

Question 13

describe how a student could estimate the population size of plantain in a field

Answer 13

• set out a 10x10 metre area with a tape measure
• use a random number generator to create 1o unbiased co-ordinates
• place quadrats and count number of plantain in each square

Question 14

how much energy is passed onto the next trophic level

Answer 14

10%

Question 15

why does energy availability reduce at each level

- sun to producers

Answer 15

• some light will miss the plant
• some light will be reflected
• some light has the wrong wavelength

Question 16

why does energy availability reduce at each level

- consumers to consumers

Answer 16

• not all material is consumed
• not all material is digested
• respiration –> energy lost via heat
• growth and movement
• excretion

Question 17

equation for calculating % loss of energy

Answer 17

energy transferred to next level / energy received during transfer x 100