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Science Yr 9&10 > Ecology > Flashcards

Flashcards in Ecology Deck (19)
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1
Q

What is ecology?

A

The study of living things and their environment.

2
Q

What are biotic factors? Give examples.

A

Living parts of the environment, e.g. plants, animals, micro- organisms

3
Q

What are abiotic factors? Give examples.

A

Non- living parts of the environment, e.g. air, water, wind, sunlight, soil, landforms, etc.

4
Q

What is the path that the atoms take in the environment called?

A

cycle

5
Q

Give examples of cycles

A
  • Water cycle
  • Carbon- oxygen cycle (look at diagram)
  • Nitrogen cycle
6
Q

What are feral organisms? Give examples.

A

Introduced organisms that have gone wild, e.g. weeds (Patterson’s Curse), European carp, rabbits, feral cats, pigs.

7
Q

What can feral animals do to the environment and who do they compete with?

A

They damage the environment and compete with native species.

8
Q

What company guards against the introduction to new pests into Australia?

A

Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS)

9
Q

Why do feral organisms frequently do well in the environment?

A

They are introduced without their natural enemies which keep their numbers in check in the countries from which they had been introduced.

10
Q

What is the biological control? Give examples of some.

A

Using a living species to control the number of pest species, e.g. Myxoma virus and Calici Virus to control rabbit numbers.

11
Q

What are pesticides?

A

Chemicals that kill pests

12
Q

What have pesticides allowed?

A

Increase in food production, reduced loss of food in storage and reduced the amount of disease and suffering diseases cause.

13
Q

What is biodiversity/ what does it refer to?

A

The variety of life that exists in an ecosystem.

14
Q

Why is maintaining biodiversity important?

A

Because living species depend on each other in an ecosystem, e.g. for food, and if one species becomes extinct, it will have an effect on other species.

15
Q

What is the name given to species that are close to extinction?

A

Endangered

16
Q

Name some natural disasters

A

floods, hurricanes, drought

17
Q

What are people that study the environment called?

A

Ecologist

18
Q

What is distribution?

A

Where species occur.

19
Q

What is abundance?

A

The number of given species.