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BGS GCSE Biology Unit 1 > Ecology > Flashcards

Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

This is a measure of the different species in a living area

A

Biodiversity

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2
Q

This is the number of organisms of the same species living in the same area

A

Population

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3
Q

This is where a population lives

A

Habitat

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4
Q

These are the conditions which surround and effect an organism and their habitat

A

Environment

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5
Q

This is the total number of different populations living in one area

A

Community

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6
Q

This is an area where a community of organisms live

A

Ecosystem

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7
Q

What is an abiotic factor?

A

A non living factor that can affect the environment

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8
Q

How is wind speed measured?

A

Using an anemometer

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9
Q

How is the pH of the soil measured?

A

pH probe

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10
Q

How is light intensisty measured?

A

Using a light meter

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11
Q

How is the temperature of the soil measured?

A

Using a soil thermometer

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12
Q

Give 2 examples of biotic factors

A

Competition and predation

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13
Q

Give 2 examples of what animal may complete for

A

food, mates and territory

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14
Q

Give 2 examples of what plants may compete for

A

light, minerals and water

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15
Q

What square piece of equipment is used for sampling organisms?

A

A quadrat

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16
Q

How do you improve reliability during an experiment?

A

Repeat it multiple times and then calculate an average

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17
Q

When would you use random sampling?

A

This method is used for a FIELD or GRASSLAND (where the environment looks the same)

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18
Q

What is the method for random sampling?

A
  • Place 2 tapes at right angles (to represent an X and Y axis)
  • Use random numbers to generate co-ordinates (the random number generator on a calculator can be used for this)  this makes sure we are not being bias
  • Place the quadrat at the first co-ordinate and identify the species present
  • Estimate percentage cover (to the nearest 5%)
  • Repeat for all other co-ordinates
  • Calculate an average
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19
Q

When is systematic sampling used?

A

This method is used along a ROCKY SHORE / SAND DUNNE SYSTEM/ PATHWAY TO GRASSLAND / CONIFER TO DECIDIOUS WOODLAND/ STREAM TO FIELD (there is an environmental gradient –> gradual change in environment)

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20
Q

Describe how to carry out systematic sampling

A
  • Place a belt transect (tape) perpendicular (at right angles) to the shore
  • Place the quadrat continuously (every metre for shorter sampling areas) or at intervals (every 5mfor longer sampling areas)
  • Estimate percentage coverage in each
  • Calculate an average for each species present
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21
Q

What is the source of energy of all food chains?

A

The Sun

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22
Q

Give an example of a producer

A

Any plant

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23
Q

What is a trophic level?

A

The level an animal feeds at (feeding level)

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24
Q

How do producers create energy for the rest of the food chain?

A

Trap light energy for photosynthesis

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25
Q

What do the arrows represent in a food chain?

A

They represent the transfer of energy from one organism to the next

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26
Q

Why are food chains short?

A
  • Most food chains are short because energy is lost at each stage of transfer (most will have no more than 4 organisms)  so much is energy lost through the food chain that there is not enough energy to support another trophic level
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27
Q

How is energy lost between the Sun and the producer?

A

Less than 1% of the Sun’s energy is used by the leaf as:
* Light is reflected off the leaf
* Light passes through the leaves and misses chloroplasts

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28
Q

How is energy lost between the producer and consumer?

A
  • Not all of the plant is eaten e.g. roots
  • Cellulose is indigestible and passes through the animal and is egested as faeces
  • Dead plants enter the decomposer food chain
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29
Q

How is energy lost between the consumers?

A
  • Not all of the animal is eaten e.g. fur and bones
  • Not all the animal is digested and passes through the animal and is egested as faeces
  • Energy is lost as heat in respiration
  • Dead animals enter the decomposer food chain
30
Q

How do you calculate energy efficiency between tropic levels?

A

Energy efficiency = (energy in primary consumer)/(energy in producer ) x 100

31
Q

What is an advantage of using a pyramid of number?

A

It is easy to count calculate the data

32
Q

What is disadvantage of using a pyramid of number?

A
  • They can be misleading as they do not consider the size of the organism
  • This means the pyramid can end up inverted
33
Q

What is biomass?

A

mass of living tissue

34
Q

What is an advantage of using a pyramid of biomass?

A
  • It considers the size of the organism
35
Q

What is a disadvantage of using a pyramid of biomass?

A
  • Biomass is the dry mass of the organism  this means the organism must be heated to remove water
  • By doing this it can kill the organism
  • This data is more difficult to obtain
36
Q

What is a detritivore?

A
  • These are small organisms like woodlice and earthworms
  • They break down dead/decaying material into smaller pieces
37
Q

Explain how decomposers break down dead organisms

A
  • These include saprophytic bacteria and fungi
  • They secrete enzymes onto the dead organism or soil
  • The enzymes break down the dead organism
  • The products are then absorbed back into the bacteria or fungi
  • This is called extracellular digestion as it occurs outside the bacteria/fungi
38
Q

What is humus?

A

HUMUS – soil formed from decomposed plant or animal material

39
Q

What factors affect decomposition?

A
  • The temperature is warmer
  • Sufficient moisture
  • Large surface area in the decomposing organism
40
Q

Why would waterlogged soils make decomposition happen slower?

A

Waterlogged soils cause decomposition to happen slower as there is less oxygen available for the bacteria to use in respiration

41
Q

By what process do plants, animals and microorganisms release carbon dioxide back into the air

A

Respiration

42
Q

What process releases carbon dioxide into the air when fossil fuels are burnt?

A

Combustion

43
Q

If animals and plants die in conditions where decomposing microorganisms are not present the carbon in their bodies can be converted, over millions of years and significant pressure, into fossil fuels. What is this process called?

A

Fossilisation

44
Q

What is a green house blanket?

A
  • Carbon dioxide and other green house gases trap heat from the Sun forming a ‘green house blanket’
45
Q

Why are carbon dioxide levels rising?

A
  • Increased use of burning fossil fuels –> when burnt they release CO2 back into the air
  • Increased deforestation –> this process removes trees –> less trees to photosynthesise –> less carbon dioxide is removed from the air
46
Q

What are the effects of global warming?

A
  • Increasing temperatures  causing polar ice caps to melt  sea levels rise  causing flooding
  • Extreme weather  droughts and storms are occurring more often
  • More land becoming desert  loss of habitats
47
Q

How can we reduce global warming?

A
  • Plant more trees
  • Reduce deforestation
  • Reduce amount of fossil fuels burned / use alternative fuels
48
Q

What form do plants absorb nitrogen?

A

Nitrates

49
Q

What are nitrates used for in plants?

A

To make plant proteins for growth

50
Q

During decay decomposers (bacteria and fungi) break down dead plant and animal proteins to release _________________

A

Ammonia

51
Q

Which bacteria convert ammonium compounds into nitrates?

A

Nitrifying bacteria

52
Q

What type of bacteria are found in the root nodules of legumes?

A

Nitrogen fixing bacteria

53
Q

What type of conditions do Nitrogen fixing and nitrifying bacteria require?

A

Aerobic conditions

54
Q

What is the role of nitrogen fixing bacteria?

A

They convert nitrogen gas into nitrates

55
Q

What conditions do denitrifying bacteria require?

A

anaerobic conditions e.g. waterlogged soil

56
Q

What do denitrifying bacteria convert nitrates into?

A

Nitrogen gas

57
Q

Nitrogen compounds in waste products (e.g. urine and faeces) and dead organisms are converted into ammonia by ________________

A

saprophytic bacteria

58
Q

Definition of active transport

A

The movement of molecules from an area of low concentration to an area of high concentration. This process requires oxygen for aerobic respiration to produce energy to move molecules against the concentration gradient.

59
Q

Where do mineral enter the plant?

A

Root hair cell

60
Q

Which mineral is needed for plant cell walls?

A

Calcium

61
Q

Which mineral is needed to make chlorophyll?

A

Magnesium

62
Q

Give and example of a natural fertiliser

A

manure, slurry or compost

63
Q

Give advantages of using natural fertiliser

A

 No cost
 Nutrients are released slowly
 Less likely to leach into waterways

64
Q

Give advantages of using artificial fertiliser

A

 Easily applied to field
 More accurate way of knowing what minerals are being added to the soil

65
Q

Give disadvantages of using artificial fertiliser

A

 Expensive
 Can leach into waterways causing eutrophication

66
Q

What is the process of eutrophication?

A
  • Excess nitrates in fertiliser or sewage runoff into waterways
  • This causes the algae (and other plants) to grow rapidly
  • The algae ‘bloom’ shades the plants below the surface and so blocks out their light
  • The plants below die as they cannot photosynthesise
  • Aerobic bacteria break down the dead plants using up the oxygen in the water
  • Fish and other invertebrates die due to a lack of oxygen
67
Q

Why does eutrophication occur?

A
  • Too much fertiliser is used on the land, so the excess runs off into the water
  • It is applied during heavy rainfall or on slopped ground
68
Q

How is eutrophication prevented?

A
  • Only apply the exact amount of fertiliser needed
  • Apply during the ‘dry’ season
  • Do not apply on slopped ground
  • Correct storage of fertiliser
69
Q

How can humans increase biodiversity?

A

Reforestation –> planting trees to replace trees that have been harvested
Sustainable woodland –> planting to meet the human needs so that native forests are left unharmed
* Only a small number of trees are harvested at one time
* Only harvest in one area every 30 years

70
Q

What international treaties help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions?

A
  • Kyoto Protocol 1997  many countries did not sign up to the agreement
  • Paris Agreement 2015  195 countries of the world agreed to a legally binding global climate change deal (plan to limit global warming to 2oC compare with pre-industrial levels.
71
Q
A

BGS GCSE Biology Unit 1 (7 decks)

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