Ecology

Question 1

What is ecology?

Answer 1

Is the study of the interactions between living things (organisms) and between organisms and their environment.

Question 2

What does biosphere mean?

Answer 2

Is that part of the planet containing living organisms.

Question 3

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 3

Is a group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their environment as a unit.

Question 4

What is a habitat?

Answer 4

Is the place where a plant or animal lives

Question 5

Define population.

Answer 5

Is all members of the same species living in an area.

Question 6

Define community.

Answer 6

Is all different populations in an area.

Question 7

What are abiotic factors?

Answer 7

Are non-living factors.

Question 8

What are biotic factors?

Answer 8

Are living factors.

Question 9

What do climatic factors refer to?

Answer 9

Refer to weather over a long period of time.

Question 10

What are edaphic factors?

Answer 10

Relate to soil.

Question 11

What are producers?

Answer 11

Are organisms that carry out photosynthesis.

Question 12

What are flora?

Answer 12

Is all the plants in an ecosystem.

Question 13

What are consumers?

Answer 13

Are organisms that take in food from another organisms.

Question 14

What are fauna?

Answer 14

Is all the animals in an ecosystem.

Question 15

What are decomposers?

Answer 15

Are organisms that feed on dead organic matter.

Question 16

What are detritus feeders?

Answer 16

Are organisms that feed on small pieces of dead organic matter.

Question 17

What is a grazing food chain?

Answer 17

Is a sequence of organisms in which each one is eaten by the next member in the chain.

Question 18

What is a trophic level?

Answer 18

Is a feeding stage in a food chain.

Question 19

What is a food web?

Answer 19

Consists of two or more interlinked food chains.

Question 20

What is the pyramid of numbers?

Answer 20

Represents the number of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain.

Question 21

What does niche mean?

Answer 21

Is the functional role that an organism plays in the community.

Question 22

What is nutrient recycling?

Answer 22

Is the way in which elements such as carbon/nitrogen are exchanged between the living and non-living components of an ecosystem.

Question 23

What is nitrogen fixation?

Answer 23

Is the conversion of nitrogen gas into ammonia (NH3), ammonium (NH4+) or nitrate (NO3-)

Question 24

What is nitrification?

Answer 24

Is the conversion of ammonia and ammonium (NH4+) compounds to nitrite and then to nitrate.

Question 25

What is denitrification?

Answer 25

Is the conversion of nitrates to nitrogen gas.

Question 26

What is pollution?

Answer 26

Is any harmful addition to the environment.

Question 27

What are pollutants?

Answer 27

Are harmful additions to the environments.

Question 28

What is conservation?

Answer 28

Is the wise management of the existing natural resources in an ecosystem, in order to maintain a wide range of habitats and prevent the death and extinction of organisms.

Question 29

What environmental factors affect aquatic habitats?

Answer 29

- Light - Currents - Wave action - Salt content - Oxygen content

Question 30

What is the ultimate source of energy?

Answer 30

The Sun

Question 31

Give an example of a food chain.

Answer 31

Leaf-Caterpillar-Thrush-Falcon

Question 32

What is trophic level 1?

Answer 32

Producer

Question 33

What is trophic level 2?

Answer 33

Primary consumer

Question 34

What is trophic level 3?

Answer 34

Secondary consumer

Question 35

What is trophic level 4?

Answer 35

Tertiary consumer

Question 36

What carries out nitrogen fixation?

Answer 36

- Volcanic action - Lightning - Some industrial processes - By some bacteria

Question 37

Where are nitrogen fixing bacteria?

Answer 37

- Found free in soil or in nodules in legumes. | - Anaerobic

Question 38

What is a food web?

Answer 38

Two or mor interconnected food chains

Question 39

What is competition?

Answer 39

Is the struggle for a resource which is limited

Question 40

Name a group of organisms within the nitrogen cycle which return nitrogen to the air

Answer 40

Denitrifying bacteria

Question 41

Apart from protein, name one other molecule present in all living organisms that contains nitrogen

Answer 41

DNA or RNA

Question 42

Name the compound excreted by animals which results in the return of nitrogen to the environment

Answer 42

Urea/Urine

Question 43

What is a community?

Answer 43

All of the organisms living in an ecosystem/ habitat

Question 44

Define a qualitative survey

Answer 44

To establish the presence/absence of a species

Question 45

How do nitrogen fixing bacteria benefit with a symbiotic relationship with the legume?

Answer 45

They are provided with carbohydrates and favourable conditions (shelter)

Question 46

Explain the difference between structural and behavioural adaptations.

Answer 46

- Structural= change in physical structure of an organism | - Behavioural= Change in the way the organism acts

Question 47

Name two examples of structural adaptations from the animal kingdom.

Answer 47

Squirrel- tail aids in balance when climbing Ladybird- bright colour deters predators Lion- long and sharp canine teeth to kill prey

Question 48

Give a reason for why an organism has to adapt.

Answer 48

- Change in vegetation - New predator appears - Change in food source

Question 49

Give one example of an abiotic factor from both a terrestrial and an aquatic environment.

Answer 49

Terrestrial- Light intensity, slope, mineral content | Aquatic- temperature, salinity, pH

Question 50

State one example of an environmental factor of human origin that can affect a habitat.

Answer 50

- Pollutants - Deforestation - Burning - Invasive species