Ecology

Question 1

What is the definition of an ecosystem

Answer 1

The interaction of a community of living organisms with the non-living parts of their environment.

Question 2

What do plants compete with other plants for?

Answer 2

Light
Space
Water and mineral ions from the soil

Question 3

What do animal compete with each other for?

Answer 3

Food
Mates
Territory

Question 4

List two ways a plant may depend on another species for its survival.

Answer 4

Pollination

Seed dispersal

Question 5

What is interdependence?

Answer 5

If one species is removed it can affect the whole community.

Question 6

What is meant by a stable community?

Answer 6

One where all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant.

Question 7

What is the definition of an abiotic factor?

Answer 7

A non-living factor

Question 8

List three abiotic factors which may affect an aquatic organism

Answer 8

Oxygen levels
Temperature
Carbon dioxide levels
Light intensity

Question 9

List three abiotic factors which can affect a plant.

Answer 9

Light intensity
Temperature
Carbon dioxide levels
Oxygen levels

Question 10

What is the definition of a biotic factor?

Answer 10

A living factor which may affect a community

Question 11

List four biotic factors which can affect a community.

Answer 11

Food availability
A new predator
A new pathogen
One species outcompeting another so that numbers are no longer sufficient to breed

Question 12

There are three types of adaptation that an organism may show to aid its survival. What are the three types?

Answer 12

Behavioural
Structural
Functional

Question 13

What is an extremophile?

Answer 13

An organism which lives in an extreme environment

Question 14

Give three examples of what might make an environment be described as extreme.

Answer 14

High temperature
Pressure
Salt concentration

Question 15

Name a particular extremophile you have studied.

Answer 15

Bacteria living in deep-sea vents

Question 16

What is biomass?

Answer 16

Amount of living material in an organism

Question 17

What does a food chain show?

Answer 17

Feeding relationships within a community

Question 18

What do all food chains begin with?

Answer 18

A producer

Question 19

Name two different types of organism which would be found at the start of a food chain.

Answer 19

Green plant

Alga

Question 20

What is meant by the terms mode and median?

Answer 20

Mode = number which occurs most often in a set of data.
Median = middle value in a set of data

Question 21

What might eat a secondary consumer?

Answer 21

A tertiary consumer

Question 22

Define the term predator

Answer 22

An animal which kills and eats another animal.

Question 23

Define the term prey.

Answer 23

An animal which is hunted and killed for food by a predator

Question 24

What piece of equipment is usually used to sample the abundance of an organism in an area?

Answer 24

Quadrat

Question 25

Why is it essential that materials are recycled in the living world?

Answer 25

To provide the building blocks for future organisms.

Question 26

What is precipitation in the water cycle?

Answer 26

Rain

Question 27

List three main processes in the carbon cycle.

Answer 27

Photosynthesis Respiration Combustion Decay

Question 28

Name three factors which must be present for rapid decay of waste biological material to occur.

Answer 28

Warmth Oxygen Water Microorganisms (Decomposers)