Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

Ecology

A

Is the study of plants, animals and their environment, and the relationship between them

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2
Q

Environment

A

Is everything that surrounds an animal or plant (for example air, water, rocks and soil)

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3
Q

Habitat

A

Is the place where a plan for animal lives

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4
Q

Community

A

Is all the different populations that live in the habitat e.g. hedgehogs, snails, foxes and primroses belong to the woodland habitat

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5
Q

Interdependence

A

Is how organisms depends on each other for their survival, e.g. buttercups depends on bees (for food), bees depends on buttercups (for pollination)

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6
Q

Ecosystem

A

All the plants and animals in an area interacting with each other and their environment e.g. desert, tropical, rainforest, grasslands and seashore

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7
Q

Biome

A

An ecosystem that extends over a very large area, e.g. a rainforest

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8
Q

Biosphere

A

Is all of the earths ecosystems together that form one large ecosystem

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9
Q

Producer

A

Plants that make their own food e.g. grass, dandelion, nettles

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10
Q

Consumer

A

Animals that get their food by eating plants or other animals

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11
Q

Herbivore

A

An animal that eats plants only e.g. rabbit, sheep, slug, snail

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12
Q

Carnivore

A

An animal that eats other animals only e.g. fox, hawk, ladybird

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13
Q

Omnivore

A

An animal that eats both plants and animals e.g. badger, thrush, blackbirds and humans

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14
Q

Decomposer

A

Organisms that feed on dead plants and animals e.g. earthworms, bacteria, fungi. (Decomposers are very important as they break down dead things and release lots of minerals into the soil)

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15
Q

Food chain

A

Shows how one organism eats another, must start with a green plant

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16
Q

Feeding levels

A

The position of an organism in the food chain

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17
Q

Amount of energy

A

Gets less and less as you go along the food chain

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18
Q

Food web

A

Is two or more interconnected food chains

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19
Q

Competition

A

Occurs when two or more organisms seek a resource that is limited, e.g. plants compete for light, water, minerals and space, animals compete for, food, shelter, territory and mates

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20
Q

Adaptations

A

Are features that give an organism a better chance of surviving in their habitat

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21
Q

Dandelion adaptation

A

The dandelion has a long root which means it reaches below the short root grass to get water. Dandelions are able to compete for space because they are able to spread their seeds in the wind

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22
Q

Hedgehog adaptation

A

Hedgehogs have an excellent sense of smell to make them good at finding food. Hedgehogs have spikes to fight off predators. Hedgehogs have a colour which makes them camouflaged so predators can’t find them easily

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23
Q

Abiotic and Biotic Factors

A

Plants and animals are affected by living and non-living factors in their environment

24
Q

Abiotic Factors

A

Non-living e.g. weather (temperature, light intensity, rainfall, wind), soil and type of landscape

25
Q

Biotic Factors

A

Are living e.g. competition, predation and symbiosis

26
Q

Population

A

All of the individual organisms of the same species in a habitat

27
Q

Balance of nature

A

Over time, the number and types of species in an ecosystem reach a steady state known as the balance of nature

28
Q

Predation

A

Controls the number of organisms in an ecosystem through the preying of some animals on others

29
Q

Prey

A

An animal that is hunted, killed and eaten by another animal

30
Q

Symbiosis

A

A relationship between organisms of different species where at least one benefits. The other organism may be unaffected, harmed or also benefit

31
Q

Niche

A

The role of an organism in a habitat, including what it eats, what it is eaten by, whom it mates with and how it interacts with the non-living environment

32
Q

Feeding relationship

A

The way energy and nutrients are passed from one organism to another

33
Q

Biomass

A

The quantity of matter in an organism

34
Q

Qualitative survey

A

A list of the different species in a habitat

34
Q

Quadrat

A

A square frame made of metal, plastic or wood that is used during quantitative surveys of habitats

35
Q

Identification key

A

Used to identify an unknown animal or plant during a habitat study

36
Q

Quantitative survey

A

Numerical data about the species in a habitat

37
Q

Frequency (habitat survey)

A

The percentage chance of a particular species being present in a randomly chosen quadrat

38
Q

Percentage cover

A

The proportion of ground covered by plants or animals. Percentage cover may be calculated during a quantitative survey of a habitat

39
Q

Distribution (habitat survey)

A

The area(s) in a habitat where a species is located

40
Q

Line transect

A

A way of investigating the distribution of a plant species across a habitat. A rope is laid out across the habitat and marked with a knot at every metre. Each knot is checked to see if the species under the survey has touched the line transect and the result is recorded

41
Q

Abundance

A

The number of individuals in a population of a species in a habitat

42
Q

Conservation

A

Is the protection, preservation and careful use of our natural resources

43
Q

Natural resources

A

Land, rivers, seas, plants and animals

44
Q

Pollution

A

Is adding unwanted wastes to the environment causing damage to it

45
Q

Balance of nature

A

The balance of nature can be damaged is one organism is damaged it can be harmful to many other plants and animals

46
Q

Air pollution

A

Caused by smoke, dust and harmful gases-most of these come from cars, buses, factories and power stations

47
Q

Fossil fuels

A

When burned they produce gases called carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, these dissolve in rainwater to form carbonic acid and sulfuric acid, this acid rain damages plants and buildings

48
Q

Soil pollution

A

Caused by pesticides, artificial fertilisers and Acid Rain

49
Q

Water pollution

A

Rivers, lakes and seas are polluted by fertilisers, sewage, oil and detergent. Fertilisers seep into rivers and cause too much plant growth, bacteria populations boom as they feed on dead plants and no oxygen is left for fish

50
Q

Incineration

A

Burning the waste, this can release dangerous gases into the atmosphere, difficulties with location as nobody wants to live near an incinerator

51
Q

Landfill

A

Burying the waste in ground-damages soil, rivers and ground water, attracts rodents, disease causing , bad smell, difficulties as nobody wants to live near landfill sites

52
Q

3R’s

A

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to make sure that we do not damage our environment and that the future generations will have a nice place to live

53
Q

Reduce

A

Use your own bag, do not pick the items with extreme packaging (use less extra packaging)

54
Q

Recycling

A

Paper, glass, some metals and plastics can be processed and reused. This reduces damage to the environment