Ecology

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Environment

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Habitat

Answer 3

Is the place where a plan for animal lives

Question 4

Community

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Interdependence

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Ecosystem

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Biome

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Biosphere

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Producer

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Consumer

Answer 10

Animals that get their food by eating plants or other animals

Question 11

Herbivore

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Carnivore

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Omnivore

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Decomposer

Answer 14

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)

Question 15

Food chain

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Feeding levels

Answer 16

The position of an organism in the food chain

Question 17

Amount of energy

Answer 17

Gets less and less as you go along the food chain

Question 18

Food web

Answer 18

Is two or more interconnected food chains

Question 19

Competition

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Adaptations

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Dandelion adaptation

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Hedgehog adaptation

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Abiotic and Biotic Factors

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Abiotic Factors

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Biotic Factors

Answer 25

Are living e.g. competition, predation and symbiosis

Question 26

Population

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Balance of nature

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Predation

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Prey

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Symbiosis

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Niche

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Feeding relationship

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Biomass

Answer 33

The quantity of matter in an organism

Question 34

Qualitative survey

Answer 34

A list of the different species in a habitat

Question 34

Quadrat

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Identification key

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Quantitative survey

Answer 36

Numerical data about the species in a habitat

Question 37

Frequency (habitat survey)

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Percentage cover

Answer 38

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

Question 39

Distribution (habitat survey)

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Line transect

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Abundance

Answer 41

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

Question 42

Conservation

Answer 42

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

Question 43

Natural resources

Answer 43

Land, rivers, seas, plants and animals

Question 44

Pollution

Answer 44

Is adding unwanted wastes to the environment causing damage to it

Question 45

Balance of nature

Answer 45

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

Question 46

Air pollution

Answer 46

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

Question 47

Fossil fuels

Answer 47

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

Question 48

Soil pollution

Answer 48

Caused by pesticides, artificial fertilisers and Acid Rain

Question 49

Water pollution

Answer 49

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

Question 50

Incineration

Answer 50

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

Question 51

Landfill

Answer 51

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

Question 52

3R’s

Answer 52

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

Question 53

Reduce

Answer 53

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

Question 54

Recycling

Answer 54

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