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Biology > Ecology and Environment > Flashcards

Ecology and Environment Flashcards

1
Q

Define a Habitat

A

The place where an organism lives (field)

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2
Q

Define a Population

A

All the organisms of one species in a habitat

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3
Q

Define a Community

A

All the different species in a habitat

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4
Q

Define a Ecosystem

A

All the organisms living in a particular area and all the non-living (abiotic) conditions (temp,climate)

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5
Q

Investigate the population size of an organism

A
  • Place 1m^2 quadrat randomly in area
  • Count organism cover in quadrat
  • Repeat the experiment 10 times
  • Work out average of all calculations
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6
Q

Define Biodiversity

A

Variety of different species of organisms on Earth or within an ecosystem

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7
Q

How do Abiotic factors affect communities

A
  • Environmental conditions - light intensity (plants) , moisture level and soil pH
  • Toxic chemicals - Excess fertilisers in lakes cause eutrophication = death of organisms
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8
Q

How do Biotic factors affect communities

A
  • Availability of food
  • Number of predators
  • Competition
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9
Q

Define a Producer

A

Make their own food using energy from sun (food chain start with a producer)

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10
Q

Arrangement of a Food Chain:

A
  • Producer are eaten by primary consumers
  • Primary consumers eaten by secondary consumers
  • Secondary consumers eaten by tertiary consumers
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11
Q

Define Decomposers

A
  • All of food chain eventually die and eaten by decomposers

- Decomposers break down dead material and waste

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12
Q

Why is only 10% of energy transferred from one trophies level to another?

A
  • Some parts of food not energy or excreted
  • Used for staying alive (respiration)
  • Transferred to surroundings by heat
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13
Q

What is the Carbon Cycle

A
  • Plants and animals decompose, they broken down by microorganisms (bacteria)
  • Microorganisms = Decomposers
  • Decomposers release CO^2 back into air by respiration
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14
Q

What is the Nitrogen Cycle

A
  • Decomposers -turn nitrogen to ammonia
  • Nitrifying bacteria-Turn ammonium ions in decaying matter into nitrates
  • Denitrifying bacteria-Turn nitrate back into N^2 gas
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15
Q

How is Acid Rain caused?

A
  • Burning of fossil fuels releases CO2 and sulfur dioxide (coming from sulfur impurities) into the atmosphere
  • When gas mixes with rain clouds it forms dilute sulfuric acid
  • This then falls as acid rain
  • Internal combustion engines in cars and power stations are main cause of acid rain
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16
Q

How is Acid Rain harmful?

A
  • Cause lake to become more acidic, many organisms are sensitive to changes in pH and many plants and animals die
  • Kills trees, acid damages leaves and releases toxic substances from soil, making it hard for trees to take up nutrients
17
Q

How is carbon dioxide a source of a Greenhouse has?

A
  • Burning of fossil fuels

* Slash and burn forest clearance

18
Q

How does methane act as a source of a greenhouse gas?

A
  • Generated by bacteria in anaerobic (low O2) conditions

* e.g. Bactria in waterlogged paddy field for rice cultivation give off methane

19
Q

How does nitrous oxides act as a source of a greenhouse gas?

A

Burning fossil fuels

20
Q

How does CFCs act as a source of a greenhouse gas?

A
  • Used in aerosol sprays - deodorants or fridges

* Damage ozone layer that prevents UV radiation from reaching the Earth

21
Q

What is the greenhouse effect?

A
  • Increasing carbon dioxide in atmosphere and CFCs and Nitrous oxide - enhanced greenhouse effect
  • Earth is heating up (global warming), climate change lead to rising sea, flooding leading to habitat loss and reduce in crop growth
22
Q

How is Carbon Monoxide Caused?

A
  • Fossil fuels burnt without enough air supply - produce gas carbon monoxide
  • Poisonous - prevents red blood cells from carrying oxygen
  • Released in car emissions
23
Q

How is Eutrophication caused?

A
  • Nitrates and phosphates onto fields as mineral fertilisers
  • If too much fertiliser applied and it rains, nitrates leached into rivers and lakes
  • Result is eutrophication
24
Q

How can Eutrophication cause damage to river and lake ecosystems?

A
  • Fertilisers enter water add extra nutrients
  • Cause algae to grow fast and block out light
  • Plants can’t photosynthesise due to lack of light and die
  • Microorganisms that feed on dead plants increase in number and use up all oxygen in water
  • Organisms that need oxygen (fish) die
25
Q

What are the affects of Deforestation?

A
  • Leaching
  • Soil Erosion
  • Disturbing Evapotranspiration
  • Disturbing Balance of Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen
26
Q

What is Leaching and how does Deforestation affect it?

A
  • Trees take up nutrients from soil before washed away (leached) by rain, but return to soil when leaves die
  • Trees removed = nutrients get leached away, but not replaced
  • Leaving infertile soil
27
Q

How does Deforestation affect Soil Erosion?

A
  • Tree roots hold soil together
  • Trees removed = soil washed away by rain (eroded)
  • Leaving infertile ground
28
Q

What is Evapotranspiration and how does Deforestation Disturb it?

A
  • Evapotranspiration is process of water evaporating from earth surface and from plant transpiration
  • This water falls back to earth as rain
  • Trees removed = Evapotranspiration reduced
  • Local climate drier
29
Q

How does Deforestation Disturb the balance of Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen?

A
  • Forests take up CO2 by photosynthesis, store it in wood, slowly release when they decompose
  • Trees removed = stored carbon released at once as CO2, disturbs Carbon cycle and contributes to global warming
  • Also, less photosynthesis takes place, releasing less oxygen - oxygen level in atmosphere drops

Biology (9 decks)

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