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BIOLOGY! > Ecology and the Enviroment > Flashcards

Ecology and the Enviroment Flashcards

1
Q

What is habitat?

A

The place where an organism lives

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2
Q

What is population?

A

All the organisms of one species in a habitat

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3
Q

What is community?

A

All the different species in a habitat

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4
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

All the organisms living in a particular area and all the non-living conditions

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5
Q

How can you estimate population sizes in different areas?

A

By using a quadrat

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6
Q

What is a quadrat?

A

A square frame

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7
Q

When using a quadrat, how can you make your results more accurate?

A

by using a bigger quadrat

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8
Q

What do food chains show?

A

Whats eaten by what in an ecosystem

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9
Q

What are the different stages in food chains called?

A

trophic levels

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10
Q

What do food chains always start with?

A

A producer, which makes it’s own food using energy from the sun

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11
Q

What are producers eaten by?

A

Primary consumers

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12
Q

What are primary consumers eaten by?

A

secondary consumers

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13
Q

What are secondary consumers eaten by?

A

tertiary consumers

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14
Q

What happens when all organisms die?

A

They get eaten by decomposers

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15
Q

What do decomposers do?

A

decompose dead material and waste

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16
Q

In pyramids of numbers, what does each bar show?

A

The number of organisms at that stage of the food chain

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17
Q

What does each bar on a pyramid of biomass show?

A

the mass of living material at that stage of the food chain

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18
Q

What is the source of energy for nearly all life on earth?

A

THE SUN

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19
Q

What is lost at each stage of the food chain?

A

material and energy

20
Q

What percentage of energy is lost between each trophic level?

A

around 90%

21
Q

How can you show how food chains are linked?

A

By drawing a food web

22
Q

What does the carbon cycle show?

A

how carbon is recycled

23
Q

What is the whole carbon cycle powered by?

A

photosynthesis

24
Q

Animals and plants release CO2 back into the air by…

A

respiration

25
Q

When plants and animals decompose, their broken down by..?

A

bacteria and fungi

26
Q

Decomposition releases

A

CO2

27
Q

When plant and animal products are burned, they release

A

CO2

28
Q

Burning fossil fuels release…

A

greenhouse gases

29
Q

What forms when sulfur dioxide mixes with rain clouds?

A

sulfuric acid

30
Q

What are the main causes of acid rain?

A

Internal combustion engines in cars

Power stations

31
Q

What affects can acid rain have on lakes?

A

Make it become more acidic
Severe affect on ecosystem
Many organisms are sensitive to changes in pH
They die

32
Q

How can acid rain kill trees?

A

The acid damages leaves and releases toxic substances from the soil, making it hard for the trees to take up nutrients

33
Q

Name four greenhouse gases

A

Carbon Dioxide
Methane
Nitrous Oxide
CFC’s

34
Q

How do humans release carbon dioxide?

A

Car exhausts
Industrial processes
Burning fossil fuels

35
Q

What human activity affects the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

A

deforestation

36
Q

Where is methane produced naturally?

A

Rotting plants in marshland

Cows

37
Q

What are the ‘man made’ sources of methane?

A

Rice growing

Cattle rearing

38
Q

Where is Nitrous oxide released naturally?

A

By bacteria in soils and the ocean

39
Q

What are CFC’s?

A

man-made chemicals that were once used in aerosol sprays and fridges

40
Q

What do fertilisers cause when they leach into water?

A

Eutrophication

41
Q

How exactly does eutrophication occur?

A

Nitrates and phosphates are put onto fields as mineral fertilisers
if too much fertiliser is applied and it rains afterwards, nitrates are easily leached into rivers and lakes

42
Q

What damage can eutrophication do?

A

The extra nutrients can cause algae to grow fast and block out the light
So plants can’t photosynthesise due to lack of light and start to die
With more food available, microorganisms that feed on dead plants increase and deplete all the oxygen in the water
Organisms that need oxygen die

43
Q

What four effects does deforestation have?

A

Leaching
Disturbing the water cycle
Soil erosion
Disturbing the balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen

44
Q

What is Leaching?

A

When trees are removed, nutrients don’t get leached away, but don’t get replaced, leaving infertile soil

45
Q

How does deforestation disturb the water cycle?

A

Increase surface runoff

The local climate can become drier as less transpiration happens

46
Q

What is meant by soil erosion?

A

Trees bind soil together

When trees are removed, soil can be washed away by the rain, leaving infertile soil

47
Q

How can deforestation disturb the balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen?

A

When trees are cut down and burnt, the stored carbon is released
Less photosynthesis takes place, so less oxygen is released, causing the oxygen levels in the atmosphere to drop

BIOLOGY! (10 decks)

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