Ecology - Organisation of An Ecosystem

Question 1

What is “sampling”?

Answer 1

Looking at a small part of a habitat to draw wider conclusions

E.g.: if you wanted to know how many ants are in your garden, you could see how many are in 1 meter box and times that by the amount of metres in your garden.

Question 2

What are quadrats and how are they used to sample a habitat?

Answer 2

They are square wood frames that you place on the floor and record what organisms are in it.

1) Count the number of organisms
2) Count the % area the organisms cover

Question 3

How do you make sampling using a quadrat random in order to remove bias?

Answer 3

1) Use a random pair of numbers (e.g.: from a random number generator)
2) The first number is the amount of steps you move forward, and the second number is the amount of steps you move to the side.
3) Place the quadrat down at this random area.

Question 4

How do you sample using quadrats to make your results representative of the entire habitat?

Answer 4

You need to place the quadrat down in multiple places, as one area may have more dandelions than another.

Scientists look for 3 concordant results to make sure results are reliable.

Then you divide the amount of dandelions you counted by the amount of times you put the quadrat down to get the average amount of dandelions in the field.

Question 5

How would you use a quadrat to see how the distribution of an organism changes by area?

Answer 5

Via systematic sampling - e.g.: if you want to see how seaweed is distributed along a seashore.

Create a line called a transect from the top of the shore to the bottom, and lay the quadrat every metre.

Question 6

What type of sampling should you do if you’re trying to estimate a population?

What type of sampling should you do if you’re trying to compare the amount of organisms in two different areas?

Answer 6

1) Random sampling

2) Systematic sampling

Question 7

What are “producers”?

Answer 7

Anything able to ‘produce’ its own energy (via photosynthesis) - e.g.: a plant or algae

Question 8

What are “consumers”?

What are the 3 kind of consumers?

Answer 8

Any organism that obtains its energy by eating another organism.

Herbivores = eats plants
Carnivores = eats other animals
Omnivores = eats plants and other animals

Therefore … consumers eat producers!

Question 9

How much energy found in the producer (or other consumer) reaches the consumer that eats it?

Answer 9

About 10%

Question 10

What are decomposers?

Answer 10

An organisms that gets its energy by breaking down the remains of a dead organism.

E.g.: bacteria and fungi.

Question 11

What is the carbon cycle?

Answer 11

Carbon is a key element for all known life. It can bind to different elements, and can help create different molecules. Carbon binds to different substances in a continous cycle.

Question 12

What is the carbon cycle?

Answer 12

Carbon is a key element for all known life. It can bind to different elements, and can help create different molecules. Carbon binds to different substances in a continous cycle.

Question 13

Describe the full carbon cycle

Answer 13

The carbon cycle consists of 4 processes:

1) Photosynthesis
2) Respiration
3) Combustion
4) Decay

Question 14

What are the equations for photosynthesis, respiration and combustion?

Answer 14

Decay is when animals and plants die an release their carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide