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GCSE Biology > Ecology (Paper 2) > Flashcards

Ecology (Paper 2) Flashcards

1
Q

Community meaning

A

Group of interdependent living organisms in a habitat

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2
Q

Interdependence meaning

A

Species depends on another species in a community for survival

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3
Q

Habitat meaning

A

Place where organism lives

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4
Q

Population meaning

A

Number of individuals in one species in an area

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5
Q

Niche meaning

A

Role of an organism in an ecosystem

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6
Q

Stable community meaning

A

All species and environmental factors are in balance so that population size remain fairly constant

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7
Q

Distribution meaning

A

Where an organism if found in its environment

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8
Q

Abundance meaning

A

Measure of how common/ rare a species is in a particular environment

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9
Q

2 types of competition

A

Intraspecific (same species)
Interspecific (different species)

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10
Q

3 types of adaptation

A

Behavioural
Structural
Functional

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11
Q

Behavioural vs structural vs functional adaptation

A

Structural= physical features e.g Sharp claws
Behavioural= certain behaviours e.g hunting in packs
Functional = processes e.g snakes producing venom

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12
Q

3 conditions needed for decay

A

Temperature (warm)
Oxygen
Moisture

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13
Q

2 main air pollutants

A

Noxious gases
Particulates

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14
Q

Eutrophication is the effect of what on water

A

Fertilisers and sewage

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15
Q

Explain process of eutrophication (effect of sewage and fertiliser on water)

A

Fertiliser/ sewage ends up in water
Algae grow rapidly to form layer on top of water (algal bloom)
Sunlight blocked so plants die as they can’t respire
Bacteria decompose plants and use up oxygen in water making it anoxic
Aerobic animals like fish can’t respire so die

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16
Q

Ecosystem meaning

A

Community of living organisms and their environment

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17
Q

Factors that effect distribution of plants

A

Light intensity
Soil ph
Minerals
Space
Competition
Water
O2 availability

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18
Q

Intraspecific vs Interspecific competition

A

Inter= between different species
Intra= between same species

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19
Q

What are extremophiles

A

Animals adapted to live in extreme environments e.g extreme temperature, ph, pressure and salt concentration

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20
Q

What are tropic levels

A

Different levels within a food chain

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21
Q

Is the producer or apex predator trophic level 1

A

Producer= trophic level 1

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22
Q

Why are producers called producers

A

Able to use photosynthesis to produce their own food using energy from the sun

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23
Q

Why do most food chains consist of no more than trophic levels

A

As you go up the food chain more energy is lost so there isn’t enough energy to sustain the organisms at the higher trophic levels (only 10% energy is passed on each time)

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24
Q

2 key examples of de composers

A

Bacteria
Fungi

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25
Q

1 key example of detritivores

A

Worms

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26
Q

What arrows in food chain show

A

Transfer of energy and biomass

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27
Q

Decomposer meaning

A

Organism that breaks down dead organisms

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28
Q

Detritivore meaning

A

Organisms that feed on the remains of dead plants and animals

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29
Q

Decomposer vs detritivore

A

Decomposer breaks down dead organic matter
Detritivore then feeds on this dead organic matter (dead plants and animals)

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30
Q

What do pyramids of biomass show

A

Biomass of each trophic stage in a food chain

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31
Q

Why not all biomass passed onto the next stage of the food chain (only around 10% is passed on)

A

Not all part of organism is eaten e.g carcass of animal
Not all material is absorbed so gets egested as faeces
Most nutrients absorbed are used to produce energy from respiration so biomass is released as waste products like urea and carbon dioxide

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32
Q

What % of biomass is passed from one trophic level to the next

A

10%

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33
Q

5 examples of condition of area where extremophiles live

A

Very high/ low temperature
Very high/ low ph
High salt
High pressure
Low level of oxygen

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34
Q

Decomposition meaning

A

Break down of dead organic matter
(Into water/ minerals/ CO2…)

35
Q

Examples of what dead organic matter is broken down into when decomposed

A

CO2, minerals, water

36
Q

True or false, decay and decomposition are the same thing

A

True

37
Q

True or false, the whole decomposition process is carried out by both de composers and detritivores

A

True
It includes both the breaking down of dead, organic matter and then detritivores feeding on it

38
Q

Why oxygen is needed for decomposition

A

De composers e.g bacteria and fungi need it to aerobically respire. More oxygen means increased rate of respiration means more energy released means de composers can work faster in breaking down the dead organic matter

39
Q

Why moisture is needed for decay/ decomposition

A

De composers need water to survive (and therefore moisture)

40
Q

Moisture is needed for decomposition because de composers need …. to survive

A

Water

41
Q

Why does a higher temperature increase rate of decomposition

A

Particles have more kinetic energy so move faster and rate of reaction is higher
Enzymes closer to optimum ph so break down dead organic matter at faster rate
So increases rate of decomposition

42
Q

High temperatures increase rate of decomposition but what happens if they’re too high

A

Enzymes denature
Rate of reaction decreases
So Rate of decomposition decreases

43
Q

Moisture is needed for a higher rate of decomposition but why can’t it be too moist (too much water) e.g waterlogged soils

A

Oxygen levels drop (as water fills the air gaps in the soil)
Rate of decomposition decreases as rate of respiration lower so less energy produced for de composers to break down the dead organic matter

44
Q

What is compost

A

A mixture of broken down (decomposed) dead organic material used to fertilise and improve the soil

45
Q

What is compost made from

A

A mixture of broken down (decomposed) dead organic material

46
Q

When does anaerobic decay occur

A

When decomposers anaerobically respire

47
Q

What does anaerobic decay produce

A

Biogas containing methane

48
Q

What can the methane from anaerobic decay be used for

A

Fuel as when burnt it releases lots of energy

49
Q

How does biogas generator work in decay

A

Dead/ organic matter put in tank left to decay anaerobically
Process produces methane
Methane removed (used as fuel)
Sludgy material left behind which can be used as a fertiliser as it contains high density of useful minerals

50
Q

Stages of water cycle

A

1) energy from sun causes some water to evaporate (e.g from lakes/ oceans/ rivers/ puddles /soil and leaves of plant (transpiration))
(Water on earth’s surface evaporated into water vapour forming warm, moist rising air)

2) water vapour rises, cools then condenses to form clouds

3) precipitation
Water droplets in clouds fall as rain/ snow/ hail

4) Percolation/surface run off
Some water trickles through gaps in soil and rocks, some taken in by plants (photosynthesis) some goes back into ocean/river etc

51
Q

In the first stage of the water cycle what sources is the water in on the earth’s surface

A

Lakes/ rivers/ oceans/ puddles/ soil/ plants and animals
(Forms water through evaporation/ transpiration in plants/ respiration in plants and animals)

52
Q

3 ways water on earth’s surface ends up as water vapour

A

Evaporation (river/ puddle/ oceans etc)
Respiration (in plants and animals)
Transpiration (in plants)

53
Q

In the water cycle what makes the water vapour form clouds

A

First warm moist air rises
As it reaches higher up it cools and condenses to form clouds

54
Q

5 stores of carbon in carbon cycle

A

Air (carbon dioxide)
Plants
Animals
Soil (in the microorganisms like bacteria)
Fossil fuels

55
Q

3 Processes that lead to carbon being transferred from/ to plants in carbon cycle

A

Photosynthesis- plants take in CO2 from air
Respiration- CO2 released back into air
Organism feed on plants- carbon passed on to these animals

56
Q

What 2 things can happen to carbon in carbon cycle when plants/ animals die

A

Dead organic plant/ animal matter is decayed (decomposed)
During decomposition microorganisms like bacteria aerobically respire so release CO2 in aerobic respiration

Anaerobic conditions- dead organic matter converted into methane (fossil fuel) which can be burnt to release CO2 (burning dead plants like logs on a fire also releases CO2)

57
Q

What is biodiversity

A

The variety of all different species of organisms on Earth/ in an ecosystem

58
Q

Biodiversity makes ecosystems what

A

Stable

59
Q

Why does biodiversity make ecosystems stable

A

If there are lots of different species in an ecosystem, if one goes extinct the other organisms will still be able to survive as they can rely on other species for food etc

60
Q

2 reasons why biodiversity is important for humans

A

For medical drugs (medicine) and pollinating crops (provides food)

61
Q

Increased population means what 2 things that are reducing biodiversity

A

More resources being used (e.g deforestation to build new homes)
More waste produced (e.g toxic chemicals which can pollute the river and kill fish)

62
Q

5 key ways to maintain biodiversity

A

Breeding programmes
Recycling resources
Protection and regeneration of rare habitats
Reintroduction of hedgerows
Reducing deforestation and carbon emissions

63
Q

How breeding programmes help maintain biodiversity

A

Set up for endangered species in zoo to reduce chance of them becoming extinct
E.g pandas bred in zoos where it’s safe to increase their numbers before they can be gradually released into the wild

Not always effective if the endangered species doesn’t have a safe habitat in the wild to go back into or else their numbers will just decline again

64
Q

How protection and regeneration of rare habitats helps maintain biodiversity

A

Ensures habitat for endangered animals is safe to help reduce chance of them going extinct (often endangered species will be let back out into their natural habitat after breeding programme in zoo)

65
Q

How reintroduction of hedgerows and field margins (green space where plants can grow) helps maintain biodiversity

A

Provides habitat so wide variety of organisms like plants/ birds etc can live there and more species can survive

66
Q

How reducing deforestation and CO2 emissions helps maintain biodiversity

A

Government setting quotas (restrictions) on these things
(Less deforestation means less habitats lost, less CO2 means less contribution to global warming so less ice caps melting etc)

67
Q

How recycling resources helps maintain biodiversity

A

Reduces how much stuff ends up in landfill which can then kill marine animals if plastic ends up in sea/ means more new resources need to be obtained which involves burning fossil fuels in factories/ mining which takes away habitats etc

68
Q

3 key sources of land pollution

A

Sewage (bodily waste/waste water from homes that can pollute soil)

Household waste/ industrial waste (goes into landfill and takes up lots of space destroying habitats and industrial waste can contain harmful chemicals that seep into soil and poison it)

Pesticides in farming- (kill insects and if in soil can be washed into streams and rivers and ingested by fish, killing then/ contaminate plant material that’s then eaten by animals, killing them)

69
Q

What is eutrophication

A

The process where sewage and fertiliser has an effect on the water

Nutrients added to water
Causes algal bloom (algae grow rapidly)
Blocks out sunlight for plants
Plants die
No more photosynthesis so no oxygen (water becomes anoxic) as bacteria decompose plants and use up oxygen in water
Animals can’t aerobically respire so die

70
Q

What is bio accumulation (process that reduces biodiversity)

A

Toxic chemicals wash into water and enter food chain
Chemicals build up through each stage of food chain (concentration of pesticide builds up as more and more plants/ animals with it in them are eaten)
Top predators unable to breed/ die (e.g in Birds of Prey toxic chemicals can cause the egg shell to break so they can’t successfully pro any offspring)
Biodiversity reduced

71
Q

What is smog

A

Mixture of small particles and acidic gases trapped in atmosphere
(Distinctive brownish haze)

72
Q

What 2 health problems can smog cause (trapped acidic gases and small particles in atmosphere)

A

Eye and lung irritation

73
Q

What 2 things is smog made up of that get trapped in atmosphere

A

Small particles
Acidic gases

74
Q

3 Problems with smoke

A

Global dimming (more particulates in air to reflect sunlight, less light hits earth’s surface)
Lung damage
Reduced photosynthesis

75
Q

What are peat bogs

A

Areas of partially decayed vegetation

76
Q

Why do humans destroy peat bogs

A

To be used for garden compost

77
Q

2 reasons destruction of peat bogs (areas of partially decayed vegetation) is bad

A

Reduces habitat for different organisms
When peat is burnt for energy it releases CO2

78
Q

Why is only 1% of energy from sunlight used for photosynthesis

A

Most light doesn’t hit plant
Some light reflected off waxy cuticle
Not all wavelengths of light absorbed (green reflected)
Some light passes straight through leaf without hitting chloroplast

79
Q

What is food security

A

Having enough food to feed the population (everyone can access the food they need)

80
Q

6 factors affecting food security

A

Conflict- trade routes disrupted so can’t export/ import food
Droughts
Pests/ pathogens
Increasing population
Changing diets (scarce food resources transported to developed countries)
GM crops (increases food production but is expensive)

81
Q

2 sustainable fishing methods

A

Fishing quotas- especially on species with reduced numbers
Net size- big holes to stop smaller/ younger fish being caught

82
Q

Its important to maintain fish stocks where what can continue

A

Breeding

83
Q

5 advantages of mycoprotein (meat alternative)

A

High fibre
Low fat
High protein
Suitable for vegetarians
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GCSE Biology (15 decks)

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