Ecosystem & Nutrient Cycles Flashcards
What is an ecosystem?
A collection of organisms living and thriving in a community of other species.
What is an environment?
The climate and state of a place.
What is evolution?
The adaptation and growth of certain species to fit certain needs.
What is a habitat?
The place where an animal or plant lives
What is population?
The amount of living things in a certain area
What is a Abiotic factor?
A non biological factor that affects something.
What is a Biotic factor?
A biological factor that affects something.
Examples of Abiotic factors.
Water, light, humidity, pH, wind.
Examples of biotic factors
Competition, Predatation, Mutualism
What is parasitism?
Parasitism is the relationship between two organisms, where one is surviving off the others attributes, benefitting off them.
Give some examples of parasites and what they do.
Fleas need blood to survive and suck blood out of people and animals. Females need blood to lay eggs.
Head lice need blood from your head otherwise they die really quickly. They have adapted to survive underwater and are harder to remove.
Tape worms can kill if not dealt with. They live inside your intestines and feed off all the nutrients in the food, leaving the host with none.
What is mutualism?
Mutualism is the relationship between two or more organisms where both benefit from the relationship.
Give some examples of mutualism.
Oxpeckers help other species by cleaning them. They often sit on the backs of large animals and deal with lice and ticks. They eat dandruff.
Cleaner fish are small fish that clean large fish. They clean off and eat parasites and dead skin. The predators don’t even eat them.
What is a food web?
A system of interlocking and independent food chains.
What is a food chain?
A series of organisms all dependent on the next source of food.
