Ecosystems and Distribution Flashcards
What is biodiversity?
The variety of organisms found in a particular area.
What does higher biodiversity indicate?
The more species present.
What is a carnivore?
An organism/consumer that only eats other animals.
What is competition?
Occurs when the resources that two organisms or species are in short supply (i.e. are limited).
What is a community?
All the organisms living in an area, i.e. all the different plants and animals.
What is an omnivore?
An organism which has to eat plants or other animals to gain energy.
What is an ecosystem?
All the organisms (the community) living in a particular habitat and the non-living components (abiotic factors) with which the organisms interact.
What is a food chain?
Shows the flow of energy in a simple feeding relationship from a producer through various species to the top carnivore.
What is a food web?
A complex diagram consisting of many food chains linked together that shows more complex feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
What is a habitat?
The place where an organism lives.
What is a herbivore?
A consumer/organism that only eats plant material.
What is inter-specific competition?
Occurs when individuals of different species require one or a few of the same limited resources.
What is intra-specific competition?
Occurs when individuals of the same species require all of the same limited resources.
What is a niche?
The role an organism plays within its community.
What does a niche relate to?
The resources it requires, its interactions with other organisms, and the environmental conditions it can tolerate.
What is a predator?
An animal which hunts, kills, and feeds on other animals.
What is prey?
The animal which is hunted and eaten by a predator for food.
What is a population?
All the members of the same species living in a habitat.
What is a producer?
An organism which makes its own food by photosynthesis (i.e. a green plant) and provides energy for all the other organisms in a food chain.
What is a species?
A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
What is an organism?
Any living thing, animal, plant, or micro-organism.
What are resources?
All the things needed by an organism to survive.
What is an abiotic factor?
A non-living (physical) factor which can influence where organisms can live.
What is a biotic factor?
A factor caused by living organisms in an ecosystem.
