Living World (ECOSYSTEMS)

Question 1

Ecosystem

Answer 1

A system created by the interactions of communities of organisms with their PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

Question 2

Producers

Answer 2

Organisms which produce their own food from the environment, eg. Plants

Question 3

Consumers

Answer 3

Organisms which get energy and nutrients by feeding on other organisms

Question 4

Decomposers

Answer 4

Organisms that break down waste and dead organisms and RETURN THE NUTRIENTS TO THE SOIL, eg. Bacteria, fungi

Question 5

What are biotic factors?

Answer 5

Refer to living organisms, eg. Plants and animals

Question 6

What are abiotic factors?

Answer 6

Refer to the non-living environmental factors which influence the ecosystem climate, eg. Temperature, precipitation, etc

Question 7

What are food chains?

Answer 7

Show the flow of energy between organisms in an ecosystem

Question 8

What are food webs?

Answer 8

Show the interdependence between organisms and more complex interactions such as connections and more complex food chains

Question 9

What is the nutrient cycle?

Answer 9

Where nutrients are transferred through the ecosystem in a cycle

Nutrients in soil –>

Producers take up nutrients –>

Consumers eat producers –>

Decomposers break down consumers into nutrients –>

Nutrients go into soil

(CYCLE REPEATS)

Question 10

What can the introduction of disease do to an ecosystem?

Answer 10

• Devastate plant and animal populations

- Knock on effects in food chains and other species

Question 11

What can drought do to an ecosystem?

Answer 11

• Ponds or lakes dry up, devastating freshwater ecosystems

- Plants and animals decrease in population as habitat is destroyed

Question 12

What are some human activities that can harm ecosystems?

Answer 12

• Fertilisers getting into the water can cause eutrophication (algae blooms due to nitrates), which depletes oxygen in water
• Deforestation harms habitats and affects nutrient cycle
• Hedgerow removal destroys habitats

Question 13

How was Avington Park Lake restored?

Answer 13

• Desilting the lake
• Redefining the lake
• Creating new waterside habitats

Question 14

What are the main 8 global ecosystems, (biomes)?

Answer 14

• Polar
• Tundra
• Deciduous and coniferous forests
• Mediterranean temperate grassland
• Tropical grassland (savannah)
• Desert
• Tropical rainforests

Question 15

What can introduction of a new species do to an ecosystem?

Answer 15

• Alter food chains
• Increased competition for space and food
• Predators can decrease populations lower down food chain, vice versa