Main objectives Flashcards
(14 cards)
What is a biome?
a collection of ecosystems sharing similar climatic conditions
What are the five characteristics of a biome?
Aquatic: freshwater(i.e, ponds and rivers)
marine(i.e, oceans and estuaries)
Forest: tropical, temperate boreal, forests (taiga)
Grassland: tropical grasslands (savannas), temperate grasslands
Desert: hot and dry, semiarid, coastal, cold Tundra: arctic tundra, alpine tundra
What is a trophic level?
the group of organisms that would occupy this function in an ecosystem
How to calculate the lincoln index
What is a species
•A group of organisms that are capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
what is a population
•A group of the same species living in the same area at the same time.
What is a community
•Group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat.
What is an ecosystem
• Community of interdependent organisms and the physical environment they inhabit.
What is a niche
•Where and how a species lives. Their share of habitat and resources. Can include behaviours
What is bioaccumilation
•heavy metals or pesticides are fat soluble and do not readily break down. They build up over time in the tissues of the organisms (persist)
Biomagnification
•as you go up the trophic levels the organisms eat more of what is below them (law of thermodynamics) this causes the pesticide or heavy metal to be magnified up the food chain
Disadvantages of banning DDT
•DDT effectively killed malarial mosquitoes, since the ban populations of mosquitoes have increased and incidence of malaria has increased as a result
Advantages of banning DDT
- environmental side-effects of DDT have been avoided by banning
its use e.g.DDT is not biodegradable and accumulates in the tissues of living organisms (bioaccumulation) damaging or even eliminating populations
Example of solution
•Biocontrols: Bermuda introduced the lady bird to eats scale insects (harming endemic cedars) and the kiskadeeto eat anolislizard(competingwith skink)
