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organism and their environment Flashcards

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1
Q

what are producers

A

organisms that produce their own organic nutrients usually using energy from sunlight. plants are producers as they carry out photosynthesis to make glucose

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2
Q

what is a herbivore

A

an animal that gets its energy by consuming/eating plants

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3
Q

what is a carnivore

A

an animal that gets its energy by consuming/eating other animals

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4
Q

what is a primary consumer

A

herbivores – they feed on producers (plants)

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5
Q

what is a secondary consumer

A

predators that feed on primary consumers

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6
Q

what is a tertiary consumer

A

predators that feed on secondary consumer

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7
Q

what is a decomposer

A

bacteria and fungi that get their energy from feeding off dead and decaying organisms and undigested waste (such as faeces) by secreting enzymes to break them down

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8
Q

what is a food chain

A

shows the energy transfer from one organism to the next, starting with a producer

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9
Q

what is the energy source for all food chains

A

light energy from the sun

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10
Q

what do the arrows in a food chain

A

The arrows in a food chain show the transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next

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11
Q

example of producers and consumers in a food chain

A

producer: grass seed, makes its own food using energy from sunlight in photosynthesis
primary consumer: vole, eats the producer
secondary consumer: barn owl, eats the primary consumer

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12
Q

whats a food web

A

a food web is a network of interconnected food chains

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13
Q

what is interdependence

A

how the change in one population can affect others within the food webs

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14
Q

what is a trophic level

A

describes the position of an organism in a food chain, web or pyramid

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15
Q

what do producers convert light energy to

A

chemical energy

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16
Q

what type of process is energy flow

A

non-cyclical process – once the energy gets to the top of the food chain
or web, it is not recycled but ‘lost’ to the environment

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17
Q

what trophic level is producer and why

A

THEY PRODUCE THEIR OWN ORGANIC NUTRIENTS
USUALLY USING ENERGY FROM SUNLIGHT

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18
Q

what tropic level the primary consumers and why

A

HERBIVORES - THEY FEED ON PRODUCERS (PLANTS)

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19
Q

what trophic level is the secondary consumers and why

A

PREDATORS THAT FEED ON PRIMARY CONSUMERS

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20
Q

what trophic level is the tertiary consumers and why

A

PREDATORS THAT FEED ON SECONDARY CONSUMERS

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21
Q

what are scavengers

A

Scavengers are carnivores that eat the dead remains of animals killed by predators

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22
Q

what are the stages of the carbon cycle

A

-Carbon enters the atmosphere as CO2.
-CO2 is absorbed by autotrophs such as green plants.
-Animals consume plants, thereby, incorporating carbon into their system. (known as fixation)
-Animals and plants die, their bodies decompose and carbon is reabsorbed back into the atmosphere.

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23
Q

what is the process by which carbon dioxide goes into animals

A

feeding

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24
Q

how is carbon dioxide returned to the atmosphere

A

plants, animals and microorganisms as a result of respiration

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25
what are fossil fuels
If animals and plants die in conditions where decomposing microorganisms are not present, the carbon in their bodies can be converted, over millions of years and significant pressure.
26
when fossil fuels are burned what does it do to the environment
When fossil fuels are burned (the process is known as combustion), the carbon combines with oxygen and carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere
27
what does mass deforestation lead to
In addition, mass deforestation is reducing the amount of producers available to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by photosynthesis
28
how are clouds formed
Energy from the Sun heats the Earth’s surface and water evaporates from oceans, rivers and lakes Transpiration from plants releases water vapour into the air The moist air cools down as it rises Water vapour condenses back into liquid water, forming clouds
29
how does water return back to earth as precipitation
Water returns to Earth in the form of precipitation As the water droplets in the cloud get bigger and heavier, they begin to fall as rain, snow and sleet This is called precipitation
30
what is nitrogen fixing bacteria
found ‘free living’ in soil and also in the root nodules of certain plants (peas, beans, clover – we call them leguminous plants) take N2 gas and change it into nitrates in the soil
31
what do plants do with nitrates
Plants absorb the nitrates they find in the soil and use the nitrogen in them to make proteins
32
how does nitrogen pass onto animals
Animals eat the plants (or other animals) and get the nitrogen they need from the proteins in the plant or animal
33
how does nitrogen go back into the soil
Waste from animals sends nitrogen back into the soil as ammonium compounds
34
what happens when animals decay
they decay and all the proteins inside them are broken down into ammonium compounds and put back into the soil by decomposers
35
what is nitrifying bacteria
plants cannot absorb ammonium compounds nitrifying bacteria found in soil converts ammonium compounds to nitrites and then back to nitrates which can be absorbed by the plants
36
what is denitrifying bacteria
These bacteria take the nitrates out of the soil and convert them back into N2 gas
37
definition of population
a group of organisms of one species, living in the same area at the same time
38
what is the definition of a community?
all of the populations of different species in an ecosystem
39
what is an ecosystem
a unit containing the community of organisms and their environment, interacting together
40
what is population growth in organisms controlled by
Food supply Predation Disease
41
in recent times why has the population been growing exponentially
Improved technology leading to an abundance of food = rapid increase in birth rate
42
what can cause a decrease in death rate
Improved medicine, hygiene and health care = decrease in death rate
43
4 phases of sigmoid population curve
lag phase exponential growth phase (log phase) stationary phase death phase
44
what happens in lag phase
organisms are adapting to the environment before they are able to reproduce; in addition, at this stage there are very few organisms and so reproduction is not producing larger numbers of offspring
45
what happens in log/exponential phase
food supply is abundant, birth rate is rapid and death rate is low; growth is exponential and only limited by the number of new individuals that can be produced
46
what happens in stationary phase
population levels out due to a factor in the environment, such as a nutrient, becoming limited as it is not being replenished; birth rate and death rate are equal and will remain so until either the nutrient is replenished or becomes severely limited
47
what happens in death phase
population decreases as death rate is now greater than birth rate; this is usually because food supply is short or metabolic wastes produced by the population have built up to toxic levels
48
what are some factors that can prevent a population from looking like a sigmoid curve
- changing temperature or light * predators * disease * immigration (individuals moving into the area) * emigration (individuals moving out of the area)
49
removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
photosynthesis fossilisation
50
what is fossilisation
the remains or impression of a prehistoric plant or animal embedded in rock and preserved in petrified form. doesnt decompose to release co2
51
addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere
respiration decomposition combustion
52
how does decomposition release co2 in the atmosphere
Decomposition is the process by which organic matter, such as dead plant or animal material, is broken down by microorganisms and other decomposers into simpler compounds like carbon dioxide (CO2), water, and other organic compounds. During this process, microorganisms consume the organic matter as a source of energy and release CO2 as a byproduct of respiration.
53
how is nitrogen added to the soil (nitrifying bacteria)
nitrifying bacteria bacteria living in the soil use ammonia as a source of energy, in the process of getting energy from ammonia called nitrification, bacteria produce nitrates nitrates are oxidised to nitrates
54
how is nitrogen added to the soil (nitrogen fixing bacteria)
a special group of nitrifying bacteria that can absorb nitrogen as a gas from the air, these bacteria live in leguminous plants,
55
how is nitrogen added to the soil (lightning)
high temperature of lightning discharge causes some of the nitrogen and oxygen in the air to combine and form oxides of nitrogen. These dissolve in the rain and are washed into the soil as weak acids, where they form nitrates.
56
how is nitrogen removed from the soil
uptake by plants leaching (Nitrates are soluble and as rainwater passes through the soil it dissolves the nitrates carrying it to deeper layers of the soil) Denitrifying bacteria (bacteria that get their energy from breaking down nitrates to nitrogen gas)
57
what is the importance of organisms that feed on decaying and dead animals
prevents accumulation of dead matter recycles nutrients releases carbon dioxide
58
what does pyramid of numbers show
how many organisms are feeding at each trophic level. is not a pyramid shape
59
what does pyramid of biomass/energy show
shows the amount of energy passed on from one trophic level to the next always a pyramid shape bottom layer always producers and is followed by primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer etc.
60
diff between pyramid of biomass and numbers
pyramid of biomass is pyramid shape, pyramid of numbers is not producers have more bio mass than primary consumers so one tree provides food for many primary consumers each secondary consumer eats many primary consumers
61
what are nitrogen compounds cows eat but not used in the milk used for
deamination nitrogen-containing component of amino acids converted to ammonia which is toxic so converted to urea and passed out through urine in field nitrification, turns nitrogen to nitrate ions nitrates are taken up by plants these can run off from fields into lakes causing eutrophication, algal bloom
62
stages of nitrogen cycle
nitrogen fixation: nitrogen from the atmosphere moves into the soil, bacteria and sometimes lightning can fix nitrogen ammonification: fixed nitrogen is converted to ammonium nitrification: bacteria convert ammonium to nitrites which are then oxidised to nitrates denitrification: denitrifying bacteria convert nitrate and nitrite ions back to N2 gas

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