The living world- ecosystems Flashcards
Exam Q:
Descrieb how the food web shows that different part s of teh ecosystme are linked tp each other (3 M)
M1) The food webb shows how the prosuces which are plants and how they are related to the secondary consumers which are called herbivours.
M2) Then the arrows which show hoe the secondary consumers get eaten by the top carnicours and they are all related meaning that if a food source changes, it has a knock off effect on the rest
M3) The direction of the arrows also show the direction of energy transfer.
Exam Q: there is basically a pic of the biodivercity levels of the world suggest one reason for the high biodivercity levels in area X
M1) Area X experiences high temp and high rainfall
M2) Which means that plants grow rapidly
What is an ecosystem?
an ecosystem is the living and non living components of an environemnt and the interaction that exsists between them.
What are the 2 types of compoenents and their examples
Biotic (living):
-Flora (plants)
-Fauna (animals)
non biotic (non living):
- atmosphere
-soil
What are the different scales that ecosystmens can exsist?
- local (a small-scale ecosystem is also called a habitat)
- regional (England’s Lake District moorland)
- global biomes (South America’s tropical rainforest)
What are the definitions of producers, consumers, decomposers, food chain, food webba nd nutrinet cycling, scavengers?
-Producers: Organisms that obtain their energy through a primary source.
- Consumers: consumers get energy from the sugars produced by the produces. Basically meaning they eat them
- Decomposers: They break down plant and animal material and return the nutrients into the soil. Bacteria and fungi are 2 examples
= Food chain: Shows the direct links between producers and consumers in the form of a simple line. (THIS IS ONLY ONE LINE)
- food webb: Shows all the connections between producers and consumers. (MANY FOOD CHAINS JOINED TOGETEHR)
- Nutrient cycling:
Nutrients are the food that are used by the plants and animals to grow. Nutrient recycling is the recycling of nutrients between living organisms and the environemtn.
- Scavengers:
Organisms which consume dead animals or plants
What is a biome?
A global scale of an ecosystem
What is a adaptation within a ecosystem?
The way that plants or animals evolve to cope with certain conditions such as excessive rainfall.
waht are the abiotic factors that define biomes?
-Climate (temp and precipitation)
-Relief (Steepness of land)
-Geology (type of rocks)
- soil (fertility)
-Vegetation (Type and coverage)
What are the types of biomes and explain each of them:
- Trpical rainforrests:
Located close to the equator. High temperatures and heavy rainfall associated with equatorial low pressure belt creates ideal conditions for plants to grow.More than half the world’s species of plants and animals live in this global ecosystem. A quarter of all medicines come from rainforest plants. They are a very hot and wet biome that is. known for their biodivercity - Tropical savanah:
Between 15–30° north and south of the Equator. Characterised by wet anddry seasons.The dry season can be very hot and wild fires can break out. Violent thunderstorms can occur during the wet season. - Dessert:
Roughly 30° north and south of the Equator. Hot deserts are associated with the sub-tropical high pressure belts. Sinking air stops clouds from forming, resulting in high daytime temperatures, low night- time temperatures and low rainfall. Plants and animals have to be well adapted to survive in these conditions. VERY hot and VERY dry. - Grassland:
Roughly 30–40° north and south of the Equator. Inland away from coasts, with hot summers and cold winters. - Deciduous and coniferous forests:
Roughly 50–60° north of the Equator. Deciduous trees shed their leaves in winter to retain moisture. Coniferous trees are cone-bearing evergreens, retaining their leaves to maximise photosynthesis during the brief summer months. The UK’s natural vegetation is deciduous forest. - Tundra:
From the Arctic Circle to about 60–70° north (There are only very small areas of tundra in the southern hemisphere due to the lack of land at these latitudes.). Tundra is characterised by low-growing plants adapted to retain heat and moisture in the cold, windy and dry conditions. These regions are found in northern Canada and across Northern Europe. It is a fragile ecosystem, easily damaged by humans and threatened by developments such as oil exploitation and tourism. Animals such as reindeer are adapted to survive the cold. - Polar:
Arctic/Antarctic. very low temperatures and dry conditions. The main polar regions are Antarctica and Greenland where temperatures can fall below −500C.
Why are decomposers important?
-They eat biomass that other organisms fo not use. They also return thse materials which plants need, back into the soil.
- microbes therefore allow the elements of life to be used agai a nd again.
- There are consumers in every ecosysten which only feed on the dead remains of others. These animals are helpful and important as they help prevent the environment from getting cluttered up with dead bodies and waste. They also help with the recycling of nutrients.
What are the impacts of change on an ecisystem?”
Ecosystems can take hundreds if not thousands of years to develop. If an ecosystem is to be sustainable it needs to be in balance. If tehre is a change, it will have a knock off effect. For example, if a certain species decfreases, their consumers may aslo decrease as they have less food.
What are the casues of change?
Global scale changes such as climate change or local scale changes such as a hedge being removed.
How does natural changes differ from extreme natural changes?
Ecosystems can adapt to slow natural changes with few harmful effects. But extreme weather events like droughts that cause sudden change can be devastating to ponds and lakes. As they could dry up in places, which changes the edge-of-pond environment. Plants will dry out and die. Fish, starved of oxygen, might not survive.
The changes due to human activities:
-Ponds may be drained to use for farming. Aquatic plants will die, as will fish and other pond life.
-Hedgerows removed to increase size
of fields. Habitats will be destroyed, altering the plant/ animal balance.
-Woods cut down, destroying habitats for birds and affecting the nutrient cycle.
