Unit 4 - Lesson 3: Ecosystems, Pyramids & Quadrats Flashcards
What is Ecology?
Ecology - the study of how organisms and the Earth are connected.
Define ‘ecosystem’.
Community of living organisms together with their non-living environment.
Define ‘habitat’.
The place where an organism lives. There may be multiple habitats in an ecosystem.
Define ‘population’.
Total number of one species in a habitat at a certain time.
Define ‘community’.
Total number of all species found in a particular area.
Define ‘biome’.
Large area of Earth dominated by a specific type of vegetation e.g. temperate grassland.
What does dynamic means in terms of biology?
For example, a habitat must meet the needs of an organism, but if it doesn’t, for example, by climate change, then that organism must evolve (which takes millions of years) or move.
What do ecosystems consist of?
Living (biotic/biological) and non-living things (abiotic/physical).
What is another word for living things?
Biotic/biological
What is another word for non-living things?
Abiotic/physical
Give examples of abiotic (non-living) factors.
- Water depth
- Salinity of water (how salty it is)
- Presence of chemicals i.e. pesticides/fertilisers
- Rainfall
- Light intensity
- pH of soil
Give examples of biotic (living) factors.
- Availability of food
- Availability of nesting sites
- Competition for shelter
- Parasitism (number of parasites)
- Disease
- Predation
What does a parasite live in?
A parasite lives in or on another organism called its host. Mosquitos are a parasite of humans.
What do food chains show?
Who’s eating who.
What do food chains start with?
A producer, who obtains energy from the sun.
Who do primary consumers eat? Are primary consumers herbivores or carnivores?
Primary consumers eat producers. Primary consumers are herbivores.
Who do secondary consumers eat? Are secondary consumers herbivores or carnivores?
Secondary consumers eat primary consumers. Secondary consumers are carnivores.
Who do tertiary consumers eat?
Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers.
Who do quaternary consumers eat?
Quaternary consumers eat tertiary consumers.
What do arrows in a food chain represent?
An arrow in a food chain means ‘eaten by’.
What eats a top carnivore?
NOTHING.
What do decomposers (e.g. fungi and bacteria) eat?
Dead organisms & waste such as faeces.
What is each level of the food chain called?
A trophic level.
What does each step of the pyramid (pyramids of number) represent?
The total numbers of organisms at each trophic level.
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