Unit 5: Ecology Flashcards
(29 cards)
What is a population?
The organisms of the same species in an area
What is a community?
Two or more populations in an area
What is an ecosystem?
The interaction between a community of organisms and their environment
What is interdependence?
Organisms in an ecosystem depending on each other for food, shelter, pollination or seed dispersal
What is a stable community?
Size of populations of all species remains relatively constant over time with high biodiversity
What do plants compete for?
Light, space, water, mineral ions
What do animals compete for?
Food, mates, territory
What are biotic and abiotic factors?
Living and non-living factors that affect the abundance and distribution of living organisms in an ecosystem
What are the 3 main biotic factors?
Food availability, new predators, new pathogens
What are the 3 main abiotic factors?
Light intensity, temperature, soil pH
What are adaptations?
Features or characteristics that allow organisms to survive
What are the three types of adaptations?
Structural, behavioural, functional
What are structural adaptations?
Features of an organisms body
E.g. arctic foxes have white fur to camouflage / polar bears have large paws to stay on top of snow
What are behavioural adaptations?
Ways that organisms behave
E.g. lions hunt in packs
What are functional adaptations?
Processes within an organisms body
E.g. bears hibernate in winter and slow their metabolism
What are extremophiles?
Organisms that are adapted to living in extreme conditions
What are the two types of sampling?
Random & systematic
What is a quadrat?
Square of a known area used to measure abundance of species
What is the water cycle?
Evaporation - condensation - precipitation - transpiration / surface run off
What are the factors affecting the rate of decay?
Warm temperature, oxygen, moist, microorganisms
What is biogas?
Gas produced when microorganisms anaerobically decay sewage
What is a batch generator?
Makes small batches of biogas
Waste manually loaded
What is a continuous generator?
Makes biogas constantly on a large scale
What are the factors that affect species distribution?
Temperature, water availability, atmospheric gasses
