Unit 2 - AOS 2

• What is an ecosystem?


  Multiple communities interacting with one another and their physical environment.
• What defines a population?


  A group of individuals of the same species living in the same geographical location.
• What is population density?


  The number of individuals in a population per unit area.
• What is carrying capacity?


  The maximum population size that an environment can sustain indefinitely.
• What is predation?


  Interactions between different species where one organism hunts and kills another for food.
• What are the different sampling techniques?

  • Random Sampling
  • Systematic Sampling
  • Stratified Sampling
  • Judgment Sampling
  • Convenience Sampling
• What are the types of errors in research?

  • Personal Errors
  • Systematic Errors
  • Random Errors
• What are the types of adaptations in organisms?


  • Structural: Modifications to physical structures
  • Behavioural: Modifications to actions
  • Physiological: Modifications to internal processes
• What are epicormic shoots?


  Fresh growth from a plant stimulated to develop after damage.
• How do epicormic buds help eucalyptus trees after a fire?


  They are protected by thick bark and quickly sprout after a fire.
• What are biotic factors in an ecosystem?


  Properties of the environment relating to living things, such as predator-prey relationships.
• What are abiotic factors in an ecosystem?


  Properties of the environment relating to non-living things, such as temperature and nutrient availability.
• What is sexual reproduction?


  The fusion of two distinct haploid gametes to produce a diploid zygote.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of sexual reproduction?


  Advantages include increased genetic diversity; disadvantages include being not time efficient.
• What is a tolerance range?


  The range of environmental conditions in which an organism can survive.
• What is a community in ecological terms?


  A group of interacting populations of different species in the same geographical location.
• What is a habitat?


  The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.
• What is cultural burning?


  • Consistent small cool burns in cooler seasons
  • Regenerates vegetation and land
  • Promotes local biodiversity
  • Creates a complex patchwork of vegetation types
• What is hazard reduction burning?


  • Planned and controlled fires
  • Reduces fuel loads like grass and leaves
  • Decreases chance and intensity of wildfires
• What is a fire mosaic?


  The pattern created by Indigenous Australian cultural fire management with areas burned and others left to regenerate.
• What are approaches to bioethics?


  • Study of ethical issues in biology and medicine
  • Involves decision-making between choices
  • Frameworks include:
  • Consequences Based
  • Duty/Rule Based
  • Virtues Based
• What is biodiversity?


  The variety of life in the world or within a particular habitat.