basic ecology

• What is a habitat?

  environment which an organism lives
• What is a population?

  total number of organisms of same species living in same geographical area
• What is a community?

  population of all different species that live in same habitat
• What does biotic mean?

  living
• What does abiotic mean?

  non-living
• What are examples of abiotic parts of the environment?

  water and minerals in soil
• What is an ecosystem?

  biotic and abiotic parts of an environment and how they interact
• What do plants compete for?

  light space water mineral ions from soil
• What do animals compete for?

  food water mating partners territory
• What is interdependence?

  all of different species in community depend on each other
• In a community what does each species depend on other species for?

  food shelter pollination seed dispersal
• What is a stable environment?

  all species and environmental factors are In balance so population sizes are constant. number of predators fall and rise in cycles
• What are the four different biotic factors?

  availability of food, arrival of new predator, competition between species, arrival of new pathogens
• What happens if a species is outcompeted?

  population of species decreases a lot no longer enough to breed species may become extinct
• What are the seven abiotic factors?

  light intensity, temperature, water, pH and mineral content of soil, wind intensity and direction, oxygen level(aquatic animals), Carbon dioxide level(plants)
• What are structural adaptations?

  adaptations of body shape or body structure
• What do camels have a hump?(structural)

  hump is store of fat. Fat is thermal insulator heat able to be lost from other parts in camel body. Reduces water loss from sweating
• Why do camels have leathery mouth?(structural)


  Camel able to chew desert plants which have thorns
• Why do camels have long eyelashes?(structural)

  keep dust out of their eyes
• Why do camels have wide feet?(structural)

  prevent camels sinking into sand
• What are functional adaptation?

  adaptations to body functions of organism
• What do camels produce?(functional)

  concentrated urine and dry faeces which reduces water loss
• What can camels tolerate?(functional)

  very large changes in body temperature helps them to cope with intense heat of desert
• What are behavioural adaptations?

  adaptations to animal's lifestyle or behaviour
• What is a behavioural adaptation of a kangaroo rat?

  nocturnal to avoid heat of daytime
• Where do kangaroo rats live(behavioural)

  burrows underground, keeps the cool and protected from predators
• Why does the artic fox have thick fur?(structural)

  provides insulation reduces heat loss to air
• Why does the artic fox have small ears?(structural)

  reduces surface area of fox which reduces heat loss
• What does the artic fox's coat provide?(structural)

  camouflage - helps to hunt prey
• Why do cacti have very small leaves?(structural)

  reduce water loss
• What are cacti roots like?(structural)

  shallow and extensive to catch as much water after rainfall
• What can cacti store?(structural)

  store water in stem can go months without water
• What are extremophiles?

  organisms adapted to live in extreme conditions
• What are the conditions of a deep sea vent found on the sea bed?

  extremely harsh very high temperature and pressures. Some bacteria adapted to this
• What is another harsh condition some extremophiles are adapted to?

  high salt concentrations
• Why would the number of grass plants decrease?

  birds not feeding on Insects. Insects would breed and increase in number. More insects would eat more grass
• What important role do decomposers play in the ecosystem?

  break down dead plant or animal material in environment. do this by secreting enzymes which break dow dead material into small soluble molecules. Take up molecules by diffusion
• How to green plants produce biomass?

  produce glucose by carrying out photosynthesis. use glucose to make biological molecules that make up plant's biomass
• What effects the distribution of organisms?

  environmental changes changes in place organism live
• What are examples of environmental changes?

  availability of water, temperature, atmospheric gases