Topic 7- Ecology

• What does habitat mean?

  The place where an organism lives.
• What does population mean?

  The total number of individuals in a specific group or area.
• What does community mean?

  Th populations of different species living in a habitat.
• What are abiotic factors?

  Non-living factors of the environment- e.g. temperature
• What are biotic factors?

  Living factors of the environment- e.g. food
• What does ecosystem mean?

  The interaction of a community of living organisms with non-living parts of the environment.
• What do plants need from the environment?

  Light, space, water and mineral ions.
• What do animals need from the environment?

  Space, food, water and mates.
• What causes competition in the environment?

  Competition for resources to survive
• Examples of abiotic factors in the environment:

  Moisture level, light intensity, temperature, C02 levels, wind intensity, oxygen levels, soil pH
• How can the abiotic factor of light intensity affect the population?

  If decreased, the temperature or C02 could decrease which would slow the rate of photosynthesis.

  Would affect plant growth and therefore the population.
• Examples of biotic factors in the environment:

  New predators arriving, competition, new pathogens, availability of food.
• What are the 3 different ways an organism can adapt?

  Behavioral, functional, and structural adaptations.
• Give an example of a structural adaptation:

  The artic fox has white fur to camouflage against the snow.

  Helps them hide from predators and sneak up on prey.
• Give a behavioural adaptation:

  Species (swallows) migrating to warmer climates during the winter.

  They avoid the problems of living in colder conditions.
• Give an example of functional adaptations:

  Brown bears hibernate in winter to conserve energy because their metabolism is lowered.
• What is the chain of consumers?

  Producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer
• What is the equation for the Quadrats practical?

  Mean = total number of organisms / number of quadrats
• What is biodiversity?

  Biodiversity is the variety of different species of organisms on Earth, or within an ecosystem.
• What programs are there to protect ecosystems and biodiversity?

  Breeding programs, habitat protection, preventing global warming, reducing waste.
• What conflicting pressures are there about how biodiversity is maintained?

  Costs of programmes, effect on local economy, protecting food security, development of society.
• What do environmental changes affect?

  distribution of organisms
• What is a change in distribution?

  A change in where an organism lives
• What 3 environmental changes can affect the distribution of species?

  Availability of water, change in temperature and change in the composition of atmospheric gasses
• How can the availability of water affect the distribution of species?

  During different seasons of wet and dry, some species of animals and plants in the trophics distribution changes (migration)
• How does change in temperature affect the distribution of species?

  Distribution of bird species in germany is changing because of a rise in average temperature
• How does the composition of atmospheric gases affect the distribution of organisms?

  Distribution changes in areas where there is more air pollution (lichen can't grow in areas with sulfur dioxide)
• What can environmental changes be caused by?


  Seasonal factors, geographic factors or human interaction
• What do microorganisms do?

  Break down plant and animal material and waste to get energy (decay)
• What is compost?

  Decomposed organic matter that is used as a natural fertiliser for crops and plants
• What are the factors that affect the rate of decay?

  -temperature: the warmer temperature, the quicker things decompose because it increases the rate of the enzymes (but temperatures can't be extreme or microorganism dies)

  -oxygen availability: microorganisms need oxygen to respire (apart from ones involved in anaerobic decay)

  -water availability: decay is faster in moist areas because organisms involved in decay need water to carry out biological processes

  -number of decay organisms: more microorganisms=faster decomposition
• What is biogas?

  Made up of methane (can be burned as a fuel)
• How is biogas made?

  -When microorganisms decay plant and animal waste anaerobically which produces methane gas

  -Made in a fermenter called a digester or generator and kept at a constant temperature to keep microorganisms respiring
• What are the 2 types of biogas generators?

  Batch generators and continuous generators
• What are batch generators?

  Generators that make biogas in small batches- manually loaded with waste which is left to digest
• What are continuous generators?

  Generators that make biogas all the time- waste is continuously fed in a biogas is produced at a steady rate (suitable for large-scale)
• What does a simple biogas generator need?

  -inlet for waste material to be put in

  -outlet for digested material to be removed

  -outlet for biogas to be piped to where it is needed
• Method to investigate the effect of temperature on the rate of decay

  1. Measure 5 cm³ of lipase into a test tube and label tube

  2. Measure 5 cm³ of milk and add to a different test tube

  3. Add 5 drops of phenolphthalein to tube containing milk

  4. Measure 7 cm³ of sodium carbonate and add to the milk test tube (now alkaline so should turn pink)

  5. Put both tube in water bath at 30°C and leave tubes to reach same temperature (use a thermometer in milk test tube)

  6. At 30°C, add 1cm³ of lipase solution into the milk and start stopwatch

  7. Stir contents and enzyme will start to decompose milk

  8. When it loses its pink colour, stop the stopwatch and record time

  9. Repeat with different temperatures
• What can food chains be divided into?

  Trophic levels
• What is a trophic level?

  The different stages of the food chain