Adaptation, Interdependence and Competition

• Abiotic factors can affect the food chain.

  Wind direction is one abiotic factor. Name one other abiotic factor


  Wind
• The triangular shape helps the tree to survive in snowy conditions. Suggest how

  Snow can fall off
• Thorns help this plant survive. Suggest how

  Stop it being eating
• Name two things for which plants compete.

  Light

  Water
• Give three environmental factors that might affect the distribution of the plants.

  Temperature

  Water

  Trampling
• Give two reasons why animals may become extinct

  new predators

  new diseases
• Most of the time the two seaweeds are covered with water. Bladder wrack has bladders filled with air. Bladder wrack grows more quickly than saw wrack. Suggest an explanation why.

  Gets more light so photosynthesises more as bladders aid floating
•  

  Describe three ways fossils can be made.

   

  Parts of organisms haven’t decayed

  Conditions needed for decay are absent

  Parts of the organism are replaced by other materials as the decay
• Ecosystem


  A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
• Community


  Group of interdependent living organisms in an ecosystem.
• Population


  A group of individuals of the same species occupying a particular geographic area.
• Interdependence


  The network of relationships between different organisms within a community.
• Abiotic

  Non-living factors that affect living organisms.
• Biotic


  A living thing, as an animal or plant, that influences or affects an ecosystem
• Abundance

  A measure f how common or rare a particular type of organism is in a given environment.
• Distribution


  Where particular types of organisms are found within an environment.
• Quadrat


  A sample area used for measuring the abundance and distribution of organisms in the field.
• Sample size


  The size of a sample in an investigation.
• Quantitative sampling

  Records the numbers of organisms rather than just the type.
• Median


  The middle value in a list of numbers.
• Mode


  The number which occurs most often in a set of data.
• Mean


  The arithmetical average of a series of numbers.
• Range


  The maximum and minimum values for the independent or dependent variables - important in ensuring that any patterns are detected.
• Transect


  A measured line or area along which ecological measurements are made.
• Competition


  The process by which living organisms compete with each other for limited resources such as food, light or reproductive partners.
• Adaptation


  Special features that make an organism particularly well suited to the environment where it lives.
• Extremophile


  An organism that can survive and reproduce in extreme conditions.
• Predator


  An animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals.
• Prey


  An animal that is hunted and killed by another for food.