organisation of an ecosystem

• Whats an organism

  An individual living thing
• whats a population


  the number of a particular species living in a habitat
• whats a community

  lots of different populations living in the area
• whats an ecosystem

  the interaction of a community off living organisms with the non-living parts of their environment
• what do plants compete for

  Light, space and water + mineral ions from the soil
• what do animals compete for?

  food, mates and territory
• what does interdependence mean

  a species depending on another species
• examples of interdependence

  pollination, seed dispersal, shelter and food
• what is a stable community?

  a stable community is one where all the species and environmental factors are balanced so population size remains constant
• why is competition important in a community?

  it helps maintain the balance
• what is an abiotic factor?

  a non-living factor
• what is a biotic factor?


  a living factor
• examples of an abiotic factor


  light intensity, temperature, moisture
• examples of biotic factors

  new predators, new pathogen, food availability, outcompeting
• what is an adaption


  organisms having features which enable them to survive the conditions in which they normally live
• types of adaptions

  behavioural, structural, functional
• examples of behavioural adaptions


  migration, hibernation
• examples of structural adaptions


  webbed feet, needles on cacti
• examples of functional adaptions


  desert lizard producing concentrated urine
• what are extremophiles


  organisms that live in extreme environments with high temperature, salt or pressure
• what is an example of an extreme environment


  Yellowstone national park
• whats an example of an extremophile


  bacteria in hydrothermal ocean vents
• what happens to enzymes in extremophiles


  the enzymes adapt so they dont denature
• what are food chains


  feeding relationships within a community
• what do food chains begin with


  a producer
• what are molecules


  Atoms joined by chemical bonds
• examples of producers


  algae, green plant
• how do producers create glucose


  through photosynthesis
• what is biomass


  the mass of living material in an organism
• what eat producers


  primary consumers
• what eats primary consumers


  secondary consumers
• what eats secondary consumers


  tertiary consumers
• what are predators


  those who kill and eat
• what is prey

  those who are eaten
• what happens to predators and prey in a stable communtiy


  the numbers of predators and prey rise and fall in cycles
• What dies abundance mean

  How many
• what can happen to an ecosystem if their is a decline in a certain species


  the whole ecosystem is affected
• what are sampling techniques used for


  estimate the size of a population
• what is often used for sampling techniques


  quadrants
• why is it essential that materials are recycled in the living world

  to provide the building blocks for future organisms