Y9 Ecology

• Population: a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area
• Community: a group of different species of organisms that interact together in a given space
• Ecosystem: all living and non-living factors interacting in a given area
• Habitat: natural home or environment of an animal, plant or other organism
• Biodiversity: variety of life within an ecosystem
• Quadrant:

  1. Count the number of squares occupied by an organism
  2. Divide by total number of squares in a quadrant
  3. Multiply by 100
• Decomposition:

  • Decomposers: bacteria or fungi
  • They release enzymes onto dead matter
  • Breaks them down
  • Absorbs their nutrition

  Also called saprotrophic nutrition
• Producer --> primary consumer --> secondary consumer --> tertiary consumer
• Connection of food chains make food webs
• Biotic factors:

  • Availability/competition for food
  • Grazing
  • Predation
  • Disease
  • Availability of nests
• Grazing is when a dominant species outcompetes other species, decreasing biodiversity
• Predation is when a decrease of predators happen, decreasing biodiversity
• Abiotic factors:

  • Temperature
  • Amount of sunlight
  • Water availability
  • pH of soil
  • Soil moisture
  • Pollution
• 4 processes of the Carbon Cycle:

  1. Combustion
  2. Respiration
  3. Photosynthesis
  4. Decomposition
• Fertilisers include nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium
• Eutrophication is when water has a high concentration of nitrates and phosphates, resulting in a rapid growth of algae (algal bloom) due to excessive nutrients
• Eutrophication can happen:

  • In water sewage
  • When minerals from fertilisers are washed to the ocean