3.1 Ecosytems

• species


  a group of organisms that are able to interbreed to produce fertile offspring of a similar type.
• biodiversity


  biodiversity is the variety and abundance of living organisms found in a particular area.
• What is a herbivore?

  A herbivore is a consumer that only eats plants to obtain energy.
• What are herbivores also known as?


  Herbivores can also be referred to as primary consumers.
• What is a carnivore?

  carnivores only eat other animals to obtain energy.
• What is an omnivore?


  A consumer that eats both plants and animals to obtain energy.
• What is a predator ?

  Predators are consumers that kill other animals to eat.
• What is prey?


  prey species are those that are killed by other consumers. The term prey usually refers to animals that are eaten.
• What is a food chain?

  A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten.
• What is a food web?

  a food web shows the numerous paths that energy can take as it flows through the species in an ecosystem.
• population


  a population is the number of individuals of one species found in an area.
• What is a producer

  Producers are green plants that can produce their own food by the process of photosynthesis.
• What is a consumer?

  consumers eat other organisms to obtain energy.
• what is community ?


  The term community refers to all the individuals of all the species in an area
• What is an ecosystem?

  An ecosystem consists of the community living in a particular habitat and the non-living components with which these organisms interact.
• Interactions of organisms in food webs

  A food web shows the feeding interactions very clearly within a food web. the arrows showing the directions of energy flow indicate which species are feeding on which as the energy moves from prey to the predators.
• what does it mean by competitive interactions

  food webs also reveal competitive interactions within a food web- species that feed on the same prey must be in competition with one another for that prey.
• What is a niche?


  A niche is the role that an organism plays within a community.
• What does Niche relate too ?

  niche relates to the resources an organism requires in its ecosystem, such as light and nutrient availability, and its interactions with other organisms in the community.
• what does niche involve.

  niche involves competition and predation and the conditions an organism can tolerate, such as temperature.
• when does competition in ecosystems occur ?

  competition occurs when resources are in short supply.
• What is interspecific competition?

  competition occurs amongst individuals of different species for one or a few of the resources they require.
• What is intraspecific competition?

  intraspecific competition occurs amongst individuals of the same species and is for all resources required so intraspecific competition is therefore more intense than interspecific competition.