19

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

study of the inter-relationships between organisims and their environment. The environment includes both living and non-living factors

Question 2

ecosystems

Answer 2

dynamic systems made up of a community and all non-living factors of its environment.
sizes can range

Question 3

Two main proccess to consider in ecosystems

Answer 3

• flow of energy through the system
• the cycling of elements within the system

Question 4

Population

Answer 4

a group of individuals of one species that occupy the same habitat at the same time potentially able to interbreed

Question 5

Size of a population can vary due to:

Answer 5

-the effect of abiotic factors
-the interactions between organisms e.g. intraspecific and interspecific competition and predation

Question 6

Community

Answer 6

all the populations of different species living and interacting in a particular place at the same time

Question 7

Habitat

Answer 7

a place where an organism normally lives characterised by physical conditions and other types of organisims present.
within habitats there are also smaller micro-habitats

Question 8

Ecological niche

Answer 8

describes how an organism fits into the environment- where the organism lives and what it does there- includes all the abiotic and biotic conditions needed for it to survive

Question 9

Abiotic factors that influence the size of a population

Answer 9

• temperature
  -pH
  -water and humidity

when any abiotic factor is below the optimum fo a population, fewer individual is able to survive because there adaptions are not suited to conditions. if no individuals have adaptions that allow survival, the population becomes extinct