LS10 - Life Sciences > Ecosystems > Flashcards

Ecosystems Flashcards

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0
Q

Ecosystem

A
  • Living and non-living parts of a particular area
  • that interact together
  • parts termed biotic and abiotic
  • can be any size
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1
Q

Terrarium

Aquarium

A

Small enclosed (glass) case holding:

  • a mini terrestrial ecosystem
  • a mini aquatic ecosystem
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2
Q

Biotic factors

A

Living organisms

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3
Q

Abiotic factors

A

Non-living parts of an ecosystem

E.g. Soil, water, temperature and sunlight

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4
Q

Producers

A
  • Make their own food from abiotic factors
  • Also called autotrophs
  • photosynthesis uses sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to make glucose and oxygen
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5
Q

Examples of producers

A
  • Plants
  • Algae
  • Cyanobacteria
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6
Q

Plants which grow in water

A

Hydrophytes

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7
Q

Plants growing on land that need a moderate supply of water

A

Mesophytes

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8
Q

Plants that grow in very dry regions

A

Xerophytes

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9
Q

Consumers

A
  • Organisms that must eat to get food
  • also called heterotrophs
  • E.g. animals
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10
Q

Different trophic levels of consumers

A
  • Primary consumers - eat producers
  • Secondary consumers - eat primary consumers
  • Tertiary consumers - eat secondary consumers
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11
Q

Different modes of feeding

A

Herbivores - only eat plants

Omnivores - eat both plants and animals e.g. Humans

Predators - eat different animals by hunting

Scavengers - eat leftovers

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12
Q

Decomposers

A
  • Break down organic material (organisms and wastes) to get their food
  • also called saprotrophs
  • return inorganic nutrients to the environment
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13
Q

Physiographic factors

A

Abiotic factors to do with position and shape of area

  • slope
  • aspect
  • altitude
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14
Q

Slope and slope effects of an ecosystem

A

How steep or flat an area is (inclination)

  • runoff
  • soil erosion rates
  • soil depth
  • soil fertility
  • types of plants and animals
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15
Q

Aspect of an ecosystem

A

Direction it faces (e.g. north, south, east or west)

  • amount of sunlight hitting the ecosystem
  • amount of rain, evaporation and moisture
  • depending on prevailing winds in the area
  • how sheltered
  • plant and animals living there
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16
Q

How aspect affects Table Mountain ecosystems

A
  • South slopes cool and moist
  • e.g. Newlands = forest
  • North slopes warm and dry
  • e.g. Front of table mountain = fynbos
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17
Q

Altitude (elevation) effects on ecosystems

A

Height above sea level (elevation)

As you go up:

  • temperatures get cooler
  • amount of precipitation increases
  • solar radiation increases
  • wind increases
  • fewer plant and animal species
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18
Q

Edaphic factors

A

Soil factors

  • pH
  • humus content
  • soil texture
  • soil air
  • Water-holding capacity
  • Water drainage
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19
Q

pH of soil

A
  • How alkaline or acidic
  • pH less than 7 is acidic
  • pH greater than 7 is alkaline
  • pH of 7 is neutral
  • different plants live in different levels
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20
Q

Humus content of soil

A
  • How much dead and decaying plant and animal material
  • humus makes soil fertile
  • provides nutrients
  • keeps oxygen in soil
  • holds water but allows excess to drain away
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21
Q

Soil texture

A

Different sized soil particles

  • sand - large particles
  • silt - small particles
  • clay - tiny particles
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22
Q

Properties of sandy soil

A
  • Large air spaces
  • allows water to pass through easily
  • low water retention
  • higher leaching of nutrients
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23
Q

Properties of clay rich soil

A
  • Tiny air spaces
  • does not drain easily
  • becomes waterlogged easily
  • high water retention
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24
Loam soil
* Mixture of all particle sizes and humus * excess water drains quickly * holds a good amount of water * lots of air in the soil * Generally rich in nutrients
25
Soil air
* Found in spaces between soil particles * sand has large spaces * clay has small spaces * more air the more oxygen available for plant roots
26
Investigation of soil water retention
* Different types of soil * each put into filter * Same volume of water added to each * Measure amount of water retained by each
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Investigation of soils rate of drainage
* Different types of soil each put into filter * Same volume of water added to each * Measure amount of time for water to stop draining
28
Physical factors in an ecosystem
* Sunlight * Temperature * Water * Atmospheric gases
29
Sunlights effects on an ecosystem
Main source of energy * plants use sunlight during photosynthesis * more plants grow where there is higher light intensity * some plants suited to lower intensity (e.g. ferns)
30
Photoperiodism
How organisms respond to the length of day and night * effect on plant growth or * flowering when the day is longer or shorter * also affects behaviour in animals
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Nocturnal
* Animals more active at night * e.g. moths and bats
32
Diurnal
Animals more active in the day
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Ectothermic animals
* Cold-blooded animals * Animals that cannot regulate their own body temperature. * Become inactive when the temperature is too hot or cold * E.g. fish, amphibians, reptiles
34
Endothermic animals
* Warm-blooded animals * Regulate their body temperatures at a constant temperature * environment does not affect body temperature * e.g. mammals and birds
35
How some animals survive seasonal changes in temperature
* Migration (e.g. Birds) * Hibernation in cold months (e.g. Snakes and rodents) * Aestivation in hot months (e.g. Snails and insects)
36
How some plants survive seasonal changes in temperature
* Deciduous (dormant in winter) shed leaves and become inactive (e.g. Oak) * Above surface parts die back with underground storage (e.g. Potato) * Annuals die and leave seeds (e.g. Daisies)
37
Limiting factors
A factor that limits the presence or growth of a particular type of organism * Too little of something * Too much of something * E.g. Too little or too much water for a terrestrial plant
38
Xerophyte adaptations to conserve water
Limit water loss: * Waxy cuticle * bark on stems * leaves modified to be smaller to reduce surface area * thick organs to store water (e.g. succulents) Increase water uptake: * shallow, branched roots to rapidly absorb surface water * long taproots to reach underground water
39
Hydrophyte adaptations to survive excess water
* floating leaves * Stoma on top surface of leaf to absorb gases * waxy cuticle on upper surface to encourage water to run off * little or no xylem (a plant tissue for transporting water) * large air spaces between cells to encourage floatation.
40
Animal adaptations to conserve water
* Scaly skins to reduce water loss * Excess water removed before urine formed in kidneys * Nocturnal behaviour
41
Gases in the atmosphere
* Oxygen (21%) * Carbon dioxide (0,035%) * Nitrogen (78%) * Water vapour (variable)
42
Importance of oxygen in air
* Produced by plants during photosynthesis * Used for cellular respiration in animals and plants
43
Importance of carbon dioxide in the air
* Produced by animals and plants during cellular respiration * Plants need it for photosynthesis * Increased levels due to human activity causes climate change
44
Importance of nitrogen in the air for organisms
* Converted into usable forms by bacteria * Plants need nitrogen to make proteins
45
Wind in ecosystems
* affects rainfall * affects transpiration and evaporation in plants * wind disperses seed and spores in plants and fungi
46
Energy in an ecosystem is mainly lost as...
Heat loss from each trophic level
47
Food chains
* Shows energy flow from one organism to the next as a flow diagram * Arrows indicate direction of energy flow
48
Levels in a food chain
Trophic or feeding level
49
Food webs
* Many interlocking food chains * Shows most of the feeding relationships in a community * Shows organisms with specialised and limited diets * Shows organisms with varied diets
50
Food pyramids
Diagrams showing 'how much' at each trophic level Include measurements of: * numbers * biomass * energy
51
Energy amount generally passed on to the next trophic level
* 10% * I.e. 90% is lost in the form of heat
52
Effect of energy lost as heat at each trophic level
* Organisms at the top of the food pyramid ultimately are using vastly more food to survive * There are able to be fewer carnivores than herbivores in any ecosystem
53
Problems with using pyramids of numbers
Does not account for: * Organisms size * How quickly they reproduce
54
Problems with using pyramids of biomass
Does not account for how quickly organisms reproduce
55
Biomass measurement
* Using the organic molecules to estimate amount of energy * Dry mass (e.g. kg) is measured for fair comparisons
56
Steps in drawing an energy pyramid
1. Lightly draw in pencil a set of rough axes (extending the 'x-axis' on both sides of the 'y-axis' forming an upside down T on your page) 2. Start with the producers at the bottom and choose a suitable x-axis scale (e.g. 1cm = 1000Kj) 3. Draw the producers bar to the length representing the energy of producers (extending equally on both sides of the y-axis). 4. Using the same scale repeat for all trophic levels (ensure height of bars is equal) 5. Label each trophic level and provide a title for the pyramid. 6. Erase the rough axes.
57
Nutrient cycles
* Fixed amount of nutrients in biosphere * these need to be cycled over and over in ecosystems * e.g. water, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen cycles
58
Water cycle
Driven by suns energy * Evaporation of water from land and sea * Water vapour condenses into clouds * Water falls as precipitation * Leaves land as run-off in streams and rivers Biotic element: * Take water in through roots or by consuming it * Lost by evaporation: transpiration (plants) and excretion (animals)
59
Carbon cycle
* Plants take in carbon dioxide from atmosphere and make glucose through photosynthesis * Glucose metabolised by plants into other organic compounds * Animals get carbon by eating plants * Animals and plants respire releasing carbon dioxide as waste back into the atmosphere * Decomposers break down organic matter and carbon dioxide returns to the atmosphere * Some carbon is fossilised (e.g. coal) * When carbon rich material burnt, carbon dioxide returns to the atmosphere
60
Three ways nitrogen is converted to nitrates for plants
* Nitrogen fixing bacteria * lightning * Nitrifying bacteria
61
Nitrogen fixing bacteria
* Often found in soil and in root nodules * e.g. Legume plants * Can absorb nitrogen gas and convert it to nitrates * Nitrates used by plants to make proteins
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Role of lightning in nitrogen cycle
High temperatures causes nitrogen and oxygen to form oxides which dissolve in water and form nitrates in soil
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Role of nitrifying bacteria in nitrogen cycle
* Dead organism proteins and wastes are rich in nitrogen compounds * which are broken down and converted into nitrates
64
Role of denitrifying bacteria in the nitrogen cycle
Convert some nitrates back into nitrogen gas
65
Oxygen cycle
* Oxygen produced from photosynthesis * Used by organisms during cellular respiration * Linked closely with the carbon cycle * Oxygen also found as ozone (molecule with three atoms of oxygen) which protects biosphere from UV radiation
66
Ecotourism
* Visitors travelling in a caring and responsible way to natural areas * Enjoying the area in a way that conserves the environment * and improves the well-being of local people
67
Stakeholders
People with an interest in and involved in something
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Examples of stakeholders in an ecotourism area
* Developers building infrastructure * Tourism companies bringing in tourists * The tourists themselves * Local communities providing services
69
Some economic benefits of ecotourism
* Local people can earn money without harming the environment * Traditional lifestyle must be preserved * Brings in money for national parks and country as a whole
70
Ethics and doing things ethically
Things done in a moral, thoughtful, acceptable and correct way
71
Why it is important to involve local inhabitants in ecotourism
* for long term success, locals need to become stakeholders * prevents problems and conflicts between stakeholders * avoid negative environmental, social and cultural effects by empowering locals * encourages locals to conserve environment and culture * traditions and lifestyles respected * more likely to support conservation laws
72
Opportunities of ecoturism
* Education and training of local communities * Job opportunities for local communities * Appropriate infrastructure developed
LS10 - Life Sciences
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