Ecosystems

what is an ecosystem

a natural system made up of plants, animals and the environment

what is a biotic component

a living organism

what is an abiotic component

a non-living feature

what is a food chain

a diagram showing one flow of energy

what is a food web

a diagram showing how each flow of energy is connected

what is a trophic level

the position of an organism in a food chain show in a triangular diagram

how is energy lost in a food chain or web

through an animal regulating its body heat, moving, excreting and as all of an animal is not eaten

what are stores in the nutrient cycle

biomass, litter and soil

what are transfers in the nutrient cycle

littering, decomposition and plant uptake

what are inputs in the nutrient cycle

rainfall and weathering of a parent rock

what are outputs in the nutrient cycle

surface runoff and leaching

what happened in sutton park in 1976

a heat wave led to a wildfire that destroyed 50% of the vegetation in sutton park

why is sutton park managed - habitat

its a low heathland habitat (rare and threatened) that covers 464 acres of sutton park

why is sutton park managed - NNR

it is a protected national nature reserve

why is sutton park managed - human activity

human activity replaced heathland with woodland changing the native species

what is a strategy of managing sutton park

the grazing of exmoor ponies

how does grazing preserve the health of the heathland

it helps to remove the invasive species growing in sutton park

who are the ‘keepers of time’

a volunteer organisation which helps to restore sutton park

what is the ‘keepers of times’ aim

to eliminate alien plant species growing in sutton park

how does removing alien species help protect the heathland environment

it restores native plants and vegetation