adaptations, interdependence and competition - CH16

ecosystem

made up a community of organisms with interact with the living and nonliving parts of the environment

abiotic

non-living elements of the environment

biotic

interactions with living elements of the environment

interdependence

the network of reliance and relationships between a community’s organisms

stable community

environmental factors are relatively constant or change in a regular pattern and the species are in balance

community

group of interdependent living organisms within an ecosystem

competition

organisms compete with each other for limited resources like, food, nutrients, light, and reproductive partners

interspecific competition

a new species may outcompete another to the point where numbers are too low to breed successfully

intraspecific competition

competition between organisms of the same species

abiotic factors

light intensity, temperature, moisture levels, soil pH, wind intensity and direction, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels

biotic factors

food availability, new pathogens, new predators, interspecific competition

quadrat

square frame with smaller squares in to study distribution

transect

the line along where the quadrats are placed, it is picked as you suspect a change in abundance will be linked to an abiotic factor

quantitative sampling

taking several random reading and find mean number per m^"2

weeds

plants that grow where they aren’t wanted, they also compete for resources

structural adaptations

physical features about how the organism is built e.g. feathers, wings and hollow bones of a bird

behavioural adaptations

actions of an organism, survival methods e.g. resting in the day’s heat, huddling with others

functional/ physiological adaptations

inside the body adaptations e.g. desert animals produce small, extremely concentrated amounts of urine

thermophile

hot environments, has thermal stable proteins

cryophile

extremely cold environments, cell membrane is high in lipids to stop them stiffening in the cold

halophile

salty environments, cell wall controls movement of salts

acidophile

acidic environments, pumps H+ ions back into environment

metallotolerant

rich in heavy metal environments, bacteria pump out the heavy metals or make them less dangerous

radioresistant

radioactive environments, several copies of DNA and lots of DNA- repairing enzymes