EXAM REVISION ECOLOGY

What is Ecology?

Ecology is the study of interactions between plants,

animals (all living things) and the environment in which they live.

What is an ecosystem?

An ecosystem is a system formed by a group of living things that interact with each other and their non-living surroundings.

What does sunlight do?

Energy from the sun needed for photosynthesis

What is photosynthesis?

The process in which plants (and some algae) produce their own food in the form of glucose.

Consumer and Heterotroph

the name given to living things that can't photosynthesize.

Hint: Human / heterotroph

Producer and Autotroph

The name given to organisms that can photosynthesize.

Biotic

Something living (or once living)

Abiotic

Something that is never living (in a habitat)

Decomposer

Organisms (eg fungi) that obtain their nutrients by breaking down the dead bodies of other organisms and return nutrients to the soil.   

Detritivore

An animal which feeds on dead organic material, especially plant matter. Different to a decomposer because they eat the organic matter.

Habitat

Where an organism lives at a given time

Environment

All the factors in an organism’s surroundings that affect the organism.

Population

All of the individuals of one species that live in the one habitat.

Community

All of the living organisms in an ecosystem

Mutualism

When members of 2 species interact and only both species beneift

Commensalism

When members of 2 species interact and one benefits while the other is not affected

Parasitism

When a member of one species benefits at the expense of another organism.

Competition (within species)

When two members of the same species compete for the same resource.

Predation

When one organism kills and eats another

Competition (between species)

When two individuals of different species compete for the same resource.

What are adaptions?

Adaptions are features that an organism has to help it survive.

What are the types of adaptations?

Structural (physical features- hint if you can touch it or draw it then its structural).
Behavioral (how an organism behaves)
Functional (how an organism functions)

What are endotherms?

Enotherms are animals that generate their own heat from within their body.

Ectotherms

Have to get their heat from their environment

What is a food chain?

Represents the flow of energy in an ecosystem

What are trophic levels in a food web?

Each food web starts with a producer.

The species that eats the producer is the 1st order consumer.

The species that eats the 1st order consumer is a 2nd order consumer.

Next comes a 3rd order consumer etc.

What is a herbivore?

An animal that eats plants

What is carnivore?

An animal that eats meat

What is an omnivore?

An animal that eats both plants and meat

What is the sun?

The ultimate source of energy for almost all ecosystems.

What is a top predator?

It is the species at the top of the food web and dosen’t have any natural predators.

What is species diversity/biodiversity?

Considers both he number of species present and the relative abundance of the specie.
Ecosystems with high species diversity have greater conservation value.

What is species richness?

Refers to the number of species in an ecosystem regardless of the abundance.