GCSE Biology - Ecology, Biodiversity and Food Production

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering biodiversity, land use, global warming, trophic levels, biomass transfer, and modern food production techniques.

Biodiversity

The variety of all the different species of organisms on Earth, or within an ecosystem.

Abiotic factors

Non-living factors in the physical environment, such as the availability of water, soil quality, and climate.

Eutrophication

The process where artificial fertilisers run off into waterways, causing algal blooms that block light, kill plants, and deplete oxygen during decay, causing fish and aquatic life to die.

Sulfur dioxide

An acidic gas formed when sulfur impurities in fossil fuels react with oxygen during combustion, causing breathing difficulties and acid rain.

Peat bogs

Waterlogged areas where moss and plants lock in carbon dioxide and decay is prevented by anaerobic conditions.

Deforestation

The removal of forest habitats where trees are cut down and burned without planting replacement trees.

Biofuel

Fuel produced by living organisms, such as bioethanol, wood, and biogas.

Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

A designated rare habitat protected and managed by conservation organisations to preserve biodiversity.

Field margins

Areas of land left between the crop and the field boundary in agricultural fields to provide diverse food sources and encourage wildlife.

Kyoto Protocol

An agreement signed by almost 200 governments across the world to reduce deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions.

Trophic levels

The designated feeding levels within an ecosystem, represented numerically from Level 1 (producers) to Level 4 (tertiary consumers).

Producers

Organisms at trophic level 1, such as plants and algae, that synthesize their own food using light energy.

Primary consumers

Herbivores at trophic level 2 that feed directly on producers.

Secondary consumers

Carnivores at trophic level 3 that feed on herbivores.

Tertiary consumers

Carnivores at trophic level 4 that feed on other carnivores.

Apex predators

Carnivores at the top of the food chain that have no natural predators.

Decomposers

Microorganisms, usually bacteria or fungi, that break down dead plant and animal matter by secreting enzymes into the environment to absorb dissolved nutrients.

Biomass

The total mass of living material present at each trophic level.

Pyramid of biomass

A diagram representing the relative amount of biomass at each trophic level of a food chain, with trophic level 1 placed at the base.

Incident light

The light energy shining directly onto a producer, of which approximately $1\%$ is converted and transferred during photosynthesis.

Efficiency of biomass transfer

The percentage measure of biomass passed from one trophic level to the next, calculated as $\text{Efficiency of biomass transfer} = \frac{\text{biomass transferred to the next level}}{\text{biomass available at the previous level}} \times 100$.

Food security

Having access to enough safe and nutritionally adequate food to feed a population.

Undernourished

A state defined by the FAO where individuals lack consistent availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or lack the ability to acquire food.

Jackfruit

A perennial crop native to Southern India that can grow up to $35\text{kg}$ and is high in protein, potassium, and vitamin B, serving as a potential crop to enhance food security.

Intensive farming

Agricultural techniques that restrict wasted energy transfer from animals (by controlling temperature and limiting movement) to maximize food growth energy.

Fishing quotas

Regulatory limits set on the quantity and species of fish caught to maintain ocean fish stocks at sustainable breeding levels.

Fusarium

The fungus species cultivated aerobically on glucose syrup to produce high-protein mycoprotein.

Mycoprotein

A protein-rich food suitable for vegetarians, produced from the harvested and purified biomass of the fungus Fusarium.

Golden Rice

A genetically modified strain of rice engineered with a gene to produce beta-carotene, assisting in human vitamin A synthesis to prevent childhood blindness.