What term describes the range of plants and animals in an area?

Biodiversity

What term describes the number of organisms of one species in an area?

Population

What term describes the number of organisms of all species in an area?

Community

What is a habitat?

Where a population/community lives

What is an environment in ecological terms?

The habitat and other conditions (e.g. weather)

What is an ecosystem?

The habitat and its community

What are abiotic factors?

The non-living factors in an area (e.g. temperature/wind/light)

Give an example of how temperature is measured in the field.

With a thermometer

What device is used to measure wind speed?

Anemometer (wind meter)

How is moisture measured in soil?

With a moisture meter or by repeated heating and reweighing of a soil sample, calculating % change.

What is used to measure pH in an area?

A pH probe

What is the use of Quadrats?

Quadrats are usually used for plants-percentage cover is estimated, also used for slow-moving animals or pooters for insects.

Describe a belt transect sampling method.

Measuring tape laid down, quadrats placed against tape, key used to identify species,% cover estimated, repeated 3 times, graph drawn.

When is random sampling used?

Comparing two or more separate areas; comparing two different fields.

Outline the random sampling procedure.

Two measuring tapes create a grid, random numbers identify quadrat coordinates, key identifies species, % cover estimated, results recorded, repeated 10 times, graph drawn.

What do plants compete for?

Space, light, water and minerals

What do animals compete for?

Water, food, territory/space, mates, avoiding predators

What happens where there is severe competition?

The better adapted organism will survive and reproduce, whilst the less-adapted organism will decrease in numbers (may become extinct in the locality).

Give an example of adaptation through camouflage.

Snow-shoe hares are white in winter and brown in summer to evade predators.

How do some plants adapt to conserve water?

Seaweeds often produce mucus to stop water evaporating in the heat of the sun when the tide is out.

What is the source of energy for all food chains/webs?

The sun

Why do plants start food chains/webs?

They are producers and photosynthesise to make food.

What do the arrows in a food chain/web show?

Energy flow

Why is energy lost between trophic levels?

Respiration and movement, Respiration to produce heat, Excretion and egestion, Death and decomposition, Not all parts of organisms are eaten.

Why are food chains rarely more than 5 trophic levels long?

So much energy is lost between trophic levels.

What do food webs show?

How different food chains inter-link.

In a food chain, what is the trophic level of a producer?

Trophic level 1

In a food chain, what is the trophic level of a primary consumer?

Trophic level 2

In a food chain, what is the trophic level of a secondary consumer?

Trophic level 3

In a food chain, what is the trophic level of a tertiary consumer?

Trophic level 4

How is percentage transfer of energy calculated between trophic levels?

100 X (Energy in higher level/Energy in lower level)

What is the typical % energy transfer from producer to primary consumer?

About 10%

What is the typical % energy transfer along the rest of the food chain?

About 20%

Why is energy lost between the sun and producers?

Light is reflected by plants, Light is used to evaporate water from the plant (transpiration), Light might not strike chloroplasts.

What is the typical percentage of energy transfer from sun to plants (producers)?

Typically <1%