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Ecology
LC ecology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ecology | The study of organisms and how they interact with each other and their environment |
| Biosphere | All parts of the Earth that support life, split into smaller units called ecosystems |
| Ecosystem | A unit consisting of living organisms interacting with each other and their environment (community + environment) |
| Habitat | The place an organism lives |
| Population | The number of organisms of a species in a habitat |
| Community | All the organisms in a habitat |
| Abiotic factors | Non-living features of an environment |
| Edaphic factors | Abiotic factors relating to soil |
| Biotic factors | Living factors or organisms that affect organisms in an ecosystem |
| Producer | Green plants that trap sunlight during photosynthesis and use the energy to make glucose |
| Consumer | An organism that obtains food from feeding on producers/other consumers |
| Primary consumers | Feed on a producer (green plant) e.g green fly |
| Secondary consumer | Feed on a primary consumer e.g ladybird |
| Tertiary consumer | Feed on a secondary consumer e.g thrush |
| Heterotrophs | Can’t make their own food so must obtain it from another source |
| Carnivores | Mainly eat animals |
| Omnivores | Eat both plants and animals |
| Herbivores | Mainly eat plants |
| Decomposers | Break down dead plants and animals |
| Detritus feeders | Eat dead plants and animals |
| Food chain | Sequence of organisms showing the transfer of energy from one to the next |
| Grazing food chain | Starts with a living producer |
| Detritus food chain | Starts with a non-living/dead producer |
| Food web | Two or more interlinked food chains |
| Trophic level | Feeding level of an organism in a food chain |
| Trophic Level 1 | Producer |
| Trophic level 2 | Primary consumer |
| Trophic level 3 | Secondary consumer |
| Pyramid of numbers | Shows the number of organisms at each Trophic level in the food chain |
| Niche | The role of an organism in its habitat |
| Competition | When organisms struggle for a resource that is in short supply |
| Intraspecific competition | Competition between individuals of the same species |
| Interspecific competition | Competition between individuals of different species |
| Contest | One individuals gets all the resource e.g two males fighting over a female |
| Scramble | All competing organisms get some of the resource e.g flowers in a window box |
| Predation | Act of catching, killing and eating another organism for food |
| Predator | An animal that kills another animal for food |
| Prey | Animal eaten by a predator |
| Parasitism | Relationship when one organism (the parasite) lives in or on another species (the host), causing harm e.g flea on a dog |
| Symbiosis | Close relationship between two species where at least one of them benefits e.g bacteria in the small intestine produce vitamin K and folic acid |
| Mutualism | Relationship where both species benefit |
| Commensalism | Relationship where one benefits and the other doesn’t benefit but isn’t harmed |
| Factors affecting human population | Disease, famine, war, contraception |
| Interdependence | Two species requiring each other to survive e.g flowers rely on bees to pollinate them, bees rely on flowers for food |
| Biodiversity | The variety of organisms in an ecosystem |
| Pollution | Any harmful addition to the environment |
| Conservation | Management of the environment to maintain biodiversity and prevent species becoming extinct |
| Agricultural conservation methods | Slurry should only be spread in the summer and 10cm from a water source |
| Fisheries conservation methods | Minimum mesh size for nets |
| Forestry conservation methods | Felled trees replaced with younger trees |
| Waste management | Refers to the way society deals with its waste |
Created by:
KBertier
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