GCSE Biology - Ecosystems

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What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is made up of biotic and abiotic factors.
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What are the different levels of organisation, from low to high?
Individual, Population, Community
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What do plants compete for?
Space, Light, Minerals, Water
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What do animals compete for?
Territory, Food, Mates
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What is interdependence?
Something one species may rely on another for.
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What are some examples of interdependence?
Food, Seed Dispersal, Shelter, Pollination
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When a community is stable, the populations are...
Fairly constant
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What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the variety of all the different species in a given area.
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Name four land pollutants
Human waste in landfills, Nuclear waste underground, herbicides, pesticides
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What is peat?
Peat is a deposit of partially decayed plant matter, where the Carbon isn't released into the atmosphere.
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Why are peat bogs being destroyed?
Land, Sold to farmers for compost, fuel.
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What are the consequences of deforestation?
- Increased Methane Production
- Decreased rate of CO2 removal
- Biodiversity lost
- Increased rate of CO2 release
- Loss of ecosystem services
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Reasons for deforestation
- Cattle Farming
- Biofuels
- Rice Fields
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What is the Greenhouse Effect?
- Greenhouse gases (CO2, Methane etc) act as a natural insulating layer in the Earth's atmosphere
- They re-radiate most of the thermal energy back towards Earth.
- This keeps the temperature consistent, but the concentration of gases in the atmosphere ca
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How is carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere?
- Photosynthesis
- Dissolving in water
- Peat bogs
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Effects of Global Warming include:
- Rising sea surface temperatures (affecting coral)
- Limiting biodiversity (affecting larger animals)
- Distribution of species (malaria travelling to European countries)
- Melting ice (causing sea levels to rise - floods coastal areas, and affects the s
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What are the levels of the food chain?
- Producers (algae/green plants)
- Primary consumers (herbivores)
- Secondary consumers (carnivores)
- Tertiary consumers (carnivores that eat other carnivores)
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What are food chains made up of?
- Predator
- Prey
- Apex Predator
- Decomposer
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What are decomposers?
- The last stop in all food chains
- They break down dead material by secreting enzymes
- The enzymes partially digest the material, leaving small, soluble molecules which then diffuse into the decomposer.
- e.g. bacteria/fungi
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What is biomass?
Biomass is the total mass of living material in an organism multiplied by the number of organisms.
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What's the general rule for transfer efficiency?
10% of the given energy will be available to the next level.

(if L1 had 100J, L2 would have 10J, L3 would have 1J)
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How is energy lost?
- Heat
- Excretion
- Uneaten parts
- Movement
- Body temperature
- Digestion
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What percentage of light energy from the Sun are producers able to trap?
1%
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When will food security be reached?
When everyone has access to enough safe and nutritious food to stay healthy
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What are some factors affecting food security?
- New pests and pathogens
- Diet shifts
- Extreme weather
- Increasing birth rates
- Conflicts
- Costs of agricultural impacts
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How to improve food production:
- Shortening food chains
- Decreasing movement of animals
- Feeding high protein foods
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What are some water pollutants?
- Fertilisers
- Herbicides
- Pesticides
(these block out the sun, or the toxins build up, eventually killing the decomposers and carnivores)
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What are some problems related to air pollution?
- Acid rain
- Smoke pollution
- Smog
- Global warming
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What are the different levels of organisation, from low to high?

Back

Individual, Population, Community

Card 3

Front

What do plants compete for?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What do animals compete for?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is interdependence?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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