What organisms compete for, abiotic and biotic factors, structural behavioural and functional adaptations, extremophiles, and why communities depend on each other.
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1.What is a habitat?
The place where an organism lives.
2.What is a community?
All the populations of different species living in the same habitat.
3.What is an ecosystem?
The interaction of a community of living organisms with the non-living parts of their environment.
4.What do plants compete for?
Light, space, water and mineral ions from the soil.
5.What do animals compete for?
Food, mates and territory.
6.What does interdependence mean?
Species within a community depend on each other for food, shelter, pollination and seed dispersal, so a change to one affects the whole community.
7.What is a stable community?
One where all the species and environmental factors are in balance, so population sizes remain roughly constant.
8.Give two examples of a stable community.
Ancient oak woodland and tropical rainforest.
9.What are abiotic factors?
Non-living factors that affect a community.
10.Name five abiotic factors.
Light intensity, temperature, moisture levels, soil pH and mineral content, wind intensity and direction, and carbon dioxide or oxygen levels.
11.How does light intensity affect a community?
Low light slows photosynthesis, so plants grow more slowly, which reduces the food available to animals.
12.What are biotic factors?
Living factors that affect a community.
13.Name four biotic factors.
Availability of food, new predators arriving, new pathogens, and one species outcompeting another.
14.What happens if a new predator arrives in a community?
Prey numbers fall sharply, because the prey are not adapted to avoid it.
15.What are adaptations?
Features that enable an organism to survive in the conditions in which it normally lives.
16.What are the three types of adaptation?
Structural, behavioural and functional.
17.What is a structural adaptation? Give an example.
A physical feature of the body. For example a polar bear has thick fur and a layer of blubber for insulation.
18.What is a behavioural adaptation? Give an example.
Something the organism does. For example birds migrating to warmer countries in winter.
19.What is a functional adaptation? Give an example.
Something happening inside the body, such as a desert rat producing very concentrated urine to conserve water.
20.How is a cactus adapted to a desert?
Spines instead of leaves reduce water loss, a thick waxy stem stores water and reduces evaporation, and widespread shallow roots absorb any rain quickly.
21.How is a camel adapted to a desert?
It stores fat in its hump, produces very little urine and sweat, and has large feet to spread its weight on sand.
22.How is a polar bear adapted to the Arctic?
Thick fur and blubber for insulation, white fur for camouflage, a small surface area to volume ratio to reduce heat loss, and large feet to spread weight on snow and ice.
23.What are extremophiles?
Organisms that live in environments that are very extreme, such as high temperature, high pressure or high salt concentration.
24.Where are extremophiles often found?
Deep sea vents, hot springs, and very salty lakes. Bacteria are the most common example.
25.Why does a small surface area to volume ratio help in a cold climate?
Less surface is available for heat to be transferred from, so the animal loses energy to the environment more slowly.
26.Why do animals in hot climates often have large ears?
A large surface area allows more energy to be transferred to the environment, helping the animal keep cool.
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