UNIT 3: (3.1) Ecosystems

Question 1

what is a ecosystem?

Answer 1

Is the community of organisms living in a habitat and their interactions with the non-living components of the system

Question 2

what is a habitat?

Answer 2

the place where an organism lives

Question 3

what is a community?

Answer 3

is all the living organisms in an ecosystem

Question 4

what is a population?

Answer 4

is a group of living organisms of the one species

Question 5

what is a species?

Answer 5

is a group of organisms which can interbreed to produce fertile offspring

Question 6

what is biodiversity?

Answer 6

is the degree of variation that exists among all living organisms on Earth

Question 7

what is a producer?

Answer 7

is a green plant which makes its own food by photosynthesis

Question 8

what is a consumer?

Answer 8

is an organism which eats other organisms to gain energy

Question 9

what is a predator?

Answer 9

An animal which hunts, kills and eats other animals

Question 10

what is a prey?

Answer 10

an organism that predators kill for food

Question 11

what is a omnivore?

Answer 11

an animal which eats both plants and animals

Question 12

what is a carnivore?

Answer 12

an animal which eats other animals (secondary consumer)

Question 13

what is a herbivore?

Answer 13

an animal which eats plants only (primary consumer)

Question 14

what does a food chain show?

Answer 14

the linear flow of energy between organisms

Question 15

what does a food web show?

Answer 15

the energy flow through interconnected food chains in an ecosystem

Question 16

what do the arrows in a food chain or web show?

Answer 16

direction of energy flow

Question 17

what is a niche?

Answer 17

is the role occupied by an organism within a community

Question 18

when does competition occur?

Answer 18

when resources are in short supply

Question 19

what is inter specific competition?

Answer 19

occurs when organisms of different species compete for one or a few of the resources they require

Question 20

what is intra specific competition?

Answer 20

occurs between organisms of the same species and is for all the resources they require. Therefore, intraspecific competition is more intense than interspecific competition

Question 21

what does a niche relate to?

Answer 21

• the resources in its ecosystem such as light and nutrient availability and its interactions with other organisms in the community. It involves competition, predation and the conditions it can tolerate such as temperature.