Populations In Ecosystems

Front 1

What is an ecosystem?

Back 1

All the organisms living in a community and the abiotic conditions in which they live

Front 2

What is a community?

Back 2

A group of interacting populations of different species living in the same place at the same time

Front 3

What is a population?

Back 3

A group of organisms of the same species living in the same place at the same time and potentially able to interbreed to produce fertile offspring

Front 4

What is a habitat?

Back 4

The environment in which an organism lives

Front 5

What is a biotic feature?

Back 5

A living feature of an ecosystem like the presence of predators or food resources.

Front 6

What is an abiotic feature?

Back 6

A non-living feature of an ecosystem like temperature and soil pH

Front 7

What is a niche?

Back 7

The role of a species within its habitat like what it eats and where an when it feeds

Front 8

What is a feature of organisms in an ecosystem?

Back 8

They're adapted to the local conditions

Front 9

What can occupy a niche?

Back 9

Only one species

Front 10

What does a niche include?

Back 10

Biotic and abiotic interactions

Front 11

What are biotic interactions?

Back 11

Living interactions e.g. what the organism eats

Front 12

What are abiotic interactions?

Back 12

Non-living interactions, like the time of day when an organism is active

Front 13

What happens if 2 species try to occupy the same niche?

Back 13

The species will be in competition with each other. One will eventually be more successful than the other until only one species is left.

Front 14

What is this known as?

Back 14

Competitive exclusion

Front 15

What is an adaptation?

Back 15

A feature that members of a species have that increases their chance of survival and reproduction.

Front 16

What types of adaptations are there?

Back 16

Anatomical, physiological and behavioural

Front 17

What happens to organisms with better adaptations?

Back 17

They're more likely to survive, reproduce and pass on the advantageous allele. This increases the frequency of the allele in the population.

Front 18

What is the term for this process?

Back 18

Natural selection

Front 19

How are adaptations linked to the environment?

Back 19

Each species is adapted to its won niche within an ecosystem, specifically adapted to use the environment in a way that no other species can. They're adapted to the biotic and abiotic factors in their ecosystem.

Front 20

What is population size?

Back 20

The total number of organisms of one species in a habitat

Front 21

What happens to population size over time?

Back 21

It changes overtime because of the effect of various factors.

Front 22

What is the carrying capacity?

Back 22

The maximum population size that can remain sustainable in an ecosystem

Front 23

What is the carrying capacity a result of?

Back 23

Biotic and abiotic factors

Front 24

What are some of the abiotic factors which can affect population size?

Back 24

Temperature, water availability, space, light intensity, chemical composition of soil.

Front 25

What happens if abiotic conditions are less favourable?

Back 25

The organism will grow more slowly and population size may decrease.

Front 26

What happens to mammals if temperature decreases below the optimum?

Back 26

Mammals will use more energy to maintain body temperature so less energy is available for growth and reproduction. Consequently, population size will decrease.

Front 27

What are the 3 main types of biotic factors which affect population size?

Back 27

Interspecific competition

Intraspecific competition

Predation

Front 28

What is interspecific competition?

Back 28

Competition which occurs between different species

Front 29

What may the species be competing for?

Back 29

The same resources such as food and habitats

Front 30

How can interspecific competition for food affect population size?

Back 30

If this occurs, there'll be less food available for both species, so there's less energy for growth and reproduction. Hence, population size will decrease.

Front 31

What will eventually happen in interspecific competition?

Back 31

One species will have a competitive advantage,so the population size of this species will increase and the other will decrease..

Front 32

What is this known as?

Back 32

The competitive exclusion principle

Front 33

What does the competitive exclusion principle state?

Back 33

No 2 species can occupy the same ecological niche

Front 34

What is intraspecific competition?

Back 34

Competition occurring between members of the same species

Front 35

What does intraspecific competition do to population size?

Back 35

It causes fluctuation around the carrying capacity. It forms a cyclical pattern.

Front 36

What is the cyclical pattern?

Back 36

When population size is large, resources are used up quicker causing a reduction in population size. A small population size means there are more resources available which can lead to an increase in population size.

Front 37

Where is the carrying capacity?

Back 37

Between the lowest population size and the largest population size.

Front 38

What is predation?

Back 38

Where an organism (predator) kills and eats another organism (prey)

Front 39

How are predators and prey inter-linked?

Back 39

As the population of one changes, it causes a change in the other.

Front 40

What happens to population size in predation?

Back 40

As the predator population increases, the prey population will decrease. This will cause the population of the predator to decrease and the population of the prey will increase. This cycle continues.

Front 41

What can a severe population decrease be important in?

Back 41

Evolution

Front 42

How is this important for evolution?

Back 42

The relationship between predator and prey creates selection pressure.This means members of the species who are better adapted to escape or hide from predators are more likely to survive and reproduce. This ensures each new population is better adapted for survival.