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Ecology (Biotechnology (Engineering of bacteria to produce human insulin…
Ecology
Competition
Keywords
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Ecosystem - the interaction of a community of living organisms with the non living parts of their environment
Survival
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Organisms require things from their environment and other organisms so they can survive and reproduce
Plants need light and space, as well as water and mineral ions (nutrients) from the soil
Animals need space (territory), food, water and mates
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Adaptions
Organisms, including microorganisms, are adapted to live in different environmental conditions
Structural adaptions
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Arctic animals like the Arctic fox have white fur so they're camouflaged against the snow - helps them avoid predators and sneak up on prey
Animals that live in cold places have thick layer of blubber and low surface area to volume ratio to help them retain head eg. whales
Animals that live in hot places, like camels, have a thin layer of fat and a large surface area to volume ratio to help them lose heat
Behavioural adaptions
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Many species eg. swallow, migrate to warmer climates during the winter to avoid problems of living in the cold
Functional adaptions
Things that go on inside an organism's body can be related to processes like reproduction and metabolism
Desert animals conserve water by producing very little sweat and small amounts of concentrated urine
Brown bears hibernate over the winter - they lower their metabolism which conserves energy, so they don't have to hunt when there is little food
Microorganisms
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Extremophiles
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Some can live at high temps, others at high pressures and others at places with high salt concentrations
Various adaptions include high surface area to volume ratio so they can absorb gases such as oxygen, and chemosynthesis (photosynthesis without sunlight - uses chemicals instead - used by extremophiles that live near or around deep sea vents)
Food chains
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In a stable community:
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If the population of the prey increases, then so will the population of the predators
As the population of predators increases, the population of prey decreases
Predator - prey cycles are always out of phase - it takes a while for one population to respond to changes in another
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Carbon cycle
Living things are made of materials from the world around them, which get passed up the food chain
Materials are returned to the environment in waste products, or when the organisms die and decay
Materials decay as they're broken down by microorganisms (decomposers) which happens faster in work, moist, aerobic conditions
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In a stable community, the materials that are taken out of the soil and used by plants are balanced by those that are put back in
Carbon cycle
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Carbon used to make glucose, which can be turned into carbohydrates, fats and proteins which make up bodies of plants and algae
When the plants and algae respire, some carbon is returned as CO2 to the atmosphere
When they are eaten by animals, some carbon becomes part of the fats and protein in their body, and some is returned to atmosphere when they respire as CO2
When the plants and animals die, the detritus feeders and microorganisms feed on their remains, and CO2 is returned to atmosphere when they respire
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Decay
Compost - a natural fertiliser, can be produced by decomposition
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Biogas
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Lots of different microorganisms are used to produce biogas - decay plant and animal waste anaerobically, which produces methane gas
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Biogas generators need to be kept at a constant temperature so the microorganisms can continually respire efficiently
Biogas cannot be stored as a liquid (pressure needed is too high) so it has to be used immediately eg. for cooking, heating, lighting, or generate electricity by powering a turbine
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Global warming
Temperature of the earth is a balance between the energy it gains from the sun and the energy it radiates back into space
Gases in the atmosphere act as a natural insulating layer which absorb lots of the energy that would be radiated out and re-radiate it in all directions which increases the temperature of the planet
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Earth is heating up due to increasing levels of greenhouse gases - global warming which is a type of climate change which causes other types eg. changing rainfall patterns
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Biotechnology
Mycoprotein
Using modern biotechnology techniques where large amounts of organisms can be grown in controlled conditions in large vats for use as a food source
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Some crops modified to provide higher nutritional value eg. golden rice produces a chemical which is converted to vitamin A
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Sometimes poor soil is the main reason why crops fail, and even GM crops won't survive