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ecology and the environment - Coggle Diagram
ecology and the environment
definitions
population
a group of organisms of the same species living in the same place at the same time
community
all the populations living in the same area at the same time (all animals are interdependent)
habitat
place where an organism lives
ecosystem
all the biotic and abiotic factors that interact within an area at one time. they can vary greatly in size
biodiversity
the range and variety of different species of organisms on Earth, or within an ecosystem
considers both species richness and variation within each species
different species depend on each other for
food
shelter
maintenance of the physical environment
High biodiversity ensures the stability of ecosystems by reducing the dependence of one species on another for these three things
biotic and abiotic factors
abiotic factors
light intensity
light is needed for photosynthesis. more light means more photosynthesis therefore and increased rate of plant growth
temperature
affects the rate of photosynthesis in plants
moisture levels
plants and animals require water to survive
soil pH and mineral content
different species of plants are adapted to different soil pH levels and nutrient concentration levels
wind intensity and direction
wind speed affects transpiration rate in plants. transpiration affects the rate of photosynthesis as it ensures water and mineral ions are transported to the leaves
carbon dioxide levels for plants
CO2 is required for photosynthesis, CO2 concentration affects the rate of photosynthesis
oxygen levels for aquatic animals
some aquatic animals can only survive in water with high oxygen concentration
biotic factors
availability of food
more food means organisms have a higher chance of surviving and reproducing
new predators
in balanced ecosystems, predators catch enough prey to survive but not so many that they wipe out the prey. if a new predator is introduced, the ecosystem may become unbalanced
new pathogens
if an new pathogen enters an ecosystem, the populations living there will have no immunity or resistance to it and the population may decline or be wiped out
competition
if two species compete for the same resources and one is better adapted to take advantage of these resources then that species will outcompete the other, until their are too few members of the lesser adapted species to breed successfully
trophic levels
these are used to describe the feeding relationship between organisms
energy flows from the sun to the first trophic level in the form of light. producers convert light energy into chemical energy and it flows in this form from one consumer to the next
energy is lost to the environment after reaching the top of the food chain
levels
producers
produce their own organic nutrients usually usin energy from sunlight
primary consumer
herbivores - feed on producers
secondary consumers
predators that feed on primary consumers
tertiary consumers
predators that feed on secondary consumers
predators
these feed on tertiary consumers
decomposers
bacteria and fungi that can get their energy from feeding off dead and decaying organisms and undigested waste by secreting enzymes to break them down
food chains and webs
food webs
a fod web is a network of interconnected food chains
food webs are more realistic ways of showing connections between organisms within an ecosystem as animals rarely exist on just one type of food source
they also show interdependence
food chains
A simple way to illustrate the feeding interactions between the organisms in a community is with a food chain
A food chain shows the transfer of energy from one organism to the next
The arrows in a food chain show the transfer of energy from one trophic level of the food chain to the next
pyramids of biomass, number and energy transfer
biomass
shows how much mass the creatures at each level would have without including water in the organism
always are pyramid shape as the mass of the organism has to decrease as you go up the food chain
Pyramids of biomass provide a much better idea of the quantity of the plant or animal material at each level of a food chain and therefore are a better way of representing interdependence within the food chain
number
shows how many organisms are at each level of the food chain, with the width of the box indicating the number of organisms in that tropic level
This is because the size of the organism is also important – one large organism, contains enough energy to support many smaller organism
energy transfer
illustrate the amount of energy contained within the biomass of individuals within different trophic levels
The area of each box represents the quantity of energy present, with a wider base and the quantity of energy decreasing as you go up the pyramid as not all energy is transferred to the biomass of the next trophic level
energy transfer
energy flows from the sun to the first trophic level, in the form of light. this is then converted to chemical energy during photosynthesis, which is then used to produce biomass
when primary consumers consume producers, they break down the biomass of the producer and use the chemical energy to increase or sustain their own biomass. when these are consumed by secondary consumers they break down the biomass and use the energy to sustain their biomass and so on
this is how energy is transferred from one trophic level to another
loss of energy
only some energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next (approx 10%) for multiple possible reasons
Organisms rarely eat every part of the organism they are consuming – some of the biological material of plants and animals may be inedible (eg. many predators do not consume the bones of their prey)
Not all the ingested material is digested and absorbed, some is egested as faeces
Energy is used for movement
Energy is used to generate heat
Energy is used for metabolic processes
carbon cycle
nitrogen cycle