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B16 Adaptations, interdependence, and competition

B16.1 The importance of communities

Question	Answer
What is ecology?	the study of organisms and their relationships with the living and non-living environment in which they live
What is a community?	a community is made up of the populations of different species of animals, plants, protista, fungi, bacteria, and archae that are all interdependent in a habitat
Describe the characteristics of a community.	• members are interdependent • members share a habitat • members are adapted to the conditions of their habitat • members are drawn from all kingdoms and species • communities are complex
What is an ecosystem?	an ecosystem is the interaction of a community of living organisms (biotic) with the non-living parts (abiotic) of their environment
Why are the abiotic components of an ecosystem important?	organisms require materials from their surroundings to survive and reproduce
What is the source of all the energy that passes through an ecosystem?	the sun
Name some materials constantly being recycled through the organisms in an ecosystem?	carbon, water, and nitrogen
How are the plants and animals in an ecosystem interdependent?	• plants produce food by photosynthesis • animals eat plants • animals pollinate plants • aniamls eat other animals • animals use plant and animal materials to build nests and shelters • plants use nutrients from animal droppings and decay
Where is competition happening in an ecosystem?	plants and animals compete for resources both within each species and with other species
What is the relationship between communities?	communities exist close to each other and often overlap
What is meant by interdependence?	within a community species depend on each other for resources like food, and if one species is removed, surges, or falls too low, the entire community can be affected
What is a stable community?	all the species and environmental factors are in balance so population sizes remain roughly constant
Do the environmental factors change in a stable community?	environmental factors do sometimes vary but when they do, they follow a regular pattern like the seasons
Does population size change in a stable environment?	there is some variation but overall population size is roughly constant
Name some important stable environments.	• rainforests • ancient oak woodlands • mature coral reefs
How many species can a single mature oak support?	up to 1000
Describe a change that a stable community can tolerate.	a tree falls in a forest letting light in that enables tree seeds to germinate and replace the fallen tree

B16 Adaptations, interdependence, and competition

B16.2 Organisms in their environment

Question	Answer
What do organisms need to survive and breed successfully?	they need to be well adapted to the environment in which they live
How are reindeer adapted to their environment?	• they live in an environment where most of the plants are small because of the low temperature and low light • they travel thousands of miles because they cannot get enough food to survive in one area • they travel in herds for protection
What are abiotic factors	non-living factors
List the abiotic factors that may affect communities of organisms.	• light intensity • temperature • moisture levels • soil pH and mineral content • wind intensity and direction • carbon dioxide levels for plants • oxygen availability for aquatic animals
Why does light intensity affect plants?	because plants needs light for photosynthesis
How does light intensity affect plants?	it determines the distribution of plants and where different types of plants grow
How do plants adapt to low light levels?	they have more chlorophyll or bigger leaves
How do light levels affect nettles?	nettles growing in the shade have bigger leaves than nettles growing in the open
Name an example of something in animals that is affected by day length.	animal breeding cycles
Why does temperature affect plants?	temperature affects the rate of photosynthesis
How does temperature affect plants?	because it slows down the rate of photosynthesis, a low temperature limits growth
What is the affect of low Arctic temperatures on plants?	plants are small
What is the impact of low Arctic temperatures on herbivores?	plant growth is limited which in turn limits the number of herbivores that can survive often forcing them to travel long distances to get enough to eat
What is the impact of low Arctic temperatures on carnivores?	the fewer the number of herbivores that can survive, the fewer the number of carnivores that can survive
What is the impact of moisture levels on plants and animals?	no water, no life so more water, the better the conditions for life
Why are there few plants in deserts?	because water is very limited
When are there many plants in the desert?	after it rains, many plants grow, flower and seed very quickly
What is the impact of the sudden plant growth after rain in the desert?	large numbers of animals are move in the area to take advantage of them
What is the impact of pH and mineral content on plants	pH and mineral content have considerable impact on the distribution of plants
Where do carnivorous plants thrive?	where nitrates levels are very low
How do carnivorous plants thrive in low nitrate areas?	they get their nitrates by trapping and digesting animal prey, getting the nitrates by breaking down proteins
How does soil mineral ion content affect growth in plants?	plants struggle to grow when mineral ion content of soil is low
What is the affect of a low pH on plants?	• few plants grow in acidic soil so it limits variety and distribution • an acidic soil slows down decay and thus the release of mineral ions back into the soil
What is the impact of wind intensity and direction on plants	• strong winds change the shape of trees • winds increase the rate of transpiration
How does the availability of oxygen in water affect water-living organisms?	most fish require high levels of oxygen in water to surive while some invertebrates can survie in water with very low oxygen levels
How are plants affected by the availability of carbon dioxide?	carbon dioxide is needed for photosynthesis so low levels of carbon dioxed limit photosynthesis and hence plant growth
How does carbon dioxide affect the distribution of organisms?	it can affect distribution, for example, mosquitoes are attracted to animals by high levels of carbon dioxide
List the biotic factors that may affect communities of organisms.	• availability of food • new predators arriving • new pathogens • new competitors
How are animals affected by the availability of food?	• when there is plenty of food, aniamls breed successfully able to feed their offspring • when food is limited, animals struggle to survive or breed
How are organisms affected by new pathogens or parasites?	as they have no resistance, new pathogens can wipe out or damage a population
How are organisms affected by new predators?	organisms with no defences to new predators, can be wiped out or the population seriosuly damaged
What is interspecific competition?	competition between species
How does interspecific competition affect organisms?	if a species outperforms another to the point where it forces the numbers of the other so low, it may reach a point where numbers of the other are too low to breed successfully threatening the future of the other species
Name am example where interspecific competition has had adverse consequences on an amimal species	when grey squirrels were introduced to the UK they outcompeted the native red squirrel which can now only be found in a few places in the UK
Name am example where interspecific competition has had adverse consequences on a plants.	Japanese knotweed is an invasive plant that overwhelms local species
Where does competition occur in nature?	animals, plants, fungi, protista, bacteria and archea are all involved in constant struggles between members of the same species and members of different species
What is the relevance of competition in nature?	success in competition enables an organism to survive and breed to pass on their DNA

B16 Adaptations, interdependence, and competition

B16.3 Distribution and abundance

Question	Answer
What is an ecologist?	an ecologist looks at how living and non-living factors affect the abundance and distribution of organisms
What task is key to the job of an ecologist?	to measure how many organisms there are and how they are distributed
What is a quadrat?	a sample area usually chosen at random and which is investigated using a sampling frame, sometimes also called a quadrat
What are quadrats used to count?	plant populations, and sometimes small slow animals like snails
How are quadrats and sampling frames used?	• identify the area to be surveyed • decide on the sample size • select quadrats at random • count the organisms in each quadrat • calculate the mean number of organisms per square metre
Name two ways to select quadrats at random.	• stand in the middle of the area to be surveyed, spin round ten times and walk forward 10 steps before dropping the sampling frame • divide the area to be surveyed into sections and use a random number generator to select an area
What is quantitative sampling?	using sampling to find the mean number of organisms per square metre
What is range?	the largest number minus the smallest number
What is mean?	the sum of all numbers divided by the number of numbers
What is mode?	the number that occurs most often
What is median?	the middle number when the numbers are in order
How can sampling be used to monitor changes over time?	the same method is repeated at regular time intervals and each interval compared
What is a transect?	a straight line across the earth's surface, along which observations are made or measurements taken
How is a transect used to survey organisms?	• a transect is not random • stretch a tape between two points • sample the organisms at regular intervals along the tape using quandrats • measure relevant physical characteristics like light and pH levels along the transect
What is a common situation where a straight line transect is used?	it is suspected that a common abiotic factor is responsible for changes in the abundance and distribution of an organism

B16 Adaptations, interdependence, and competition

B16.4 Competition in animals

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B16 Adaptations, interdependence, and competition

B16.5 Competition in plants

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B16 Adaptations, interdependence, and competition

B16.6 Adapt and survive

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B16 Adaptations, interdependence, and competition

B16.7 Adaptations in animals

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B16 Adaptations, interdependence, and competition

B16.8 Adaptations in plants

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