| what is biodiversity | the range of species within an ecosystem |
| what is a species | a group of organisms which can interbreed and produce fertile offspring |
| what is meant by a population | the total number of living organisms of one species living in a habitat |
| what is a habitat | the place where an organism lives
eg. soil, water, trees |
| what is a community | all the organisms (plants, animals and micro-organisms) that live in a particular area |
| what is an ecosystem | all the organisms (the community) living in a particular habitat and the non-living components with which the organisms interact
community + habitat |
| what is a niche | the role an organism plays in the community |
| what is a producer | an organism that can produce its own food (by photosynthesis) |
| what is a predator | an animal that hunts and eats other animals |
| what is a consumer | an animal which eats other organisms |
| what is a herbivore | an animal which only eats plants |
| what is a carnivore | an animal which only eats animals |
| what is prey | an animal that is hunted and eaten by other animals |
| what is a decomposer | an organism which feeds on dead organisms |
| what is an omnivore | an animal which eats plants and animals |
| what is a food chain | a diagram which shows a simple feeding relationship between organisms |
| what does a niche relate to | the resources an organism requires in its ecosystem, such as light and nutrient availability and its interactions with other organisms in the community. It involves competition and predation and the conditions it can tolerate, for instance, temperature |
| what do the arrows in a foodweb represent | the flow of energy from one organism to another |
| what activities can disrupt a foodweb? | human activities such as hunting, fishing or using chemicals that cause pollution |
| what is this an example of? | a food web |
| when does competition in ecosystems occur? | when resources such as light (for plants), food, water, mates are in short supply |
| what are the two forms of competition | intraspecific
interspecific |
| describe intra specific competition | occurs amongst individuals of the same species and is for all resources required.
intra specific competition is more intense than interspecific competition |
| describe interspecific competition | occurs amongst individuals of different species for one or a few of the resources they require.
interspecific competition is less intense than interspecific competition as different species mightn't need the exact same resources |
| what is the only way different species of animal can exist together without competition | as long as their requirements of each species is different |
