Ecosystem

• What is meant by ecosystem?

o interaction between the community of the living organisms and their environment
• What is meant by habitat?
o the place where an organism lives
• What is meant by population?
o all organisms of a particular species living in the same place at the same time
• What is meant by community?
o all the organisms living in the same place at the same time
• Using quadrats, compare the size of plant population in two areas
o Two tape measures (10 * 10) are placed on a particular area
o A pair of random number is generated using the random number function on the
calculator
o Generated pair of numbers is considered as a coordinate to place the quadrat in
the area
o The number of plants is counted
o Repeat the above process
o Calculate the mean number of plants per m²
o Repeat the above process for another area
• What is meant by biodiversity
o The amount of variation shown by species in an ecosystem
• What are the two measurements we should need to see the biolodiversity?
o Number of spices
o Abundance of each species
• Give two advantages to ecosystems with high biodiversity.
o They are more stable because they are less likely to be affected by disasters
such as diseases.
• Using quadrats to compare the biodiversity of plants in two area
o Two tape measures (10 * 10) are placed on a particular area
o A pair of random number is generated using the random number function on the
calculator
o Generated pair of numbers is considered as a coordinate to place the quadrat in
the area
o The numbers of each plants pecies present in each quadrats are counted
o Repeat the above process
o Calculate the mean numbers of each plant per m²
o Repeat the above process for another area
• 4 biotic factors
o Food competition
o Predation
o Parasitism
o Disease
• 4 abiotic factors
o Climate
o Soil conditions (e.g:- water content, pH)
o Light intensity
o Gas availability such as O₂ and CO₂
• 5 trophic levels
o Producer
o Primary consumer
o Secondary consumer
o Tertiary consumer
o Quaternary consumer
• Two things that food chains can show
o Feeding relationships
o Energy transfer
• What is a food web?
o Several food chains are linked together in an ecosystem
• What is the pyramid of biomass?
o Represents the total mass of the organisms in each trophic level
• What is the pyramid of numbers?
o Represents the total number of the organisms in each trophic level
• What are trophic levels?
o The different stages in a food chain
• What is the herbivore?
o An animal which feeds on plants
• What is a carnivore?
o Animal that feeds on other animals
• Why is only 10% of energy transferred from one trophic level to the next?
o Some parts are not eaten
o
o Some parts are not digested or absorbed
o Energy is lost through excretion
o Energy is lost through respiration
• How is energy transferred to the next trophic level?
o When the energy released in respiration is used to produce new cells, energy
can be fixed in molecules of the organisms so that it is passed onto the next
trophic level.
• How is energy lost between trophic levels?
o When the energy released in respiration is used to the process other than
production of new cells, it is escaped and lost as heat.
• Carbon cycle
• Process of the Nitrogen cycle
o Feeding and assimilation pass nitrogen atoms along food chains
o Decomposition by bacteria and fungi produces ammonia from nitrogen
o The ammonia is oxidised first to nitrite and then to nitrate by nitrifying bacteria
o Plant roots absorb nitrates and combine it with carbohydrate to form amino acids
and to protein
o Sometimes, denitrifying bacteria use nitrates as energy and release nitrogen gas.
This is called denitrification which reduces the amount of nitrates in soil
o Nitrogen-fixing bacteria converts nitrogen gas into ammonia which is used to
make amino acids and protein
o When nitrogen-fixing bacteria die, it is decomposed and give back ammonia to
soil
o Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules make ammonia which is converted by
plants into amino acids
o Death and decomposition of the plants gives ammonia back to soil
Human influences on the environment
• How can greenhouses and polythene tunnels be used to increase the yield of
certain crops?
o Artificial light provides the controlled amount of light anytime which makes the
higher rate of photosynthesis
o It can keep at the optimum temperature even though the outside is cold
o Heaters provide CO₂ and water vapour, which can be used by plants for
photosyntesis
o Plants are growing in hydroponic culture which provides the exact amount of
nutrients
• Give five greenhouse gases
o Water vapour
o Carbon dioxide
o Methane
o Nitrous oxides
o CFCs
• How do human activities contribute to CO₂?
o Combusion of fossil fuels
• How do human activities contribute to methane?
o By cattles as they digest grass
• How do greenhouse gases enchant the greenhouse effect?
o The sun emits the radiation which is as heat
o This can be absorbed by greenhouse gasses
o Since the heat is trapped, this causes temperature to be rised which is called
global warming.
• Give four biological consequences of global warming
o Ocean temperature increases-melting of polar caps, rising of sea levels
o Increasing temperature-causing extreme weather
o Change in or loss of ecosystem-due to extreme weather
o Decreasing biodiversity-food chain disruption and frequent extinction
• Give two air pollutants.
o Sulfar dioxide
o Carbon monoxide
• How does sulfar dioxide pollute the air?
o It is produced by combustion of fossil fuel
o This reacts with oxygen and dissolves in rain water to form H₂SO₄
o This leads to acid rains
• How does thr use of fertilisers increase the crop yield?
o By replacing all lost ions in soil
• One advantages and two disabvantages of inorganic fertillisers
o Pollution problem-disadvantage
o Do not improve soil structure
o Can replace all lost ions
• The reasons for pest controls
o Lowing the amount by reducing growth
o Affecting the appearance and the quality of a crop
• Give three advantages of pesticides
 o Easily accessible and cheap
o Have an immediate effects
o Can kill entire pollulation of pests
• Give three disadvantages of pesticides
o Pests may develop resistant to pesticides
o It might kill other organisms that are beneficial
o Bioaccumulation
o Need to apply repeatedly
• Give five advantages of biological control
o No pollution
o No resistant
o Can target specific species
o No need to apply repeatedly
• Two disadvantages of biological control
o Take longer time to be effective
o Cannot kill entire pollulation of pests
• Fish farming (8 points)
o An enclosure in the form of sea gages or nettings has to be prepared first in the
sea, river or lake.
o The ideal fish is chosen for farming. (fish with high protein,faster growth and less
aggressive)
o Water quality is maintained and monitored such as temperature and oxygen
level.
o Waste products should be clean through filtration units.
o Oxygen has to be pumped to prevent oxygen depletion.
o Fish can be seperated in size because the larger one might feed the small one
o Pesticide can be used to kill parasites and antibiotics can be used to preven
bacterial infection.
o Selective breeding is carried out to improve the fish quality.
• What is meant by sewage?
o Wet waste from house, farm and factories
• Two water pollution by sewage.
o The organic materials in sewage can be decomposed by aerobic bacteria which
use up oxygen in water. This depletion of oxygen kills organisms living in water
o Untreated sewage contains pathogenic bacteria which causes disease spreads
• Biological consequence of eutrophication
o The excess mineral ions cause the rapid growth of algae calle dalgae bloom.
These algae soon die and start to be decomposed by aerobic bacteria. These
bacteria respire aeobically so that it uses oxygen dissolved in water, causing
oxygen depletion. After the water becomes anoxic, aquatic organisms die.