Pass Check: Ecology & Environment
Ecosystems, food chains, cycles, biodiversity and human impact on the environment.
Ecosystem
The interaction of a community of living organisms with the non-living parts of their environment.
Biodiversity
The variety of different species of organisms living in an ecosystem.
Trophic level
The position an organism occupies in a food chain, e.g. producer, primary consumer.
Decomposer
An organism, such as bacteria or fungi, that breaks down dead organic matter and releases nutrients back into the environment.
Quick check
Mixed quiz
1. Which of these is a major cause of rising global temperatures?
2. A student uses a transect across a sand dune and records percentage cover of marram grass decreasing from 80% near the sea to 10% inland. Explain a possible reason for this pattern.
3. Explain why only about 10% of energy is transferred to the next trophic level in a food chain.
4. Explain one human activity that reduces biodiversity.
5. In the food chain grass -> rabbit -> fox, what is the fox?
6. State what eutrophication is caused by.
7. Explain why energy decreases at each stage of a food chain.
8. Why is only a small percentage of energy transferred between trophic levels?