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BIOLOGY

The document discusses environmental change and extinction, defining key terms such as habitat, bioaccumulation, and invasive species. It explains ecological models like food webs, population estimation methods, and the factors affecting species populations, including birth and death rates. Additionally, it outlines the causes of extinction events and the status of endangered species, emphasizing the impact of human activities on ecosystems.

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8 views4 pages

BIOLOGY

The document discusses environmental change and extinction, defining key terms such as habitat, bioaccumulation, and invasive species. It explains ecological models like food webs, population estimation methods, and the factors affecting species populations, including birth and death rates. Additionally, it outlines the causes of extinction events and the status of endangered species, emphasizing the impact of human activities on ecosystems.

Uploaded by

karnanikhwahish
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BIOLOGY

Ch- 5 Environmental change and extinction

Important terms
1. Habitat- a habitat is the natural home or environment of an organism. It provides the
organism that they live with food,water,shelter and space to survive.
2. Bioaccumulation- A process of accumulation of chemicals in an organism that takes
place if the rate of intake exceeds the rate of excretion. Chemicals are introduced into
the organism through exposure or as dietary intake.
3. Species- The smallest group in a biological classification system. All the organisms it
contains are of the same type.
4. Invasive Species- It is an organism that is most indigenous or native to a particular
area. They can cause great economic and environmental harm to the new area.
5. Ecosystem- An ecological system in which the diff species in a community interact with
each other and non-living environment, found in areas such as lakes and woods.
6. Adaptations- The features of a living thing which are suited to it’s habitat so that it can
survive there.
7. Fossils- Fossils are the preserved remains.e ancient seas, lakes.
8. Habitat survey- It is a method of gathering information about the ecology of a site. The
essential piece of information collected is the habitat type to which particular area can be
assigned.
9. Food Web- The way a number of food chains in a habitat link together to show how food
and energy pass through the habitat.

THE FOOD WEB

There are 2 types of ecological models:


Food chain and food web
● A food web can predict what might happen to populations in a habitat if one of the links
in the food web were absent.
Q. What will happen if :
a) The population of foxes were removed?
The population of vole would start to increase as they wouldn't be eaten by fox if
b) All the seeds were destroyed by disease?
The flinches and the beetles would die as a result robins would eat more of woodlouse and
caterpillars and thus their no. would decrease this would result in less bark and leaves being
eaten.The size of the sparrowhawk population would decrease as there are fewer birds to eat.

Q. If 25 grass plants are found in one square in the lawn and the lawn covers an area
equal to 100 squares, what is the estimate number of grass plants in the lawn?
NO. of plants in 1 square in the lawn: 25
Area of lawn: 100 squares
- Total no. of grass plants = 25 x 100
= 2500 plants
Q.How reliable is the evidence provided by the estimate? Explain your answer.
The evidence provided by the estimate is unreliable as the no. of grass plants may differ over
the whole area. There might have been more plants in one square than the other.
Q. One sweep of a sweep net in a grassy area collected seven spiders. Two more sweeps
collected five and eight respectively. It was estimated that 80 sweeps of the net would be
needed to collect all the spiders in the area.

a) How would you use this information to work out an estimate for the total
number of spiders in the area?
The spider no. for the sweeps could be added together and divided by 3 to find an average
7+5+8 divided by 3 = 6.67 ~ 7
Then ‘7’ could be multiplied by the total no. of sweeps.
b) What is your estimate of the spider population in the area?
7 x 80 = 560 spiders
Three sweeps yield 80 divided by 3 = 27
27 x 20= 540 spiders
c) How reliable is the evidence provided by the estimate? Explain your answer.
It is not very reliable as some of the calculation involves approximation and it is
estimated that only a very small area is considered as a sample.
d) What could you do if you decided it was not reliable?
Take more samples to make a total of 10 samples then the no. of spiders can be
multiplied by 8. This provides approximation and provides more data about the spider
number.

A trend is a general change in one variable compared to another over a period of time.
A pattern describes when a variable changes in a repeating or predictable way, such as
the temperature over several seasons.
● Predictions about changes in the population of a species can be made by finding out
about the birth rate and the death rate.
● The birth rate is the number of babies born per 1000 people (in a country) and
● The death rate is the number of people dying per 1000 people (in a country) in one year.
● When the birth rate is greater than the death rate, the population will increase in size.
● When the death rate is greater than the birth rate, the population will decrease in size.
● Population increase = br>dr
● Population decrease =br<dr
● Reason of increase in death/ birth rate- widespread poverty - cultural values - rising
economy

Status Description

Endangered High risk of extinction in part of the world


or the whole world.

Critically endangered HIgh risk of extinction in the wild.

Extinct in the wild No longer present in the wild. It may


survive in captivity or in cultivation.

Extinct No individuals have been recorded after


many surveys.

● Cutting down rainforests to sell the trees.


● Building houses on land where plants and animals live.
● increased use of cars and other vehicles which produce carbon dioxide.
● Climate change as a result of burning fossil fuels.
● Extinction means that a population of a species or a group of species no longer exists.
● Endangered species can be helped by raising their birth rate and reducing their death
zone.

Extinction events
An extinction event occurs when large numbers of species become extinct in the same period of
time.Evidence for extinction events comes from studying fossils in the layers of rock laid down
on the Earth over millions of years.

Possible causes and resulting extinction


● Global warming
● Asteroid
● Volcanic action
● Acidic oceans
● Large scale human activity over the planet
Q. What is an adaptation of a plant or an animal?
A feature of the body that allows it to survive in the particular circumstances of a habitat.

Q.If u put a bucket into a small pond then bought it out and found four fish swimming in
it how could you estimate the population of fish in the pond?
Estimate the number of buckets needed to empty the pool and multiply this no. by 4.

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