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All 37 Flashcards — Communities & ecosystems
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Question
What is a community? Give one example.
Answer
A community is all the different species living together in the same area. For example, fish, plants, insects, and bacteria living in a pond.
💡 Hint
Many species, one place
Question
What does the term community mean in ESS?
Answer
A community is all the different species living together in the same place.
💡 Hint
Living things only
Question
What is a community (ESS)?
Answer
A community is all the populations of different species living and interacting in the same area.
💡 Hint
Living things only
Question
What is an ecosystem (ESS)?
Answer
An ecosystem is a community of organisms interacting with the abiotic environment.
💡 Hint
Community + non-living
Question
What does the term ecosystem mean?
Answer
An ecosystem is a community of living things and the non-living environment they interact with.
💡 Hint
Living + non-living
Question
What is an ecosystem? Give one example.
Answer
An ecosystem includes living organisms and the non-living environment. For example, a forest with trees, animals, soil, sunlight, and rain.
💡 Hint
Living + non-living
Question
Does a community include non-living things?
Answer
No. A community includes only living organisms.
💡 Hint
No soil, water, light
Question
Give an example of a community but NOT an ecosystem.
Answer
All the animals and plants in a coral reef community, without including the water or sunlight.
💡 Hint
No abiotic factors
Question
Community vs ecosystem: what is the key difference?
Answer
A community includes only living things. An ecosystem includes living things plus abiotic (non-living) factors such as water, soil, light, and temperature.
💡 Hint
Abiotic factors = ecosystem
Question
What does abiotic mean?
Answer
Abiotic means non-living parts of the environment, such as sunlight, temperature, water, soil, and rocks.
💡 Hint
Non-living factors
Question
Does an ecosystem include non-living things?
Answer
Yes. An ecosystem includes non-living factors such as water, sunlight, soil, and temperature.
💡 Hint
Abiotic factors
Question
Give an example of an abiotic factor.
Answer
Sunlight warming a lake, soil nutrients in a forest, or water temperature in the ocean.
💡 Hint
Non-living
Question
What does biotic mean?
Answer
Biotic means living components of an environment, such as plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms.
💡 Hint
Living factors
Question
Give an example of a biotic component.
Answer
Trees in a forest, fish in a lake, grass in a field, or bacteria in soil.
💡 Hint
Living
Question
What does abiotic mean?
Answer
Abiotic means non-living parts of the environment.
💡 Hint
A = not alive
Question
What is a habitat? Give one example.
Answer
A habitat is where an organism lives. For example, a frog living in a pond or a bird nesting in a tree.
💡 Hint
Home of an organism
Question
What is a population?
Answer
A population is a group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time.
💡 Hint
One species group
Question
What does biotic mean?
Answer
Biotic means living parts of the environment.
💡 Hint
B = living
Question
What is a habitat?
Answer
A habitat is the place where an organism lives.
💡 Hint
Home of a species
Question
Give an example of an open ecosystem.
Answer
A lake ecosystem where sunlight enters, rain adds water, and fish and nutrients move in and out.
💡 Hint
Exchange happens
Question
Give one example of an interaction within a community.
Answer
Examples include predation, competition, parasitism, mutualism, or herbivory between different species in the same area.
💡 Hint
Think: species interact
Question
Exam clue: If a question mentions temperature and rainfall, is it community or ecosystem?
Answer
Ecosystem, because temperature and rainfall are abiotic (non-living) factors.
💡 Hint
Abiotic = ecosystem
Question
How does energy move through an ecosystem? Give an example.
Answer
Energy enters as sunlight, moves to plants, then to animals, and is lost as heat. For example, Sun → grass → rabbit → fox.
💡 Hint
Food chain
Question
Why are most ecosystems called open systems?
Answer
Because energy and matter can move in and out of the ecosystem.
💡 Hint
Open = exchange
Question
What is a habitat?
Answer
A habitat is the place where an organism lives and finds the resources it needs to survive.
💡 Hint
Home of a species
Question
How is matter recycled in ecosystems? Give one example.
Answer
Dead plants and animals decompose and nutrients return to the soil, where plants reuse them.
💡 Hint
Nutrients go in a loop
Question
How does energy enter an ecosystem?
Answer
Energy enters ecosystems mainly as sunlight.
💡 Hint
Sun → producers
Question
Habitat vs ecosystem: how are they different?
Answer
A habitat is where a particular species lives. An ecosystem includes many species plus abiotic factors and their interactions.
💡 Hint
Habitat is narrower
Question
Is energy recycled in ecosystems?
Answer
No. Energy flows through ecosystems and is lost as heat.
💡 Hint
Energy ≠ recycled
Question
School playground: community or ecosystem?
Answer
Ecosystem, because it includes living organisms plus non-living factors like soil, air, and sunlight.
💡 Hint
Think abiotic
Question
Is matter recycled in ecosystems?
Answer
Yes. Matter such as nutrients and water is recycled.
💡 Hint
Unlike energy
Question
What is an open system?
Answer
An open system is a system where both energy and matter can enter and leave across the system boundary.
💡 Hint
Energy + matter cross boundary
Question
Why are most ecosystems described as open systems?
Answer
Because energy (sunlight, heat) and matter (water, nutrients, organisms) move in and out of the ecosystem.
💡 Hint
Inputs + outputs
Question
What does scale mean in ESS?
Answer
Scale is the size or level at which a system is studied, such as a pond, a forest, a biome, or the whole planet.
💡 Hint
Zoom level
Question
How can changing scale change what you notice in an ecosystem?
Answer
At small scale you see local interactions. At large scale you see wider patterns and flows across regions.
💡 Hint
Small = detail, large = pattern
Question
Quick check: Community = ?
Answer
Community = only living things (different populations of different species in the same area).
💡 Hint
Living only
Question
Quick check: Ecosystem = ?
Answer
Ecosystem = community + abiotic environment interacting together.
💡 Hint
Living + non-living
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Communities and ecosystems
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