Chapter 1 Revision Questions
Chapter 1 Revision Questions
1) List three abiotic characteristics and briefly describe the main differences between aquatic and terrestrial environments.
Abiotic characteristics are:
Temperature, Pressure and Light Availability.
The differences between aquatic and terrestrial environments are:
Small temperature changes occur in aquatic environments while large temperature changes occur in terrestrial environments.
As the depth of water increases, pressure increases in aquatic environments while at sea level, the pressure is higher than at higher altitude in terrestrial environments.
Very low amount of light in aquatic environments than in terrestrial environments.
2) Briefly describe how an ecologist would go about recording the distribution of plants in a rainforest ecosystem. Ecologists use different types of methods to calculate the distribution of plants in an area. The simplest and easiest to use in the field is the percentage cover method. This method uses quadrats which are 1m x 1m squares to cover randomly-selected representative areas for estimating the percentage cover of an area.
3) Describe an investigation you conducted using the quadrat method. List one advantage and one disadvantage of this method. One advantage is that it gives an estimate very close to the amount of species in an area. One disadvantage is that it doesn’t give the 100% correct amount of species in an area.
4) Describe a method you would use to estimate population numbers of kookaburras in an area. I would use the Mark-Release-Recapture Sampling method: This technique is used to calculate the abundance of animals in a large area. The method for this technique is: 1) Animals are captured, marked then released. 2) The released animal is given a suitable time to mix with others, and then a sample is recaptured. 3) The number of marked animals recaptured is counted. 4) The numbers are then entered into the formula used to calculate the estimated abundance of animals.
5) Identify
1) List three abiotic characteristics and briefly describe the main differences between aquatic and terrestrial environments.
Abiotic characteristics are:
Temperature, Pressure and Light Availability.
The differences between aquatic and terrestrial environments are:
Small temperature changes occur in aquatic environments while large temperature changes occur in terrestrial environments.
As the depth of water increases, pressure increases in aquatic environments while at sea level, the pressure is higher than at higher altitude in terrestrial environments.
Very low amount of light in aquatic environments than in terrestrial environments.
2) Briefly describe how an ecologist would go about recording the distribution of plants in a rainforest ecosystem. Ecologists use different types of methods to calculate the distribution of plants in an area. The simplest and easiest to use in the field is the percentage cover method. This method uses quadrats which are 1m x 1m squares to cover randomly-selected representative areas for estimating the percentage cover of an area.
3) Describe an investigation you conducted using the quadrat method. List one advantage and one disadvantage of this method. One advantage is that it gives an estimate very close to the amount of species in an area. One disadvantage is that it doesn’t give the 100% correct amount of species in an area.
4) Describe a method you would use to estimate population numbers of kookaburras in an area. I would use the Mark-Release-Recapture Sampling method: This technique is used to calculate the abundance of animals in a large area. The method for this technique is: 1) Animals are captured, marked then released. 2) The released animal is given a suitable time to mix with others, and then a sample is recaptured. 3) The number of marked animals recaptured is counted. 4) The numbers are then entered into the formula used to calculate the estimated abundance of animals.
5) Identify