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AQA GCSE Biology — Ecology flashcards

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Topic 4.7 of AQA GCSE Biology: communities, abiotic and biotic factors, adaptations, food chains, carbon and water cycles, decay, biodiversity, pollution, land use, global warming, trophic levels and food security. Higher Tier and Biology-only cards are marked.

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Learn deck · part of AQA GCSE Biology · written against: AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, version 1.0; Higher Tier and separate-science-only cards marked on the front. Updated 2026-10-10.

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  1. What is an ecosystem?
    A community of organisms (biotic) plus the non-living (abiotic) surroundings they live in, and all the interactions between them.

    Example: a pond, with its plants, animals and microorganisms plus the water, light and temperature.
    Ecology › Adaptations and Interdependence
  2. Put these in order from smallest to largest: community, individual organism, ecosystem, population.
    Individual → population → community → ecosystem

    Why: a population is one species in a habitat; a community is all the populations of different species living there.
    Ecology › Adaptations and Interdependence
  3. What do plants in a community typically compete with each other for?
    Light and space, and water and mineral ions from the soil.

    Watch out: plants make their own food by photosynthesis, so food is not one of the resources they compete for.
    Ecology › Adaptations and Interdependence
  4. What do animals typically compete with each other for?
    Food, mates and territory.

    Example: male deer fight for mates during the breeding season.
    Ecology › Adaptations and Interdependence
  5. Very few plants grow on the floor of a dense beech wood in summer. Which resource are they most likely competing for?
    Light.

    Why: the leaves of the tall trees absorb most of the light before it reaches the ground.
    Ecology › Adaptations and Interdependence
  6. What is interdependence in a community?
    Each species relies on others for things like shelter, food, pollination or seed dispersal, so losing one can ripple through the whole community.

    Example: losing a pollinator can reduce the plants that other animals feed on.
    Ecology › Adaptations and Interdependence
  7. Bee numbers in an area fall sharply. Explain the likely effect on the flowering plants that depend on them.
    Fewer flowers are pollinated, so fewer seeds form and the plant population falls.

    Why: animals that eat those plants or their seeds may then decline too — an example of interdependence.
    Ecology › Adaptations and Interdependence
  8. What is a stable community?
    One where the species and the environmental conditions are balanced, so population sizes stay roughly the same over time.

    Example: an undisturbed ancient woodland.
    Ecology › Adaptations and Interdependence
  9. Give four abiotic factors that can affect a community.
    Light intensity, temperature, moisture levels and soil pH and mineral content.

    Example: wind intensity and direction, carbon dioxide for plants and oxygen for aquatic animals are others.
    Ecology › Adaptations and Interdependence
  10. Why can a fall in the oxygen level of a river reduce the number of fish living in it?
    Fish need dissolved oxygen for aerobic respiration; it is an abiotic factor for aquatic animals.

    Why: with too little oxygen, the fish cannot release enough energy to survive.
    Ecology › Adaptations and Interdependence

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About these cards

Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.

Checked against:

  • Topic outline follows the AQA GCSE Biology (8461) specification, version 1.0 (outline only; no specification text reproduced).
  • OpenStax Biology 2e, consulted as a reference; no text copied.
  • Also checked against Hickling et al. (2006), Global Change Biology 12: 450-455, and Collins et al. (2014), PLoS ONE (CC BY) (reference only; no text copied).

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