7. AQA GCSE Biology: Ecology Exam
Questions and Answers 100% Solved
Ecosystem - ✔✔The interaction of a community of living organisms with the
non-living parts of their environment
What is a community made up of? - ✔✔The populations of different species
or organisms that are all interdependent in a habitat
Habitat - ✔✔The environment in which an organism lives
Population - ✔✔The total number of organisms of the same species living
in the same geographical area
Interdependence - ✔✔The way in which each species within a community
depends on other species for food, shelter, pollination, seed dispersal etc
Competition - ✔✔The process by which living organisms compete with
each other for limited resources (such as food, light or reproductive
partners)
What do organisms require to survive and reproduce? - ✔✔A supply of
materials from their surroundings and from the other living organisms there
1
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,What do plants often compete with each other for? (4) - ✔✔Light, space,
water, and mineral ions from the soil
What do animals compete with each other for? (3) - ✔✔Food, mates and
territory
Stable community - ✔✔Where all the species and environmental factors
are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant
What happens if one species is removed from a community? - ✔✔It can
affect the whole community
Abiotic factors - ✔✔Non-living factors
Biotic factors - ✔✔Living factors
Name 7 abiotic factors and how they might affect a community -
✔✔Litmuswoc
1. Light intensity - photosynthesis, breeding cycles linked to day length
2. Temperature - photosynthesis/plant growth, therefore animals which can
survive
3. Moisture levels - both plants and animals need water to survuve
4. Soil pH and mineral content - distribution of plants, most struggle to grow
where there is few mineral ions; low pH inhibits decay and therefore
release of mineral ions
2
©JOSHCLAY 2024/2025. YEAR PUBLISHED 2024.
, 5. Wind intensity and direction - shape of trees and landscape, increases
plant transpiration
6. Availability of oxygen - aquatic animals e.g. fish require high levels of
dissolved oxygen
7. Availability of carbon dioxide - photosynthesis
Name 4 biotic factors and how they might affect a community - ✔✔FPOP
1. Availability of food - food allows animals to survive and breed
successfully
2. New predators arriving - organisms with no defences against these
predators may die out
3. One species outcompeting another so the numbers are no longer
sufficient to breed - e.g. grey squirrels in Britain
4. New pathogens - organisms have no resistance so populations can be
wiped out
Adaptations - ✔✔Features which enable an organism to survive in the
conditions in which they normally live
Adaptations may be... - ✔✔...structural, functional or behavioural
3
©JOSHCLAY 2024/2025. YEAR PUBLISHED 2024.
Questions and Answers 100% Solved
Ecosystem - ✔✔The interaction of a community of living organisms with the
non-living parts of their environment
What is a community made up of? - ✔✔The populations of different species
or organisms that are all interdependent in a habitat
Habitat - ✔✔The environment in which an organism lives
Population - ✔✔The total number of organisms of the same species living
in the same geographical area
Interdependence - ✔✔The way in which each species within a community
depends on other species for food, shelter, pollination, seed dispersal etc
Competition - ✔✔The process by which living organisms compete with
each other for limited resources (such as food, light or reproductive
partners)
What do organisms require to survive and reproduce? - ✔✔A supply of
materials from their surroundings and from the other living organisms there
1
©JOSHCLAY 2024/2025. YEAR PUBLISHED 2024.
,What do plants often compete with each other for? (4) - ✔✔Light, space,
water, and mineral ions from the soil
What do animals compete with each other for? (3) - ✔✔Food, mates and
territory
Stable community - ✔✔Where all the species and environmental factors
are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant
What happens if one species is removed from a community? - ✔✔It can
affect the whole community
Abiotic factors - ✔✔Non-living factors
Biotic factors - ✔✔Living factors
Name 7 abiotic factors and how they might affect a community -
✔✔Litmuswoc
1. Light intensity - photosynthesis, breeding cycles linked to day length
2. Temperature - photosynthesis/plant growth, therefore animals which can
survive
3. Moisture levels - both plants and animals need water to survuve
4. Soil pH and mineral content - distribution of plants, most struggle to grow
where there is few mineral ions; low pH inhibits decay and therefore
release of mineral ions
2
©JOSHCLAY 2024/2025. YEAR PUBLISHED 2024.
, 5. Wind intensity and direction - shape of trees and landscape, increases
plant transpiration
6. Availability of oxygen - aquatic animals e.g. fish require high levels of
dissolved oxygen
7. Availability of carbon dioxide - photosynthesis
Name 4 biotic factors and how they might affect a community - ✔✔FPOP
1. Availability of food - food allows animals to survive and breed
successfully
2. New predators arriving - organisms with no defences against these
predators may die out
3. One species outcompeting another so the numbers are no longer
sufficient to breed - e.g. grey squirrels in Britain
4. New pathogens - organisms have no resistance so populations can be
wiped out
Adaptations - ✔✔Features which enable an organism to survive in the
conditions in which they normally live
Adaptations may be... - ✔✔...structural, functional or behavioural
3
©JOSHCLAY 2024/2025. YEAR PUBLISHED 2024.
