C05 Ecosystems and Evolution

B10.1    Levels of organisation in an ecosystem:

1. Know and understand the organisation of levels within an ecosystem from individuals through to populations, and from communities through to ecosystems.
2. Know and understand how communities can be affected by abiotic and biotic factors.
3. Know and understand the factors that can cause a population to change in size.
4. Understand the importance of interdependence in ecosystems (relating to predation, mutualism and parasitism) and of competition in a community.
5. Know and understand that photosynthetic organisms are the primary producers of food in an ecosystem, and therefore biomass.

B10.2    Material cycling:

1. Know and understand the carbon cycle, including the importance of the following processes:
   1. Photosynthesis
   2. Respiration
   3. Combustion

1. Decomposition
2. Understand the importance of the water cycle to living organisms.

B10.3    Biodiversity:

1. Know and understand how quadrats and belt transects are used to investigate the distribution and abundance of organisms in a habitat, and interpret data from their use.
2. Know and understand how to determine the number of organisms in a given area.
3. Know and understand the positive and negative human interactions in an ecosystem, including fish farming, acid rain and eutrophication, and explain their impact on biodiversity.

B7.1      Natural selection and evolution:

1. Know that there is usually extensive genetic variation within a population of a species.
2. Describe evolution as a change in the inherited characteristics of a population over time through a process of natural selection which may result in the formation of a new species.
3. Know and understand how evolution can occur through natural selection of variants that give rise to phenotypes best suited to their environment.
4. Know and understand that antibiotic resistance in bacteria is an example of evolution through natural selection.