I/GCSE Biology - Surviving the presence of others

In this blog post, we will talk about the special adaptations and competition of organisms in I/GCSE Biology. Let's get started! 🐒

• For organism to grow, mature, produce offspring = avoid being eaten by other microorganisms
• It's commonly asked in I/GCSE Biology!

Special adaptations – avoid being eaten

• Physical deterrents e.g. cacti🌵 = thick spines
• Chemical deterrents e.g. ragwort (plant) = poisons (taste bad or kill)
• Advertise poisons with bright colours
• Camouflage – hide from predators (colours + patterns on body = difficult to see)

In I/GCSE Biology, you should be familiar with the competition among organisms!

Reasons for competition among organisms:

1. Enough resources for all organisms  ➡️  rare
2. Limited resources ➡️ organisms compete

• most successful ➡️ grow better + more offspring produced

Plants

• compete for water, light, nutrients (if grown close together)

1. Bluebells ➡️  grow, flower + seed before tree fully grown (no sun blocked)

Animals

• compete for food

1. Leopards ➡️ takes kill to trees (keeps other animals away from stealing their food)

• compete for mates

1. Male peacocks display feathers when females around – best display ➡️ mate with the most females
2. Birds 🐦 ➡️ territories when breeding
3. Robins ➡️ large territory to feed young
4. Birds 🐦 away from nest site e.g. penguins / gannets ➡️ small nesting territory (out of pecking distance of other adults)

References:

1. "Camouflage Animals", https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/best-animal-camouflage-17.jpg
2. "Competition of animals", https://weirdcooldumb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Competition-Between-Animals.jpg

And we're done with this topic! Well Done!

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Drafted by Alyssa (Biology)