This topic summary covers Knowledge Organiser within Competition Adaptations for GCSE Biology. Topic 2: Competition Adaptations It is section 13 of 14 in this topic. Use this topic summary to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 13 of 14
Practice
15 questions
Recall
20 flashcards
Knowledge Organiser
Key Terms
- Adaptation: Inherited feature aiding survival and reproduction
- Structural: Physical body features
- Behavioural: Actions and patterns of behaviour
- Functional: Internal biochemical processes
- Extremophile: Organism in extreme conditions
- Intraspecific: Within same species
- Interspecific: Between different species
Animal Examples
- Polar bear: blubber, white fur, small ears (structural)
- Camel: hump (fat store), concentrated urine (functional)
- Birds: migration (behavioural)
- Hot-spring bacteria: heat-stable enzymes (functional)
- Desert rat: concentrated urine (functional)
- Fish: streamlined body (structural)
What Species Compete For
- Animals: food, water, territory, mates, shelter
- Plants: light, water, space, minerals/nitrates
- Intraspecific competition always more intense
- Natural selection favours better-adapted individuals
- Adaptations are inherited, not acquired