| Question | Answer |
| ecology | Ecology is the study of interactions that take place
between organisms and their environment. |
| Adaptation | a change that helps an organism or species survive in its environment.
Ex: polar bears have white fur and blubber to help them blend with their environment and stay warm |
| 5 Examples of ABIOTIC factors in an environment (NON-LIVING PARTS OF AN ENVIRONMENT) | Examples:
1. Elevation
2. temperatures
3. strong winds
4. type of soil
5. water available |
| Why they ABIOTIC FACTORS often called “limiting factors?" | Called limiting factors because they can restrict (limit) the existence, numbers, reproduction of organisms. |
| Biotic Factors | The living parts of an environment |
| Species (Smallest) | -- must be able to successfully reproduce (have babies)
-- Offspring (babies) must be fertile (able to reproduce)
-- Ex: humans, rattlesnakes |
| Population | -- one species in a specific area
-- EX: all bullfrogs in a pond |
| Community | -- all of the populations in a specific area
-- Ex: all plants (many different species) in a pond (specific area) |
| Ecosystem | -- all communities interacting with each other AND the abiotic factors
-- Ex: pond, field, stream |
| Biome | -- a very large geographic area with very specific ABIOTIC features
-- Ex: temperate deciduous forest (our biome) |
| Biosphere/Ecosphere
(LARGEST) | an area on Earth where LIFE exists |
| What are the three things needed for an ecosystem to be self-sufficient? (able to keep going and stay balanced) | 1. must have a constant supply of energy (most = sun)
2. must have a way of making the energy available to the
ecosystem (autotrophs)
3, a way to recycle matter (decomposers) |
| How are habitat and niche DIFFERENT? | Habitat is where an organism lives,
But a niche is all strategies and adaptations a species uses in its
environment, how it survives & reproduces, etc.
A species’ niche includes ALL interactions between the species and its habitat. |
| Autotrophs | An organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals. |
| What is the difference between a photoautotroph and a chemoautotroph? Give examples of each. | Photoautotroph= uses light energy (SUN) to make its own food
Ex: plants, algae, some bacteria
Chemoautotrophs = use chemical energy to make food
Ex: all are bacteria |
| Herbivore | an organism that eats only PLANTS |
| Carnivore | an organism that eats only MEAT |
| Predator | an organism that hunts, kills, and eats other organisms |
| Prey | the animal that is hunted by a predator |
| Scavenger | an organism that eats dead animals |
| Omnivore | an organism that eats BOTH plant and animals |
| Decomposer | organisms that break down and recycle dead plants and animals |
| Mutualism (+,+) | A symbiotic relationship between two species of organisms in which BOTH benefit |
| Commensalism (+,0) | A symbiotic relationship between two species of organisms in which ONE benefits and the other is neutral-not harmed or helped |
| Parasitism (+,-) | A symbiotic relationship between two species of organisms in which ONE benefits and ONE is harmed/hurt |
| Producer | organisms that make their own food (usually plants) |
| Primary/first order consumer | Organisms that eat plants (herbivores) |
| Secondary/second order consumer | Organisms that eat other animals (carnivores) |
| Tertiary/third order consumer | Organisms that eat other carnivores (carnivores) |
| Decomposer | Organisms that break down dead plants /animals and return their nutrients back to the soil
Ex: fungi and bacteria |
| What do food chains and food webs illustrate/show? | the flow of energy through an ecosystem |
| What is the major difference between food chains and food webs? | food chains show ONLY ONE path for energy flow through an ecosystem
But, a food web shows all the different paths of energy flow and more than one thing an organism eats. |
| Which of the following CAN'T be recycled - Matter or Energy? | Energy CAN’T be recycled
Matter CAN be recycled (and MUST be recycled) |
| What is the % of energy transfer as it passes through a food chain/food web? What is most energy lost as? | -- about 10% of energy is passed from level to level of a food chain
-- about 90% is lost as HEAT |
| What is the carrying capacity of an environment? | the maximum (largest) population size of a biological species that can live in that specific area based on abiotic and biotic resources available. |
| What is the difference between a density-dependent factor and a density independent factor that limits population size? | Density DEPENDENT factor: Depends on the # of population in a given area ( ****Directly connected to the number of organisms in that area!****
Density INDEPENDENT: These factors happen NO MATER WHAT the population size is. |
| Examples of density dependent factors that will limit the size of a population. | --Competition (for food/water/shelter/mates)-as population increases, competition increases
--Predation (number of predators)
--Disease |
| Examples of density-independent factors that limit the size of a population. | --Natural Disaster (fire, earthquake, flood)
--Harsh climate
--man-made: deforestation, pollution |
| What is ecological succession? | The orderly, natural changes and species replacements that take place in the communities of an ecosystem |
| What is the difference between primary ecological succession and secondary ecological succession? | Primary Succession : NO SOIL!
-Development of new communities in an area w NO LIVING
THINGS!
EX: After a volcano erupts and kills everything
Secondary Succession: SOIL is there
-There must be soil present for this to take place |
| What is a climax community? | A stable, mature community that has reached equilibrium and undergoes little or no change in species. |
| Biome -- Tundra | Abiotic Characteristics:
-6-10 inches rain per year
-30 to 45 F (cold), permafrost
-Flora (plants); Lichens and mosses
-Fauna (animals): snowy owl and caribou |
| Biome -- Taiga | Abiotic Characteristics:
-12-20 inches rain per year
-4to 50 F (cold), permafrost thaws
-Flora (plants); pine trees
-Fauna (animals): brown bear, moose, els |
| Biome -- Temperate Deciduous Forest | Abiotic Characteristics:
-- 30-59 inches rain per year
-- four different seasons
-- Flora (plants); oak tree and maple tree
-- Fauna (animals): whitetail deer, bobcat |
| Biome -- Desert | Abiotic Characteristics:
-- 10 inches rain per year
-- 25-100 F
-- Flora (plants); cactus
-- Fauna (animals): rattlesnake, scorpion |
| Biome -- Tropical Rain Forest | Abiotic Characteristics:
-- 79-400 inches rain per year
-- very humid & warm
-- Flora (plants); banana trees, orchids
-- Fauna (animals): anaconda, monkeys, parrots |
| Biome -- Grasslands | Abiotic Characteristics:
-- 20-35 inches rain per year
-- very fertile soil
-- Flora (plants); long grasses, wheat
-- Fauna (animals): bison, prairie dogs |
| Why is Biodiversity so important for an ecosystem? | The greater the biodiversity (different living things) the more stable an ecosystem will be.
More variety at each trophic (feeding) level |
