Question | Answer |
What is an ecosystem? | all organisms living in an area together with physical environment |
Where does most of the energy in an ecosystem come from? | sun |
Habitat | a place an organism lives |
Niche | its role in the community |
What is resistance? | the ability an organism can tolerate a chemical designed to kill it |
Define evolution | a change in genetics in a population from one generation to a next. |
What is the mechanism for evolution according to Darwin? | natural selection |
What is coevolution. | the process of two species evolving in response to a long term interaction with one another |
An example of coevolution | Hawaiian honey sipper |
What is natural selection? | unequal survival and reproduction that result from the presence or absence of a particular trait |
Describe the Archaebacteria Kingdom of life? | single-celled and found in harsh environments; prokaryotic |
Describe the Eubacteria Kingdom of life? | single-celled and very common; prokaryotic |
Describe the Fungi Kingdom of life? | cell walls and most live on land; decomposers, eukaryotic |
Describe the Protists Kingdom of life? | singel-celled and most live in water; eukaryotic |
Describe the Plant Kingdom of life? | many cells, make their own food; eukaryotic |
Describe the Animal Kingdom of life? | many cells, no cell wall and live in land or water; eukaryotic, heterotroph |
What converts nitrogen from the air into compounds that plants can use? | nitrogen fixing bacteria that live in the root system of legumes |
biotic factor | living |
abiotic factor | nonliving |
Explain how humans have encouraged resistance by insects to pesticides? | By trying to control pest populations with a chemical trying to kill it. Instead, the ones that survive breed other generations that are resistant to the chemical. |
Define population. | a group of the same species and live and interbreed together |
Define community. | ecosystem with living and nonliving parts |
Why are bacteria and fungi important to the environment? | they decompose dying and dead material |
What characteristics are shared by bacteria, fungus and plants? | cell wall |
What two kingdoms are mostly autotrophic? | Protista and plants |
gymnosperms | Evergreens and bear seeds on cones |
angiosperms | produce flowers and bear seeds in fruit |
Construct a Quaternary Food Chain | sun, algae, fish, penguins, seals, polar bear |
vertebrate | with backbones fish amphibians and reptiles. |
invertebrates | no backbone-corals and worms |
What is lichen? | It is a mutualistic relationship between a fungus and an algae |
What is lichen importance in terms of succession? | is a pioneer species. |
What is a climax community? | end result of a succession |
What is an herbivore | eats plants |
How much energy is passed from one trophic level to another? | 10 % |
What happens to the other 90% of energy in each trophic level? | the 90% is used or wasted |
What are decomposers? | break down dead material |
What is a carnivore? | consumer eats animals |
Where do fossil fuels come from? | plants and animals that were buried many years ago under quick pressure |
What is a pioneer species | original species to colonize an |
Examples of Pioneer species | lichen and moss |
primary succession | where life has never existed |
secondary succession | Succession where there has been previous growth such as abandoned fields |
How does fire improve an ecosystem? | some seeds can only be released by heat. fire removes brush and deadwood, and some animals feed on the new growth after a fire |
If a fire wipes out an entire forest and succession begins again…what type of succession is this? | secondary succession |
Where would an ecologist go if he/she needed to study a primary succession? | volcanoes |
List 3 ways that humans affect the Carbon Cycle | burning fossil fuels (cars, factories, power plants,clearing trees, burning wood,runoff, and burning fuel at high temperatures. |
List 3 ways that humans affect the Nitrogen Cycle | fertilizers, agricultural and industrial. |
What are consumers? | heterotrophs get energy from something else |
What are producers? | autotrophs make their own food |
How do plants play a crucial role in the environment? | they release oxygen that other organisms need and they are the beginning of the food chain |
Identify producers in an energy pyramid. | grass, sea weed, seeds |
Identify Primary consumers in an energy pyramid. | herbivores eat autotrophs(mouse eats the seeds) |
Identify secondary consumers in an energy pyramid. | animals that eat herbivores (bird eats the mouse) |
Identify tertiary consumers in an energy pyramid. | animal that eats the secondary consumer (cat eats the bird) |
Identify quaternary consumers in an energy pyramid. | animal that eats the tertiary consumer (Hawk eats the cat) |
Top predator | each food chain ends with a top predator - an animal with no natural enemies ex. polar bear |
What is a food web? | a complex system of interrelates food chains in an ecosystem |
Describe an old field succession | plowed field is abandoned, it represents a new habitat for plant and animal species to colonize, but because it is basically bare soil, it is a stressful habitat for many plants. There are no trees to provide shade or to serve as windbreaks. |
Example of a population | zebras that live in the same area and breed together |
Eample of a community | a pond |
Example of gymnosperms | pine tree |
Example of angiosperms | apple trees |
Example of a carnivore | Lion, Hawk,Shark |
What is a food chain? | a succession of organisms that get their energy from eating something else or making it themselves |