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Ecology Unit Review
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is ecology? | The study of the distribution and abundance of organisms, their interactions with other organisms and their interactions with their physical environment. |
| What is a population? | The group of individuals all of the same species living in the same area. |
| What is a community? | A group of populations living in the same area. |
| What is an ecosystem? | Describes the interrelationships between the organisms in a community and their physical environment. |
| What is the biosphere composed of? | All of the regions of the earth that contain living things. |
| What is the habitat of an organism? | The type of place where it usually lives. This may include other organisms and also physical and chemical characteristics of the environment (temperature, soil quality) |
| What is an organism's niche? | This describes all of the biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) resources in the environment used by an organism. In other words if a organism is occupying a niche its presence changes the environment in some way. |
| What is population ecology? | The study of the growth, abundance, and distribution of populations. |
| What is dispersion and what are the three types? | This describes how individuals in a population are distributed. They may be clumped (like humans in cities), uniform (like trees in a orchard) or random (like trees in some forests). |
| What are survivorship curves. | They describe how mortality of individuals in a species varies during their lifetime. |
| What is type 1 survivorhip curve? | Type 1 describe species in which most individuals live to middle age. After that age mortality is high- humans exhibit this. |
| What is type 2 survivorship curve? | Type 2 describes organisms in which the length of survivorship is random- the likelyhood of death is the same at any age. |
| What is type 3 survivorship curve? | Type 3 describe species in which most individuals die young, with only a relative few surviving to reproductive age and beyond. |
| What is biotic potential? | The maximum growth rate of a population under ideal conditions with unlimited resources and without any growth restrictions. |
| What is carrying capacity? | The maximum number of individuals of a population that can be sustained by a particular habitat. |
| What are limiting factors? | Elements that prevent a population from attaining its biotic potential- they are either density-dependent or density-independent. |
| What is a density-dependent factor? | Agents whose limiting effect become more intense as the population density increases. Examples include parasites and diseases. |
| What is a density-independent factor? | They occur independently of the density of the population. Examples are natural disasters and extremes of climate. |
| What is the reproductive rate? | N is the population size at the beginning of the interval for which the births and deaths are counted. R = births-deaths/N |
| What are population cycles? | Fluctuations in population size in response to varying effects of limiting factors. |
| What are r-selected species? | Species that exhibit rapid growth(J-shapedcurve).This is characterized by opportunistic species,such as grasses and insects,that quickly invade a habitat,reproduce and then die-they produce many offspring that are small mature quickly andrequirelittlecare |
| What are k-selected species? | Population size remains relatively constant(remain at carrying capacity-k) such as humans, produce small number of relatively large offspring that require extensive parental care. |
| What factors made exponential growth in the human population possible? | Increases in food supply-by domesticating animals and plants. Reduction in disease-creation of vaccines. Reduction in human wastes-develop water purification. Expansion of habitat-better housing and warmer clothing. |
| What is competitive exclusion principle (Gause's principle)? | When two species compete for exactly the same resources (or occupy the same niche)-outcome one species overpowers the other - no two species can sustain coexistence id they occupy the same niche |
| What is resource partitioning? | Some species coexist in spite of apparent competition for the same resources. By pursuing slightly different resources or securing it in slightly different ways individuals minimize competition and maximize success. |
| What is character displacement? | Certain characteristics may enable individuals to obtain resources in their partitions more successfully. |
| What is a realized niche? | The niche that they have when all natural occurring things happen. |
| What us a fundamental niche? | The niche that an organism occupies in the absence of competing species. |
| What are the different types of predators? | A true predator kills and eats another animal. Parasites live on another organism(the host)obtaining nourishment from feeding on its tissues. Parasitoid lays its eggs on a host when the laravae get nourishment by consuming the host. Herbivores eat plants. |
| What is symbiosis and what are the types? | Two species that live together in close contact during a portion or all of their lives. The three types are mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. |
| What is mutualism? | A relationship where both species benefit. Example is flowers and bees-bees get nectar and flowers get pollinated. |
| What is commensalism? | One species benefits while the second species is neither helped nor harmed. An example would be bird building its nest in a tree. |
| What is parasitism? | The parasite benefits from the living arrangement while the host is harmed. An example would be flees and dogs. |
| What is coevolution? | The evolution of one species in response to new adaptations that appear in another species. |
| What are secondary compounds? | Toxic chemicals produced in plants that discourage would-be herbivores. |
| What is camouflage? | Any color, pattern, shape or behavior that enables an animal to blend in with its surroundings. An example is a snowshoe hare which is white in winter and brown in summer. |
| What is aposematic coloration (warning coloration)? | Pattern or coloration of animals that warns predators that they sting, bite, taste bad, or are otherwise to be avoided. |
| What is mimicry and what are the types? | Two or more species resemble one another in appearance. Mullerian and Batesian Mimicry. |
| What is mullerian mimicry? | Mullerian mimicry occurs when several animals all with some defense system share the same colartation-bees,wasps=black and yellow. |
| What is Batesian Mimicry? | Batesian mimicry-an animal without any special defense system mimics the coloration of an animal that does possess a defense. Example, defenseless flies with yellow and black markings to mimic bees. |
| How does pollination occur as a result of coevolution? | Coevolution of finely-tuned traits between the flowers and their pollinators. Red tubular flowers no odor have coevolved with hummingbirds who are attracted to red and have little sense of smell-flowers provide nectar for transfer of their pollen. |
| What is ecological succession? | The change in the composition of species over time. Usually one community of a certain species is gradually and predictably replaced by another community consisting of different species. |
| What is a climax community? | A final successional stage of constant species composition. It remains relatively unchanged until destroyed by some catastrophic event-fire. A stable climax community is never attained because of disturbances occur frequently. |
| What is the pioneer species? | Plants and animals that are first to colonize a newly exposed habitat. Typically r-selected species-fast growing, can tolerate harsh conditions. But are eventually replaced by k-selected species. |
| What is primary succession? | Occurs on substrates that never previously supported living things. Succession on rock or lava and succession on sand dunes. |
| What is secondary succession? | In habitats where communities were entirely or partially destroyed by some kind of damaging event. These habitats previously supported life but was damaged by a natural disaster. Soil contains native seed bank. |
| What are the trophic levels of an ecosystem? | Primary producers are autotrophs that convert sun energy into chemical energy-plants. Primary consumers-herbivores eat the primary producers. Secondary consumers-primary carnivores-eat the primary consumers. Tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers |
| What are detritivores? | Consumers that obtain their energy by consuming dead plants and animals. The smallest detritivores are decomposers-bacteria. |
| What are biochemical cycles? | They describe the flow of essential elements from the environment to living things and back to the environment. |
| Describe the water cycle. | Reservoirs: Oceans, air(water vapor), groundwater-evaporation, wind and precipitation move water to land. Assimilation: plants absorb water from soil animals drink water or eat plants. Release: plants transpire animals and plants decompose. |
| Describe the carbon cycle. | Reservoirs: atmosphere(CO2)Assimilation: plants use CO2 in photosynthesis, animals consume plants or other animals Release: plants and animals release CO2 through respiration and decomposition or released when organic material (wood) is burned |
| Describe the nitrogen cycle. | Reservoirs: atmosphere(N2),soil Assimilation:plants absorb nitrogen, animals obtain nitrogen by eating plants or other animals Release: plants and animals convert NO3- back to N2, bacteria convert compounds back to NH4+ animals excrete uric acid |
| Describe the phosphorous cycle. | Reservoirs: rocks and ocean sediments-erosion transfers P to water and soil,sediments and rocks accumulate on the ocean floor and return to the surface Assimilation: plants absorb P from soils Release:plants when they decompose animals excrete in wastes |
| Describe the tropical rain forest biome. | Characterized by high temperature and heavy rainfall- tall trees that branch only at their tops=allows little light to reach the forest floor |
| Describe the savanna biome. | Grasslands with scattered trees. Are subject to high temperatures but receive considerably less water than rain forests. |
| Temperate Grasslands | Receive less water then savannas and have lower temperaturess |
| Deciduous Forests | Warm summers, cold winters, moderate precipitation-shed their leaves during the winter |
| Deserts | Hot and dry |
| Taigas | Characterized by coniferous forests(pines,firs) |
| Tundras | Subject to winters so cold that the ground freezes |
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