1st 9 Weeks Exam Flashcards
1
Q
What is Ecology?
A
the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environments
2
Q
What is the Biosphere?
A
a portion of the Earth that supports life. It extends from high in the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean
3
Q
What are the different levels of organization?
A
species, populations, community, ecosystem, and biome
4
Q
What are species?
A
a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring
5
Q
What are populations?
A
groups of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area
6
Q
What is a community?
A
a collection of interacting populations NO population of organisms lives independently of other species
7
Q
What is an ecosystem?
A
interactions among populations in a community and the physical surroundings
8
Q
What is a biome?
A
group of ecosystems with the same climate
9
Q
What is sunlight?
A
the main source of energy on Earth
10
Q
What are Autotrophs?
A
organisms that use energy from the sun or stored energy in chemical cpds to make their food
11
Q
What are plants?
A
they are a common autotroph and they harness solar energy through photosynthesis
12
Q
What is Chemosynthesis?
A
making food with chemical energy instead of light. Ex: Chemosynthetic bacteria
13
Q
What are Heterotrophs?
A
organisms that depend on autotrophs as their source of nutrients and energy and can not make its own food
14
Q
What are Herbivores?
A
consumers that feed on plants only. Ex: Cows, rabbits, grasshoppers, and rodents
15
Q
What are Carnivores?
A
animals that kill and eat ONLY other animals
16
Q
What are Scavengers?
A
animals that feed on carrion. Ex: Black vultures
17
Q
Is it true that Carnivores and Scavengers are Heterotrophs?
A
Yes
18
Q
What are Biogeochemical Cycles?
A
possible pathways of biological, geological, and chemical aspects of the biosphere. Ex: Water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, and phosphorus cycle
19
Q
What happens during the water cycle?
A
- Surface H2O evaporates (changes from a liquid to a gas)
- It then rises to the air where it condenses (change from gas to liquid)
- Percipitates back to the ground
- H2O will move over land as runoff or soak into the ground (seepage)
20
Q
How does the water cycle begin?
A
plants absorbing water into its roots
21
Q
How do plants release H2O?
A
through transpiration
22
Q
How do animals take in H20?
A
they either drink it or get it through food
23
Q
How do animals release the H20 into the atmosphere?
A
through respiration or excretion
24
Q
After death, how do the organisms release the H20?
A
through decomposition
25
Where is carbon found?
in the environment (atmosphere & water) as CO2
26
Is it true that producers use CO2 in photosynthesis?
Yes
27
How do organisms like animals get carbon?
by consuming producers
28
How does CO2 return to the atmosphere?
it returns as a gas via respiration and decay
29
Is it true that the burning of fossil fuels also returns CO2?
Yes
30
How much does Atmospheric Nitrogen(N) make up of air?
78%. This form of N cannot be used by living things
31
What type of nitrates do plants absorb?
they absorb nitrates made by bacteria and lighting (nitrogen fixation)
32
Is it true that plants convert N into proteins?
Yes
33
Do herbivores consume plants to make animal proteins?
Yes
34
When do organisms return N into the atmosphere?
when they die and decay (denitrification)
35
Where is Phosphorus mostly found?
in soil and rock minerals and in ocean sediments
36
When is phosphate released?
when rocks are withered
37
Why are phosphates dissolved into water ecosystems?
to be used by aquatic organisms
38
On land, what are phosphates cycled between?
soil and terrestrial organisms
39
What are omnivores?
they eat both plants AND animals. Ex: Humans, raccoons, coyotes, and bears
40
What are detritivores?
they feed on small particles of plant and animal remains known as detritus. Ex: Snails, earthworms, and crabs
41
What are decomposers?
organisms that break down AND absorb nutrients from dead organisms. Ex: Fungus and bacteria
42
What are feeding relationships?
energy that flows through an ecosystem in one direction, from the sun to autotrophs (producers) and then to heterotrophs (consumers)
43
What are food chains?
a series of steps in which organisms transfer matter and enerygy
44
What do Trophic Levels represent?
links in a food chain
45
What are the different trophic levels?
producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, and quaternary consumers
46
What are ecological pyramids?
a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy of matter within a trophic level. Only about 10% of the energy transferred to organisms at next trophic level
47
What are the biomass pyramids?
illustrates total amount of living organic matter with each level
48
What do the pyramids of numbers show?
shows relative number of individuals at each level
49
What is climate?
refers to the average conditions of the atmosphere over time
50
What is weather?
the day to day conditipns of Earth's atmosphere at a particular place and time
51
What is the Greenhouse Effect?
the natural situation in which heat is retained by the gasses surrounding the Earth
52
What are the gasses that form a blanket around our planet?
primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor
53
What would happen without the Greenhouse Effect?
the Earth would not be warm enough for humans to live
54
What would happen if the Greenhouse Effect gets too strong?
it could make the Earth warmer than usual
55
What are Polar Zones?
cold areas where the sun's rays strike the Earth at a very low version
56
What are Temperate Zones?
areas in which are greatly affected by the tilt of Earth during the year. The temperatures range from hot to cold
57
What are Tropical Zones?
areas near the equator which receive DIRECT sunlight year around
58
What does unequal heating of Earth's surface create?
winds and ocean currents and affects climate
59
What is a niche?
the role a species plays in a community. Ex: Food, space, and other conditions needed for survival and reproduction
60
What is competition?
when organisms attempt to use the same resources at the same time
61
What is predation?
one organism captures and feeds on another organims
62
What is symbiosis?
a relationship in which two species live closely together
63
What are the different community interactions?
competition, predation, and symbiosis
64
What is commensalism?
one species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefitted. Ex: Shark and remora
65
What is mutualism?
a relationship in which both species benefit. Ex: Coral and fish
66
What is parasitism?
a relationship in which one organism benefits at the expense of the other. The host is usually killed. Ex: Fleas and leeches
67
What is Population Density?
number of individuals per unit area
68
What is Population Growth?
the change in size of population with time
69
What is Immigration?
movement of individuals INTO a population
70
What is Emigration?
movement of individuals OUT of a population
71
When does Exponential Growth occur?
occurs when the number of organisms increases by an ever increasing rate (causes a population explosion)
72
When does Logistical Growth occur?
occurs when a population's growth slows or stops following an exponential growth
73
What is Carrying Capacity?
number of organisms a particular environment can support (K)
74
What limits growth?
limiting factors, competition, and predation
75
What is a Limiting Factor?
factors that cause population growth to decrease (Ex: food and space)
76
What is Competition?
as a population size increases, competition for food, water, and territory can be fierce (population decrease)
77
What does predation do to a population size?
affects population size
78
What are Density-Dependent Factors?
parasitism and disease, crowding and stress
79
What does Parasitism and Disease do?
weaken and takes the nutrients away (causing death)
80
What do Crowding and Stress do?
overcrowding causes stress which can result in aggression, decrease in parental care, decrease fertility, and resistance to disease
81
What are Density-Independent Factors?
natural disasters, changing seasons, and human activity can limit population growth regardless of population size
82
What are the different patterns of population growth?
demography, demographic transition, and population growth rate
83
What is Demography?
the study of population growth characteristics (Ex: growth rate, age structure, and geographic distribution)
84
What is Demographic Transition?
a dramatic change in birth and death rates
85
What is Population Growth Rate?
difference between birth rate and death rate
86
What does Age Structure refer to?
it refers to populations that are either in their pre-reproductive years, their reproductive years, or their pro reproductive years
87
What is Subsistence Hunting?
only to acquire basic necessities for survival; makes few demands on the environment
88
What is the Green Revolution?
the introduction of intensive farming practices that lead to increase in crop yield
89
What is Monoculture?
farming strategy where large fields are planted with a single crop, year after year
90
What is a Renewable Resource?
can regenerate quickly and therefore replaceable (it is not necessarily unlimited)
91
What are examples of Renewable Resources?
water, grass, trees, air, ocean resources, land, fish, and oxygen
92
What are Nonrenewable Resources?
resources that cannot be replenished by natural processes
93
What are examples of Nonrenewable resources?
fossil fuels, coal, oil, and natural gas
94
What is a Sustainable Use?
using natural resources at a rate that does not deplete them
95
What is Smog?
a gray-brown mixture of chemicals that occurs as haze in the atmosphere
96
What is Smog made of?
Fog+Smoke=Smog
97
What is Pollutant?
harmful material that can enter the biosphere through the land, air, or water
98
What is Deforestation?
destruction of a forest
99
What is Desertification?
productive land turning into a desert due to farming, over-grazing by animals and drought
100
What is Biodiversity?
the sum total of the variety of organisms in the biosphere
101
Why is Biodiversity one of Earth's greatest natural resources?
it benefits humans through its contributes to medicine and agriculture and through the provision of ecological goods and services
102
What reduces Biodiversity?
human activity such as altering habitat, over-hunting , and pollution
103
What is Extinction?
the disappearance of a species from all parts of its geographical range
104
What is an Endangered Species?
population size is rapidly declining and will become extinct if the trend continues
105
What is Habitat Fragmentation?
splitting of ecosystems into small fragments
106
What is an Invasive Species?
plants and animals that have migrated to places where they are not native
107
What is Conservation
wise management of natural resources
108
What is an Ozone Layer?
band of ozone, a gas made up of 3 oxygen atoms, that surrounds our planet
109
When does ozone depletion occur?
can occur through CFC's
110
What is Global Warming?
increase in the average temperature on Earth
111
How old is the Earth is estimated to be?
4.6 billion years old
112
What did the original atmosphere consist of?
nitrogen, methane, ammonia, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor
113
How many years ago was the first living organism documented?
3.8 billion years ago
114
How is the first organism described?
anaerobic (no oxygen), heterotrophic (did not make its own food); bacteria (prokaryotes)
115
How many years ago was oxygen documented and how was it released?
2.8 billion years ago. It was released into the atmosphere through photosynthesis.
116
Could eukaryotes have been formed from prokaryotes living symbiotically?
Yes
117
How many years ago did the multicellular organisms arrive?
545 million years ago
118
By what time was the atmosphere rich in oxygen?
545 million years ago
119
What is the Evolution and how can it be caused?
the gradual change that takes place in a species over time. It can be caused by mutation, migration, isolation, and environmental changes
120
What characteristics did Darwin notice in the animals and plants while he was in Galapagos?
the characteristics varied among the different islands of the Galapagos
121
What did Darwin theorize?
that species change over time
122
What can natural selection on single-gene traits lead to?
the changes in allele frequencies and thus to evolution
123
What five conditions are required to maintain genetic equilibrium? (for genes to stay the same) *no evolution*
1. Random mating
2. Very large population
3. No immigration or emigration
4. No mutations
5. No natural selection
124
What is speciation?
formation of a new species
125
What happens when a new species evolves?
populations become reproductively isolated (they can't produce even if they live close together)
126
The speciation in the Galapagos finches is occurred by
1. Founding of new population
2. Geographic isolation
3. Changes in a new population
4. Reproductive isolation
5. Ecological competition
127
What is an artificial selection?
nature provides variation among different organisms, and humans select the traits that they find useful. Ex: Breeding dogs to get certain traits in the offspring
128
What is a natural selection?
changes in the inherited characteristics of a population. These changes increase the species fitness in its environment
129
What was Darwin's evidence that all living things have been evolving on Earth for millions of years?
1. Fossil record
2. Geographic distribution
3. Homologous structures of living organisms
4. Similarities in fetal development
5. Vestigial organs
130
What did Darwin believe?
that living things have been evolving on Earth for millions of years
131
What are vestigial organs?
organs that serve no apparent purpose. Ex: Appendix and gallbladder
