1st Quarter Midterm Flashcards
A simple growing, green plant often found on rocks, trees, and walls.
Lichens
A gradual development/regrowth of a community over time
Succession
An organism capable of synthesizing its own food from inorganic substances using light or chemical energy
Autotroph
An organism deriving its nutritional requirements from complex organic substances
Heterotroph
Trees that lose their leaves during Autumn
Deciduous
Trees made up of waxy pines that stay green throughout every season
Coniferous
Three examples of prey adaptations
warning coloration, camouflage, mimicry of a well-defended species, defense mechanisms, etc.
Describe the importance of Mono Lake
Mono Lake is acts as an ancestral breeding ground and is an important stop for many birds to stop and get food.
Define mutualism and give an example of it.
- mutualism: both organisms benefit , EX: clown fish shelter themselves in anemones by coating themselves in a layer of protective mucus. The clown fish is protected, and it protects the anemone from possible predators such as butterfly fish and cleans the anemone.
What is the rule of 10 percent?
10% of the energy from the organism consumed is given to the consumer.
Why do organisms need nitrogen?
Nitrogen is used to build proteins and DNA for new cells
What is nitrogen fixation?
Nitrogen fixation is when nitrogen in the atmosphere in converted to another form of nitrogen (such as ammonia) by natural or industrial means
What is Batesian mimicry? Give an example.
When two animals of different families have similar coloration, but one is toxic, and the other isn’t. This benefits both the toxic and non-toxic animal. EX= Coral Snake (venomous) and King Snake (safe)
What is Mullerian mimicry? Give an example.
When groups of animals all have similar coloration, giving the whole group of animals protection EX = Bees
Give three reasons why animals have warning coloration.
To warn that they’re dangerous, poisonous, or unpalatable
What element to organic molecules contain?
carbon
Explain Australia was overrun with rabbits, and why the Aussie’s method of exterminating them did not work very well.
There were no predators, resulting in an overpopulation of rabbits. The Australian government introduced a new virus to the rabbits in order to get rid of their vast population. More than 99% of the rabbits died when the virus was used, but the surviving rabbits reproduced, and the more they used the virus, the less rabbits died because of the virus. They slowly became immune to the virus.
What is commensalism? Give an example.
One benefits, other is unharmed. EX: Remoras attach themselves to sharks and feed on the food they leave behind.
What is parasitism? Give an example.
One benefits, one is harmed. Female wasp laying eggs on tomato hornworm. When the eggs hatch, they burrow into the caterpillar’s body and eat it alive
Define ecology.
study of interactions of living organisms with one another and their environment.
Define biotic.
living
Define abiotic.
not living.
Define population.
same species living in the same environment.
Define community.
all the populations of species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other
Define ecosystem.
a community of organisms and their abiotic environment
Define biosphere.
part of Earth where life exists
herbivore
organism that only eats plants
carnivore
animal that only eats meat
omnivore
organism that eats both plants and animals
consumer
obtains food from feeding on other organisms
producer
creates own food
decomposer
breaks down organic material and returns it to the Earth
carrying capacity
largest population an environment can support at any given time
independent variable
variable you change for the sake of the experiment
dependent variable
variable you measure
prey
organism hunted by another organism
predator
organism that hunts other organisms
salinity
amount of salt in water
detritus
organic debris (leaves, animal remains, waste products, etc)
limiting factor
constrains a population’s size, slows/ stops it from growing
