5 - Final Prep Flashcards
broad abd vague, not to be used as sole study material
What’s the difference between open and closed systems?
Open systems exchange energy and matter with surroundings (e.g., ecosystems). Closed systems only exchange energy (e.g., Earth’s energy balance)
How does energy flow through a food chain?
Energy flows from producers (plants) to consumers (herbivores, carnivores) and decreases at each level due to energy loss (heat)
What is a food web?
A network of interconnected food chains showing how energy and nutrients flow through an ecosystem
What are the components of a food chain
Producers (plants), primary consumers (herbivores), secondary consumers (carnivores), and decomposers (break down dead material).
What are the types of ecological pyramids?
Energy (energy flow), biomass (mass of organisms), and numbers (organisms at each level).
What is the 10% rule?
Only 10% of energy is passed to the next trophic level; 90% is lost as heat or used for life processes.
What are the 3 key properties of water?
Cohesion (sticks to itself), adhesion (sticks to surfaces), and high specific heat (resists temperature changes).
What are the steps of the hydrologic cycle?
Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, and infiltration.
What’s the difference between rapid and slow cycling?
Rapid cycling moves nutrients through living organisms quickly, while slow cycling stores nutrients in non-living reservoirs (e.g., rocks).
What are the main steps of the nitrogen cycle?
Nitrogen fixation, nitrification, assimilation, ammonification, and denitrification.
Which cycle doesn’t involve the atmosphere?
The phosphorus cycle – it moves through rocks, soil, water, and organisms.
Define “niche” and “habitat.”
A niche is an organism’s role in its ecosystem, while a habitat is where it lives.
Order the biosphere’s levels of complexity.
Organism → population → community → ecosystem → biome → biosphere.
What are limiting factors?
Conditions that limit population growth (e.g., food, water, space, predators).
What is the difference between biomagnification and bioaccumulation?
Biomagnification: The increase in concentration of toxins as they move up the food chain (e.g., predators at the top have the most toxins).
Bioaccumulation: The buildup of toxins within an organism over time (e.g., fish storing mercury in their tissues).
What is eutrophication?
Eutrophication is the process where excessive nutrients (like nitrogen and phosphorus) enter water bodies, leading to:
Algae Blooms: Rapid algae growth blocks sunlight.
Oxygen Depletion: Dead algae decompose, using up oxygen.
Harm to Aquatic Life: Low oxygen kills fish and other organisms.
What is Darwinian fitness?
An organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in its environment.
How does antibiotic resistance occur?
bacteria mutate, survive antibiotics, and reproduce, passing resistance genes.
What’s the main difference between Darwin’s and Lamarck’s theories?
Darwin: Traits are passed through natural selection. Lamarck: Traits are acquired during life and passed on.
How does natural selection work?
Traits that improve survival and reproduction become more common in a population.
What is the basis of evolutionary theory?
Species change over time through natural selection and genetic variation.
How does isolation lead to speciation?
Geographic, behavioral, or reproductive isolation prevents gene flow, leading to new species.
What factors affect the rate of evolution?
Mutations, environmental changes, population size, and reproduction rate.
