Bio test review questions Flashcards
Ecology
study of interactions b/w living things & their surroundings
Organism
One single living thing
Population
A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area
Community
different species that live together in an area
Ecosystem
- living and nonliving things in a given area
Biome
- regional or global community of organisms characterized by climate and plants
Levels of organization
- Organism
- Population
- community
- Ecosystem
- Biome
What are the general methods used to study ecosystems?
- Observation
- Experimentation
- Modeling
Observation
Which is better long term or short term?
- Act of careful watching over time (long or short)
- Long-term, more insightful
Direct survey
- watch animals directly with the naked eye
Indirect Survey
- look for signs of animal like tracks, feces, or recent kill
Radio telemetry Survey
attaching radio collars to animals
Lincon-Peterson Index
N=M*S/R
N - Population Size Estimate
M - animals marked and released
S - Size of the sample on the second day
R - Animals recaptured on the second day
Quadrant Sampling
- Randomly select plot
- Count organisms in that plot, enter numbers into formulas
Density & Formula
number of species in a unit area
Total No. of individuals of a species in all quadrants/ / No. or quadrates * quadrates area
Frequency & Formula
percentage of sample plots in which a species
appears
No. of quadrates containing the species/
/No. of quadrates
T = Total population estimate Formula
T = NA
N = Total number of individuals counted /
/ number of quadrats
A = Total Area /
/ Area of quadrat
Pros and Cons of a Field Experiment
Pros: more accurate
Cons: difficult to determine cause and effect due to
variables
Pros and Cons of Lab Experiment
Pros: very controlled, can focus on specific parts of
organism
Cons: lacks the complexity of interactions
Modeling
Mathematical models to model and describe nature
What determines the balance of abiotic
what organisms can live in an environment
also Changing one factor can affect others
Biodiversity
the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.
Keystone species
Organisms that regulate many areas of an ecosystem
Apex predators
Top preditors
Ex: Wolfes
Trophic Cascade
When the top predator gets knocked out and the rest of the ecosystem goes to shambles
What is the foundation of an ecosystem, and why?
producers, because they can make their own food, and other animals can eat them to get energy.
(They put energy into the ecosystem)
Chemosynthesis
Process by which some organisms, such as certain bacteria, use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates
Consumer
They get their energy from eating other animals
What are the 2 types of heterotrophs?
Generalist - have a variety of a diet
Specialist - little to no variety of a diet
Food chain
A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
Food web
Model of a complex network of feeding relationships and the flow of energy
What is a hot spot
a region that has a rich amount of species coming from different biomes coming together.
What is photosynthesis
A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
Herbivores
organisms that eat plants
Carnivores
organisms that eat animals
Omivores
organisms that eat both animals and plants
Detritivores
Organisms that eat Detris, (dead plants)
Ex: earthworms
Decomposers
Organisms breakdown dead things and put the nutrients back into the soil
Scavengers
Organisms eat dead things but keep the energy for themselves.
Trophic level
Each step in a food chain or food web
What are the levels of a food chain (trophic level)
Level 1 = Plant
Level 2 = Herbivores
Level 3 Carnivores
Primary consumers
Animals that feed on producers; ex. herbivore
Secondary Consumers
Carnivores that eat herbivores
Tertiary Consumers
Carnivores that eat other carnivores
Energy Pyramids
Show the distribution of energy among tropic levels
Biomass
Measure of total dry mass of organisms in an area
What is 90% lost with each trophic level
heat
waste
Invasive species
a non-native species that infiltrates an ecosystem and off sets it be mass-spreading in population.
Why do invasive species go “unchecked”
Their is no natural preditor to combat them.
Hydro-logic cycle
Pathway of water on Earth from the atmosphere, to the
surface, below ground and back
Roughly 85% of Earth’s evaporation is from oceans
