Ch 16: Ecology Flashcards
The way an organism lives within its environment is called a _____
niche
Groups of different species living together and interacting with the same environment is called a _______
community
Unrestricted population growth is called what?
exponential growth
Members of the same community are also members of the same what?
ecosystem
Alternate evolution of two interacting species is called what?
coevolution
Can individuals evolve?
no
Hawks and wolves hunting the same population of rabbits is an example of what?
comeptition and predation
What is a population?
a group of individuals in a particular area that interbreed and therefore share the same gene pool
What is community?
a group of populations that live in a particular environment and can interact with each other, but not reproductively.
What is a niche?
the way an organism lives in its environment (nesting behavior, type of food it eats, when it hunts, etc.)
What is predation?
When one organism eats another
What is coevolution?
the alternate evolution of 2 species based on their interactions with each other
Herbivores eat the primary _____
producers
Organims that feed off dead and decaying material are called ________
decomposers
Primary producers are ______
autotrophs
Are their more producers or primary consumers?
producers
The least amount of energy is available at the ___ of the food chain
top
Organisms that eat both plants and animals are called what?
omnivores
Decomposers include both _____ and ______
bacteria and fungi
An herbivore is a what?
heterotroph
What are scavengers?
animals that eat waste and remains of dead organisms
What is the order of the food pyramid?
tertiary consumers
secondary consumers
primary consumers
producers
How much energy is transferred from one level to the next?
10%
When a plant community begins on a barren rock, what is the first organism to colonize the rock?
lichen
In an ecological succession, each new plant community in an area _____ the previous plant community
coexists with
What is the final community in ecological succession called?
the climax community
What is gradual, unpredictable change in plants that occurs over millions of years called?
evolution
What is the the name of the organism that appears as the founder of a biological community?
pioneer
What is the final plant community in ecological succession primarily made up of?
deciduous trees
What is ecological succession?
the process of gradual change that takes place in an ecological community
Most carbon is found as what?
carbon dioxide
Whater and chemical nutrients are classified as ___ elements of an ecosystem
abiotic
Water moves from plants to clouds by what?
transpiration
What is nitrogen converted into usable forms in the soil by?
bacteria
Carbon is returned to the atmosphere by _____ and removed from the atmosphere by _______
respiration, photosynthesis
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria live in root nodules of what?
legumes
Does the tropical rain forest have a greater biological diversity than the tundra?
yes
What is the biome characterized by large numbers of evergreen conifers?
the taiga
The primary plant forms of the _____ are mosses, lichen, and wildflowers
tundra
The ocean floor is known as the ____ zone
benthic
Animals with adaptations for a dry environment would live in the _____
desert
What is the deepest zone of the ocean?
abyssal zone
Permanently frozen soil is a characteristic of ____
tundra
The biome with very fertile soil and many herbivores is the ________
grasslands/ savanna
Deer, bears, and raccoon are found in the _______, where as caribou and moose are found in the _____.
deciduous forest, tundra
Do deciduous trees lose their leaves during cold seasons?
yes
Phytoplankton would thrive well in the ______ zone
limnetic
Succulent plants are well suited to ____
desert
Areas of water where light does not penetrate are known as ____ zones
aphotic
What is the most northern biome?
tundra
Does the tundra grow many trees?
no
Coral reefs can typically be found in the _____ zone
neritic
What is the intertidal zone?
the marine biome where land and water meet
What is the neritic zone?
the marine biome that extends from the intertidal one at the shore to the edge of the continental shelf
What is the oceanic zone?
the marine biome that is essentially open ocean.
Phytoplankton live here
What can the oceanic zone be further divided into?
pelagic- open water
benthic- ocean bottom
What is the littoral zone?
the freshwater biome found near the shore of a lake
What is the limnetic zone?
The freshwater zone that is further from the shore and extends downward as far as light will penetrate
What is the profundal zone?
the freshwater zone that is tessentially the aphotic rgion of the lake
