Chapter 12 - Ecology

Question 1

What is ecology?

Answer 1

The Scientific Study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment.

Question 2

Define Discovery science and Hypothesis-Driven Science.

Answer 2

Discovery Science - Making verifiable observations of organism within their environments.
Hypothesis driven Science - Observation of the natural world that lead to the formation of experiments. Can be in the field or the lab.

Question 3

What is environmentalism?

Answer 3

A broad philosophy and social movement that seeks to maintain environmental quality.

Question 4

What are market values?

Answer 4

Economists use a variety of means to estimate the true economic value of ecosystem goods and services.

Question 5

What are nonmarket values?

Answer 5

Difficult to quantify in terms of monetary value but still valuable.

Question 6

in What is the ecological hierarchy from broadest to narrowest?

Answer 6

1) Biosphere - The global ecosystem
2) Ecosystem - All the life living in a particular are together with all the nonliving components of that environment
3) Community - All of the populations of multiple species living in a particular place
4) Populations - A Group of individuals of the same species living in the same place at the same time.
5) Organism - an individual living being.

Question 7

Define producers and consumers.

Answer 7

Producers - Covert solar energy to chemical energy via photosynthesis
Consumers - Eat Producers for energy.

Question 8

What is chemical cycling?

Answer 8

CO2 from atmosphere makes sugars that are eaten by organisms that then produce energy and reintroduce CO2 into the environment.

Question 9

Define biotic and abiotic factors?

Answer 9

Biotic Factor - Living Components in the Ecosystem.

Abiotic Factor - Nonliving components of an ecosystem that affect life.

Question 10

What are the major abiotic factors?

Answer 10

1) Nutrients
2) Energy
3) Temperature
4) Water
5) Fire

Question 11

Define population ecology.

Answer 11

The study of changes in populations over time.

Question 12

What are three different dispersion patterns?

Answer 12

1) Clumped - Most common. With individuals found in small groups with space between the groups.
2) Uniform - Results from competition between individuals for the same resource
3) Random - Rarest of the dispersion and may arise by wind dispersion.

Question 13

What is survivorship?

Answer 13

The chance that an individual member of a give population will live to be a particular age.

Question 14

What is the limit on logistic growth?

Answer 14

The carrying capacity.

Question 15

What are the different trophic levels in a food chain?

Answer 15

1) Producers - Support All Levels of the food chain.
2) Primary Consumers - Eat Producers Directly
3) Secondary Consumers - Eat Primary Consumers
4) Tertiary Consumers - Eat Secondary Consumers
5) Quaternary Consumers - Top Level Predators that eat tertiary consumers.

Question 16

What is a food web?

Answer 16

A diagram that connects multiple food chains together.

Question 17

What is biological magnification?

Answer 17

The tendency of toxins to become more concentrated as they pass through the food chain.

Question 18

What are the two components of species diversity?

Answer 18

1) Species Richness - Number of different species in the community.
2) Relative Abundance - The fraction of total life in a community accounted for by each species.

Question 19

What is a keystone species?

Answer 19

A single species that has a disproportionate effect on the overall species diversity. Such as the sea otter.

Question 20

What are primary and secondary succession?

Answer 20

Primary - Occurs when an area has been rendered virtually lifeless. Mosses are the first to return followed by other small plants.
Secondary - Occurs after a disturbances that kills much of the life but leaves the soil intact.

Question 21

What is an invasive species?

Answer 21

A non-Native species that occupies a foreign habitat and spreads quickly.

Question 22

What are five examples of invasive species?

Answer 22

1) Burmese Python
2) Lionfish
3) Zebra Mussels
4) Kudzu
5) Rabbits

Question 23

What is biological control?

Answer 23

The release of a natural enemy that attacks the invader.

Question 24

What is integrated pest management?

Answer 24

A method that utilizes several strategies that is designed to maintain a low population of pests.

Question 25

What are three types of biodiversity?

Answer 25

1) Genetic - The collection of genes in a population
2) Species - Number of different species
3) Ecosystem - The variety of different ecosystems found on earth such as wetlands, rainforests etc.

Question 26

What are the causes of biodiversity loss?

Answer 26

1) Habitat Destruction
2) Overharvesting
3) Invasive Species
4) Pollution
5) Global Climate Change.

Question 27

What is a biome?

Answer 27

A type of ecological community occupying a climate zone.

Question 28

What are the different types of terrestrial biomes?

Answer 28

1) Polar Ice - Northern and Southernmost parts of the earth and only moss and lichens can sometimes grow there.
2) Tundra - Between coniferous forests and polar ice. Soil is permanently frozen and dominated by low growing grasses, shurbs, mosses, and lichens.
3) Coniferous forests - Dominated by cone bearing evergreens. Characterized by long cold winters and wet, short summers.
4) Chaparral - found in costal areas that produce mild rainy winters that are followed by hot dry summers.
5) Temperate Grasslands - Found in regions with cold winters, low rainfalls, and periodic drought. Dominated by grasses.
6) Tropical forests - Occur in wet warm climates near the equator and has rainy seasons punctuated by dry spells.
7) Savanna - Warm and fairly dry climates that primarily contain grasses with scattered and isolated trees. Adapted to survive fire.
8) Deserts - Low rainfall and can be hot or cold. Have evolved adaptations that allow for storage of water.
9) Temperate Broadleaf Forests - Hot Summers and Cold Winters and Relatively Frequent Rain. Destroyed by logging and new growth species dominate.

Question 29

What are three freshwater biomes?

Answer 29

Lakes and Ponds - Phytoplankton
Rivers and Streams
Wetlands

Question 30

What are two intermediate biomes?

Answer 30

1) Intertidal Zone - Where ocean meets land

2) Estuaries - Where salt and freshwater meet.

Question 31

What are the marine biomes?

Answer 31

1) Continental Shelf - A shallow region where the continental plate is submerged in the ocean.
2) Pelagic Realm - Open Water of the ocean
3) Photic Zone - Waters where light can penetrate to drive photosynthesis.
4) Aphotic zone - light to power photosynthesis doesn’t happen. Consumers here.
5) Benithic realms - The seafloor where decomposers break down dead material that drifts from above.