Chapters 3, 4, 8

Question 1

What is a species?

Answer 1

A species is a group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.

Question 2

What is a population?

Answer 2

A group of the same species living in a particular area at the same time.

Question 3

What is a community?

Answer 3

All populations interacting in a given habitat.

Question 4

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 4

It is composed of living and nonliving factors all interacting.

Question 5

What is biodiversity?

Answer 5

It is the number and kind of organisms that exist in an ecosystem. It also encompasses genetic information.

Question 6

What is the food web?

Answer 6

It describes feeding relationships in the ecosystem. Basically, who eats who.

Question 7

What is speciation?

Answer 7

The process in which new species emerge.

Question 8

True or False: All speciation is the result of mutation and favorable environmental conditions.

Answer 8

True.

Question 9

How does resource partitioning influence speciation?

Answer 9

Animals within a species must adapt to new food sources, which leads to a new species.

Question 10

How does geographical separation influence speciation?

Answer 10

Physical division of a species causes them to evolve differently over time.

Question 11

What are some examples of species that have evolved over time?

Answer 11

Polar bears, dogs, and bacteria.

Question 12

What is extinction?

Answer 12

A species completely disappears from earth.

Question 13

What is mass extinction?

Answer 13

50% of species or more are wiped out.

Question 14

What does the “C” mean in “CHIPO?”

Answer 14

Climate change.

Question 15

What does the “H” mean in “CHIPO?”

Answer 15

Habitat loss (most influential in destroying species).

Question 16

What does the “I” mean in “CHIPO?”

Answer 16

Invasive species.

Question 17

What does the “P” mean in “CHIPO?”

Answer 17

Pollution.

Question 18

What does the “O” mean in “CHIPO?”

Answer 18

Over harvesting.

Question 19

What are limiting factors?

Answer 19

They are factors that control population growth. An example is disease.

Question 20

What is carrying capacity?

Answer 20

The maximum number of individuals an environment can support.

Question 21

What is interspecific competition?

Answer 21

Competition between different species. Usually based on feeding relationships.

Question 22

What is intraspecific competition?

Answer 22

It is competition within the species. Usually over mates and food.

Question 23

What are invasive organisms? Why are they bad?

Answer 23

They are non-native species that were introduced by humans. They are able to out compete native species.

Question 24

What is mimicry?

Answer 24

A species mimics another to avoid predation.

Question 25

What is parasitism?

Answer 25

One species uses another for food. A tick drinking a dog’s blood for example.

Question 26

What is a generalist?

Answer 26

They have a large niche. They eat many foods and can live in more diverse areas. They are fairly adaptable.

Question 27

What is a specialist?

Answer 27

They have a small niche. They eat a particular food or live in a limited habitat. They aren’t very adaptable outside of their niche.

Question 28

What is symbiosis?

Answer 28

Interactions between different organisms living in the same space.

Question 29

What is a keystone species?

Answer 29

They are predators that keep prey population in check. An example is deer populations exploding because we eliminated native wolves/a keystone species.