Deck 1 Flashcards
What is ecology?
The study of plants and animals and the environment that they live in.
What is the biosphere?
the part of the earth that contains life
Give an example of something that is biotic/abiotic
Biotic: plants abiotic: minerals
what is flora?
plants in an ecosystem
What is fauna?
Animals in an ecosystem
What factor has the greatest effect on the plants and animals that live in a particular ecosystem?
climate
K
K
What is a niche?
The job or role that a particular organism performs
Name 2 factors that determine an animal’s niche
by what it eats and what eats it
What is a population?
the number of species in a given area
What is a community?
all the populations living together in a given area
What are 2 different kinds of niches an animal can have?
the role it plays in a community and the role it plays in its family
What is a food chain?
A series of organisms in the order that they feed on one another
What is a producer?
something that produces its own food and energy (plants)
What is a comsumer?
an organism that doesn’t produce its own food but eats plants and animals
What is a food web?
the interactions among multiple food chains
List 2 carnivores
Fox/wolf
list 2 herbivores
Deer/rabits
list 2 omnivores
bear/skunk
is a black bear a first or second order consumer?
second consumer (depends on what it eats)
Is a man an herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore?
omnivore (depends, vegan)
Explain how a food chain shows energy flow
plant (which gets energy from the sun) is eaten by an animal then that is eaten by another animal
What are organisms called that eat dead plants and animals?
scavengers
Name 2 different animals that eat dead plants or animals
vultures/hyenas
What types of organisms are at the end of every food chain?
decomposers
Name 2 common organisms responsible for decomposition
worms/fungi
Why is decomposition so important?
so that the animals get broken down to give nutrients to the soil
what physical law makes decomposition necessary?
the law of conservation of mass
What is symbiosis?
any relationship between 2 different species living in close connection
What is mutualism?
a relationship where both organisms are benefited
What happens to each species in a parasitic relationship?
one benefits while the other is harmed
Which species benefits in commensalism?
the guest species (the other is not benefited or harmed)
What is competition among species?
when 2 different species both eat the same food, they will compete for the limited resources in the area
What is the name of a relationship in which neither species benefits not is harmed?
neutralism
Why is competition considered harmful for both species?
b/c if populations becomes 2 large, there is not enough food for everyone. (they die or fail to reproduce)
