Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

What is ecology?

A

the study of relationships btw living organisms and btw organisms and their environment

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2
Q

What is a population?

A

a group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time

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3
Q

What is a community?

A

a group of populations living and interacting with each other in an area

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4
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

a community and its abiotic environment

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5
Q

What is a habitat?

A

the environment in which a species normally lives

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6
Q

What is a species?

A

a group of organisms that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring

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7
Q

What are biotic factors?

A

the living aspects of the environment

e.g. other organisms (same/diff. species)

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8
Q

What are abiotic factors?

A

the non-living aspects of the environment

e.g. sunlight
soil
water
temp.

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9
Q

What is a niche?

A

refers to the ROLE of a SPECIES in its ECOSYSTEM

therefore, includes how species interacts with abiotic factors

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10
Q

What are the 2 important aspects of a species’ niche?

A
  1. food it eats

2. food it obtains

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11
Q

What is the competitive exclusion principle?

A

Two diff. species cannot occupy the same niche in the same place, at the same time

elaborate

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12
Q

What are the different modes of nutrition?

A

autotrophy

  - photoautotroph
  - chemoautotroph

heterotrophy

   - consumers
   - detritivores
   - saprotrophs
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13
Q

What does the mode of nutrition autotrophy mean?

A

self-feeding

organisms synthesise organic molecules from inorganic sources

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14
Q

What does the mode of nutrition photoautotroph mean?

A

photosynthesis

makes organic compounds using energy derived from the sun

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15
Q

What does the mode of nutrition chemoautotroph mean?

A

chemosynthesis

makes organic compounds using energy derived from the oxidation of chemicals

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16
Q

What does the mode of nutrition consumer mean?

A

an animal that feeds on living or recently killed organisms via ingestion

herbivore omnivore carnivore

17
Q

What is the role of decomposers (detritivores & saprotrophs)?

A

unlock stored nutrients in plants & animals

break down body of dead organisms

convert organic matter into usable form for other organisms

recycle nutrients, therefore, major role in formation of soil

18
Q

What are detritivores?

A

type of heterotroph that obtains nutrients from non-living organic sources via internal digestion (e.g. humus & detritus)

e.g. dung beetles, earthworms, woodlice, snails, crabs

19
Q

What are saprotrophs?

A

type of heterotroph that live in or on non-living organic matter, secrete digestive enzymes into it and absorbs the products of digestion externally

e.g. bacteria, fungi, mold

20
Q

What is a food chain?

A

shows the flow of energy through the trophic levels of a feeding relationship

linear flow

3-5 organisms

21
Q

What is a trophic level?

A

feeding position of an organism in food chain

e.g. producer
primary consumer
secondary consumer
tertiary consumer

22
Q

How can species interact in an ecosystem?

A

competition

- interspecific
- intraspecific

predator-prey

herbivore - plant

symbiotic:
parasitism
mutualism
commensalism

23
Q

What is interspecific competition?

A

competition btw members of DIFFERENT species for the SAME RESOURCE

24
Q

What is intraspecific competition?

A

competition for RESOURCES btw member of the SAME species

25
What is the predator-prey relationship?
one species kills and eats another species predator does killing and eating prey = food source
26
What is the herbivore-plant relationship?
plants cannot run away form herbivores therefore, some protect themselves wt physical structures (e.g. thorns, spines, stinging hairs) others use chemicals
27
What are symbiotic relationships?
symbiotic relationships are those in which the organisms living together depend on each other parasitism mutualism commensalism
28
What is parasitism?
one species (parasite) benefits while the other (host) is harmed e.g. tick & human
29
What is mutualism?
both species that are interacting wt each other benefit e.g. flower & bee leopard shark and remora fish
30
What is commensalism?
one species benefits while the other is unaffected e.g. deer and birds