Ecology Flashcards

Question

what does hetero mean

Answer 1

are organisms that obtain organic nutrients from other organisms. The method & type of food intake determines the heterotroph type. Consumers, parasites, detritivores and saprotrophs

Answer 2

they cannot make food

Answer 3

Prey: the hunted Predator: the hunter Herbivore: eats plants Carnivore: eats animals Omnivore: eats both plants and animals

Answer 4

Considered to be heterotrophs & consumers Live on or inside other living organisms (called hosts) and obtain food from them e.g. tapeworms, hookworms

Answer 5

they ingest food through their mouths

Answer 6

Bacteria feed in different ways. Heterotrophic bacteria, or heterotrophs, get their energy through consuming organic carbon. Most absorb dead organic material, such as decomposing flesh.

Answer 7

Breaks down dead organisms Examples: bacteria, maggots, fungi, worms Complete the circle of life by returning nutrients to the soil e.g.(detritivores/saprotrophs)

Answer 8

organism that consumes non-living organic matter consumes dead leaves, faeces, and carcasses e.g. earthworms, woodlice, dung beetles There are bottom feeders in rivers, lakes and oceans that are detritivores.

Answer 9

Heterotrophs that obtains their food from dead organisms by external digestion Live on or in non-living organic matter, secreting digestive enzymes and absorbing the products of digestion Helps in decaying of dead organic matter e.g. fungi and bacteria

Answer 10

A mixotroph is an organism that can use a mix of different sources of energy and carbon, instead of having a single trophic mode on the continuum from complete autotrophy at one end to heterotrophy at the other. It is estimated that mixotrophs comprise more than half of all microscopic plankton.

Answer 11

some autotrophic and some heterotrophic

Answer 12

some autotrophic and some heterotropic

Answer 13

heterotrophic

Answer 14

mostly autotrophic

Answer 15

heterotrophic

Answer 16

Number of different varieties and types of organisms in an ecosystem.

Answer 17

mutualism commensalism parasitism

Answer 18

where both organisms benefit from the relationship examples oxpeckers and large mammals clownfish and anemones

Answer 19

where one organism benefits and the other is unaffected the commensal organism obtains food, shelter, locomotion, or support examples milkweed and monarch butterfly sharks and remora fish

Answer 20

when one organism benefits and the other is harmed examples bedbugs flea tapeworm

Answer 21

predatory-prey competition

Answer 22

the interactions between two species where one species is the hunted food source for the other the organism that feeds is called the predator and the organism that is fed upon is the prey examples Wolves and elk in Yellowstone National Park on willow trees Brown Bears and Salmon Lions and zebras

Answer 23

Two individuals are competing for the same resource i.e. Foxes and coyotes both feed on rabbits

Answer 24

natural artificial terrestrial aquatic

Answer 25

they are animals that can feed on the remains of another organism Example Vulture, beetle, flies, ants

Answer 26

it exists in nature and is not man-made examples forest, desert, ocean, lake, river

Answer 27

it is made by man examples park, pond, aquarium, zoo

Answer 28

The ecosystem is found on land and can be natural or artificial

Answer 29

it is an ecosystem that can be found in water, it can be natural or artificial examples pond, ocean, lake, river

Answer 30

Food chains are very good at showing simple relationships. But they don’t show… More than one producers & Herbivores Herbivores that eat many producers Omnivores (both plants and animals)

Answer 31

living organisms like plants, animals, bacteria, insects and other living things that can interact and reproduce indefinitely For ex: Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems.

Answer 32

Number of different varieties and types of organisms in an ecosystem. High levels of biodiversity are usually associated with a healthy, sustainable environment.

Answer 33

It is a way to describe how energy is stored and transferred from one living thing to another. A food chain starts with a producer and ends with a consumer. It is used to show simple feeding relationships. The arrows show the direction in which food energy is moving.

Answer 34

Food chains are channels for the one-way flow of a tiny part of the sun’s high-quality energy captured by photosynthesis, through the living components of ecosystems, and into the environment as low-quality heat. Food chains are also pathways for the recycling of nutrients from producers, consumers and decomposers back to producers.

Answer 35

A connected feeding relationship for an ecosystem Bottom-up links with many possible paths Arrows point in direction of energy flow

Answer 36

how an organism gains its energy an organisms feeding position on the food chain.

Answer 37

Pyramids of energy Pyramids of numbers Pyramids of biomass

Answer 38

A representation of energy, numbers, or biomass (the mass of living organisms in a given area) relationships in ecosystems.

Answer 39

It shows energy loss and transfer between trophic levels the size of each layer represents the amount of energy available at that trophic level. cannot be turned upside down

Answer 40

Shows the energy found in the bodies of the organisms and the transfer of chemical energy from level to level this energy transfer is very inefficient A pyramid of energy flow can never be inverted.

Answer 41

Plants use energy to carry out life processes such as growth and nutrient transportation (about 30%). Energy is lost to the environment as waste heat energy. Energy is used by consumers for life processes. Remaining energy is used by decomposers when organisms die. Not all of the organism gets consumed or can be digested. 60 % of the energy consumed is passed out as waste. If a fox eats a rabbit, it does not eat the fur or the bones. Humans cannot digest the cellulose (fibre) part of foods

Answer 42

Measured as the energy flow per unit area per unit time J m-2 y-1 or J/m • y 𝐽/(𝑚"•" 𝑦)

Answer 43

A pyramid of numbers shows the shear population size for each organism or level.

Answer 44

at higher trophic levels, the number of consumers get smaller less energy to support another level so there are a lot of producers and progressively less and less at higher trophic levels

Answer 45

organisms with a high biomass can turn a pyramid of numbers upside down Answer: build a pyramid of biomass

Answer 46

Biomass is a measure of the total dry mass of living organisms

Answer 47

Pyramids of biomass are better indicators of the chemical energy available at each level.

Answer 48

Area delimited and sampled Standard area and sufficient sample size needed Organisms identified and sorted by trophic level Even underground structures/organisms needed It may be necessary to separate tissues from inorganic shells (e.g. molluscs) Tissues of organisms massed (weighed) = Fresh mass Tissues dried to constant mass (80-100°C) = Dry mass Removes water leaving organic matter Destructive sampling

Answer 49

As the life cycle of some organisms is faster their turn over is faster Sample at any one time and you find less of the organisms with a fast turn over (e.g. phytoplankton) Energy transfer needs to be measured over a whole growing season.