Ecology Flashcards
What is ecology?
The study of how living things interact with each other and their environment
What are biotic and abiotic factors?
Biotic factors = living factors in an environment
Abiotic factors = non-living factors in an environment
What are detritvores?
Animals that feed on detritus (dead organic material) via internal digestion.
eg. dung beetles, butterflies, earthworms
What are producers?
They are autotrophs (make their own food). They perform photosynthesis which uses light, and they perform chemosynthesis which uses chemicals
What are consumers?
They are heterotrophs (they eat other living things)
What are examples of consumers?
- Decomposers = extra cellular digestion eg. bacteria/fungi
- Detritivores = “eat” with mouth eg. dung beetle
- Scavengers = eg. hyena
- Carnivores = eat meat only eg. lions
- Herbivores = eat plants only eg. zebra
- Omnivores = eat plants and animals eg. humans, chimps
What are the different symbiotic relationships?
- Parasitism
- Mutualism
- Commensalism
- Predator/prey
What happens in a parasitic relationship and whats an example?
It’s a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and the other is negatively affected (host). eg. mosquitoes + host (humans mostly), leeches + host (humans mostly), ticks + cats
What happens in a mutualistic relationship and whats an example?
It’s a symbiotic relationship where both organisms benefit from the relationship. eg. whale shark + ramora, bees + flowers, probiotics + humans
What happens in a commenalistic relationship?
It’s a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and the other is unaffected. eg. nemo + anemones, whales + barnacles, elephants + egret birds
What are adaptations?
Adaptations are inherited characteristics or features of an organism that make it well-suited to its environment. Adaptations make an organism more likely to survive + reproduce to pass there inheritable features onto the next generation
What are structural adaptations?
Part of the organism’s body
eg. - sharp claws
- camouflaged fur
- long neck
- powerful muscles
- binocular vision (forward-facing eyes)
What are behavioural adaptations?
How an organism acts or behaves - something it does
eg. - time it is active (nocturnal)
- hibernation
- courtship rivals (“dance”)
- stalking prey
- singing to mark territory (birds)
- spraying to mark territory (skunks)
- fighting to establish dominance
What are physiological adaptations?
An internal process or chemical reaction
eg. - colour-changing pigments
- making venom or poison
- slowing down metabolism for hibernation
- producing milk to feed young
