ecology

Question 1

what is ecology

Answer 1

the scientific study of the
interactions between organisms and the environment. Includes biotic and abiotic interactions

Question 2

name some biotic factors

Answer 2

• Predators/Prey
• Conspecifics
• Mutualism
• Parasitism

Question 3

name some abiotic factors

Answer 3

• Temperature
• Water and moisture
• Geology and substrate
• Weather and climate

Question 4

what are the primary abiotic factors that shape environments?

Answer 4

▪ Temperature
▪ Moisture

Question 5

law of toleration (tolerance)

Answer 5

distribution and abundance of species depends on deviation between local conditions and optimal conditions for species

Question 6

explain Competitive Exclusion

Answer 6

▪ Proposes that two species which
compete for the same limited
resource cannot coexist
▪ When one species has an
advantage, the other one will be
outcompeted in the long term
▪ This leads either to the
extinction of the weaker
competitor or some form of
adaptive change

Question 7

name some BIOTIC limiting factors

Answer 7

food, competition, predation, diseases and parasites

Question 8

name some ABIOTIC limiting factors

Answer 8

space, light, water, weather, nutrients (like, in soil nitrogen or phosphorus), salinity & pH (in water), atmospheric or dissolved gases (oxygen, carbon dioxide, or pollutants), depth/pressure (in water)

Question 9

name the two explanations for the fluctuations of a population

Answer 9

A food shortage hypothesis, when hares are very abundant, they overexploit their winter food resources and starvation causes a decline in abundance

▪ A predation hypothesis, when lynx overexploit the hare population, the population of lynx also decreases because there is not enough food – this allows the hare population to then recover

Question 10

explain Commensalism

Answer 10

This interaction occurs when one species benefits and the other species is neither helped nor harmed