Ecology

Question 1

To understand relationships within the biosphere, ecologists ask questions about events and organisms that range in complexity from…??

Answer 1

A single individual and the entire biosphere

Question 2

Observing, experimenting, and modeling all rely on the application of scientific methods to guide??

Answer 2

Ecological inquiry

Question 3

What is the main source of energy for life on Earth?

Answer 3

Sunlight

Question 4

Some types of organisms rely on the energy stored in ??

Answer 4

Inorganic chemical compounds

Question 5

Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction: ??

Answer 5

From the sun or inorganic compounds to autotrophs (producers) and then to various heterotrophs (consumers)

Question 6

Only about how much of the energy available within one tropic level is transferred to organisms at the next trophic level?

Answer 6

10%

Question 7

Carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and a few other atmospheric gases trap heat energy and maintain Earth’s temperature range. These are ?? that allow solar radiation to enter the biosphere but slow down the loss of heat to space.

Answer 7

Greenhouse gases

Question 8

Together, what two factors determine the survival and growth of an organism and the productivity of the ecosystem in which the organism lives?

Answer 8

Biotic and abiotic factors

Question 9

What can powerfully affect an ecosystem?

Answer 9

Community interactions

Question 10

Competition, predation, and various forms of symbiosis are examples of what?

Answer 10

Community interactions

Question 11

Ecosystems are constantly changing in response to what two disturbances?

Answer 11

Natural and human disturbances

Question 12

As an ecosystem changes, older inhabitants gradually ? and new organisms ? causing further changes in the community.

Answer 12

Die out; move in

Question 13

Three important characteristics of a population are ??

Answer 13

It’s geographic distribution, density, and growth rate

Question 14

Three factors that can affect population size are ?

Answer 14

The number of births, the number of deaths, and the number of individuals that enter or leave the population

Question 15

What three things help predict why some countries have high growth rates while other countries grow more slowly?

Answer 15

Birth rates, death rates, and the age structure of a population

Question 16

Under ideal conditions with unlimited resources, a population will grow how?

Answer 16

Exponentially

Question 17

What occurs as resources become less available causing the population growth rate to slow or stop?

Answer 17

Logistic growth

Question 18

What is the main cause of logistic growth?

Answer 18

The reaching of a habitat’s carrying capacity

Question 19

What are four human activities that affect the biosphere?

Answer 19

Hunting/gathering, agriculture, industry, and urban development

Question 20

What is one of the Earth’s greatest natural resources?

Answer 20

Biodiversity

Question 21

What are three things that species of many kinds have provided us?

Answer 21

Foods, industrial products, and medicines

Question 22

Name at least 3 medicines that many species have provided us.

Answer 22

Painkillers, antibiotics, heart drugs, antidepressants, and anticancer drugs

Question 23

What are four ways that human activity can reduce biodiversity?

Answer 23

Altering habitats, hunting species to extinction, introducing toxic compounds into food webs, and introducing foreign species to new environments

Question 24

What do conservation efforts focus on today?

Answer 24

Entire ecosystems as well as single species

Question 25

Protecting an ecosystem will ensure that the natural habitats and the interactions of many different species are preserved 
A) over time 
B) gradually
C) continuously 
D) at the same time

Answer 25

D) at the same time

Question 26

During what process is the concentration of pollutant like DDT multiplied as it passes up the food chain from producers to consumers?

Answer 26

Biomagnification

Question 27

What are the three basic approaches do scientists use to conduct modern ecological research?

Answer 27

Observing, experimenting, and modeling