Ecology - 4.1 Species, Communities and Ecosystems

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

study of relationships between living organisms and their environment

Question 2

Species

Answer 2

group(s) of organisms that:

• possess similar physiological, morphological and behavioural characteristics
• can interbreed to produce fertile offspring
• are genetically distinct from one another
• have a common phylogeny (evolutionary history)
• have either an autotrophic or heterotrophic method of nutrition

Question 3

Population

Answer 3

group(s) of organisms of the same species, living in the same area, capable of interbreeding

Question 4

Community

Answer 4

group(s) of populations living and interacting w/ each other in a habitat

Question 5

Ecosystem

Answer 5

community and its interactions w/ an abiotic (non-biological) environment - they have the potential to be sustainable over long periods of time

Question 6

Biomes

Answer 6

Regions w/ similar climate, (weather, temp, etc.) animals and plants

Question 7

Biosphere

Answer 7

total of all areas where things are found eg. deep ocean, the lower part of the atmosphere

Question 8

environment

Answer 8

the biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors that affect organisms

Question 9

Abiotic factors

Answer 9

physical factors (ie. non-living) eg. light, wind, temp, etc

Question 10

Biotic factors

Answer 10

the living environment/factors (eg. food supply/chain, predators etc.)

Question 11

Habitat

Answer 11

the environment in which a certain species normally lives/are found

Question 12

species and reproduction

Answer 12

members of a species may be reproductively isolated in separate populations

• extinct populations CAN NOT interbreed (normally as classified on morphological grounds)
• Asexually reproducing organisms CAN NOT interbreed (normally as classified on basis of appearance/biochemical similarities)

Question 13

Hybrids

Answer 13

organisms that are combined from 2 different species - USUALLY INFERTILE

Question 14

Autotrophy / autotrophs

eg. flowers

Answer 14

• self-feeding
• organisms that produce their own food from organic molecules
• obtains inorganic nutrients from the abiotic environments

Question 15

photoautotrophic (producer)

Answer 15

• produce energy via photosynthesis (ie light) - light energy is absorbed and converted to chemical energy
• light energy is used to make organic compounds (eg. sugars) from inorganic sources (eg. CO2)

Question 16

chemoautotrophy (producer)

Answer 16

• produce energy via chemosynthesis (ie via chemicals)

Question 17

heterotrophy

Answer 17

• other source feeding - ingest these organic compounds and use them for growth, respiration by releasing inorganic by-products (slipt into consumers and decomposers)

Question 18

consumer

Answer 18

ingest organic matter which is living or recently killed

Question 19

decomposer

Answer 19

derive energy from non-living organic matter - not only a source of energy to other heterotrophs but are important for cycling inorganic chemicals

Question 20

primary eat producers/consumers (consumer)

Answer 20

herbivores

Question 21

secondary eat other consumers (consumer)

Answer 21

carnivores and omnivores

Question 22

detritivores (decomposer/heterotrophy)

eg. worms

Answer 22

ingests non-living organic matter by INTERNAL digestion (ie eating it)

Question 23

saprotrophs (decomposer/heterotrophy)

eg. bacteria / fungi

Answer 23

ingests non-living organic matter by EXTERNAL digestion (ie. via through secreting digestive enzymes that degrade food material and then absorbed through diffusion)

Question 24

feeding method

Answer 24

• the process in which energy and nutrients is carried throughout the food chain.
• the return of inorganic nutrients to soil ensures the continual supply of raw materials for the autotrophs

Question 25

Nutrient cycle

Answer 25

• the supply of inorganic nutrients is maintained by nutrient cycling
• refer to notes for diagram

Question 26

the carbon cycle

Answer 26

• refer to notes for diagram + explanation

Question 27

mesocosms

best in open tanks / sealed glass vessels

Answer 27

• allows you to study a range of ecosystems
• model mini-ecosystem used to show that an ecosystem has the potential to be sustainable over long periods of time
• an experiment used to bring a small part of the natural environment under controlled conditions (provide a link between observational field studies and controlled laboratory experiments)

= THEY MUST BE SELF SUSTAINING (respiration generate H2O and CO2)