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Ecology Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Ecology

A

the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment

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2
Q

Abiotic Environment

A
  • the physical or nonliving environment

- includes climate, temperature, availability of light and water, and the local topology

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3
Q

Biotic Environment

A

the living environment

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4
Q

Organism

A

the individual unit of an ecological system, but the organism itself is composed of smaller units

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5
Q

Organs

A
  • make up the organ system
  • formed from tissues, tissues from cells, cells from many different molecules, molecules from atoms, and atoms from subatomic particles
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6
Q

Species

A

any group of similar organisms that are capable of producing fertile offspring

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7
Q

Population

A

a group of organisms of the same species living together in the same location

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8
Q

Community

A
  • consists of populations of different plants and animal species interacting with each other in a given environment
  • contains populations from all five kingdoms (monera, protists, plants, fungi, and animals)
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9
Q

Ecosystem

A

includes the community and the environment

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10
Q

Biosphere

A

includes all portions of the planet that support life: the atmosphere, the lithosphere, and the hydrosphere

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11
Q

Water

A

the major component of the internal environment of all living things

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12
Q

Temperature

A

must be maintained at an optimal level

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13
Q

Sunlight

A

the ultimate source of energy for all organisms

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14
Q

Photic Zone

A

the top layer of water through which light can penetrate, is where all aquatic photosynthetic activity takes place

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15
Q

Aphotic Zone

A

only animal and other heterotrophic life exist

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16
Q

Soil acidity/pH

A

may determine what types of plants grow in what types of soil

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17
Q

Texture of Soil

A

determine the water-holding capacity of the soil

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18
Q

Loams

A

contain high percentages of each type of soil

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19
Q

Minerals

A

affect the type of vegetation that can be supported

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20
Q

Humus

A

determined by the amount of decaying plant and animal life in the soil

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21
Q

Niche

A
  • defines the functional role of an organism in its ecosystem
  • describes what the organism eat, where and how it obtains its food, what climactic factors it can tolerate and which are optimal, the nature of its parasites and predators, where and how it produces, etc.
  • no two species can ever occupy the same niche in the same location
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22
Q

Habitat

A

the physical place where an organism lies

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23
Q

Autotrophs

A

organisms that manufacture their own food

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24
Q

Heterotrophs

A

cannot synthesize their own food and must depend upon autotrophs or other heterotrophs in the ecosystem to obtain food and energy

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25
Q

Herbivores

A

consume only plants or plant foods

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26
Q

Symbiotic Bacteria

A

capable of digesting cellulose inhabit the digestive tracts of herbivores and allow the breakdown and utilization of cellulose

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27
Q

Carnivores

A

animals that eat only other animals

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28
Q

Omnivores

A

eat both plants and animals

29
Q

Symbiosis

A

live together in an intimate, often permanent association, which may or may not be beneficial to both participants

30
Q

Obligatory

A

one or both organisms cannot survive without the other

31
Q

Commensalism (+/0)

A

-one organism is benefited by the association, and the other is not affected

32
Q

Mutualism (+/+)

A

-a symbiotic relationship from which both organisms derive some benefit

33
Q

Parasitism (+/-)

A

-a parasite benefits at the expense of the host

34
Q

Predation

A

free-living organisms that feed on other living organisms

35
Q

Saphrophytism

A

include those protists and fungi that decompose dead organism matter externally and absorb the nutrients

36
Q

Scavengers

A

animals that consume dead animals

37
Q

Osmoregulation

A

maintaining internal osmolarity and conserving water

38
Q

Poikilothermic

A

cold-blooded animals and plants

39
Q

Homeothermic

A

warm-blooded animals and plants

40
Q

Food Chain

A

a single chain showing the transfer of energy

41
Q

Producers

A

utilize the energy of the sun and simple raw materials to manufacture carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids

42
Q

Primary consumers

A

animals that consume green plants (ex: cows, grassphoppers, and elephants)

43
Q

Secondary Consumers

A

animals that consume the primary consumers (frogs, tigers, and dragonflies)

44
Q

Tertiary Consumers

A

animals that feed on secondary consumers (carnivores)

45
Q

Decomposers

A

include saprophytic organisms and organisms of decay, which include bacteria and fungi

46
Q

Food Web

A
  • an intricate collection of interconnected food chains

- the greater the number of pathways in a community food web, the more stable the community

47
Q

Food Pyramids

A

-energy transfer involves a loss of energy

48
Q

Pyramid of Energy

A
  • each member of a food chain utilizes some of the energy it obtains from its food for its own metabolism and loses some additional energy in the form of heat
  • the producers at the base of the pyramid contains the greatest amount of energy
49
Q

Pyramid of Mass

A

-each level of the pyramid of energy can support a successively smaller biomass

50
Q

Pyramid of Numbers

A

-consumer organisms that are highest in the food chain are usually larger and heavier than those further down

51
Q

Material Cycles

A

-inorganic forms to organic forms and then back to the inorganic forms

52
Q

Nitrogen Cycle

A
  • an essential component of amino acids and nucleic acids, which are the building blocks of all living things
  • four kinds of bacteria are involved in this cycle: decay, nitrifying, denitrifying, and nitrogen fixing
53
Q

Carbon cycle

A
  • gaseous carbon enters the living world when plants produce glucose via photosynthesis
  • the metabolically produced carbon is released into the air
54
Q

Conditions for Stability in an Ecosystem

A
  1. Relatively stable physical environment (abiotic factors) and a relatively stable biotic community
  2. Constant energy source and a living system incorporating this energy into organic compounds
  3. Cycling of materials between the living system and its environment is critical for a stable ecosystem
55
Q

Ecological Succession

A

-the orderly process by which one biotic community replaces or succeeds another until a climax community is established

56
Q

Climax Community

A

the stable, living (biotic) part of an ecosystem

57
Q

Desert Biome

A

receive fewer than ten inches of rain each year

58
Q

Grassland Biome

A

low rainfall, provide no shelter for herbivorous mammals

59
Q

Rainforest Biome

A

aka jungles, trees grow close together, sunlight hardly reaches the forest floor

60
Q

Temperate Deciduous Forest Biome

A

have cold winters, warm summers, and moderate rainfall

61
Q

Temperature Coniferous Forest Biome

A

forests are cold, dry, inhabited mainly by trees that do not lose their leaves

62
Q

Taiga Biome

A

receives less rainfall than temperate forests, have long cold winters

63
Q

Tundra Biome

A

treeless, frozen plain found between the taiga and the northern ice sheets

64
Q

Polar Region

A

surround the polar ice caps and are frozen areas with no vegetation and few terristrial animals

65
Q

Intertidal zone

A

the region exposed at low tides that undergoes variations in temperature and periods of dryness

66
Q

Neritic zone

A

the region on the continental shelf that contains ocean with depths up to 600 ft and extends several hundred miles from the shore

67
Q

Pelagic Zone

A

typical of the open seas, this can be divided into phobic and aphotic zones

68
Q

Photic Zone

A

the sunlit layer of the open sea extending a depth of 250-600ft

69
Q

Aphotic Zone

A

the region beneath the photic zone that receives no sunlight

Biology (17 decks)

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