Ecology

Question 1

Define biotic and aboitic

Answer 1

Biotic is living factors in environment which affect ecosystems and abiotic is non-living chemical and physical factors in the environment which affect ecosystems

Question 2

What are the biogeochemical cycles?

Answer 2

Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and water

Question 3

What is the carbon cycle?

Answer 3

co2 in air through photosynthesis is brought into plants, which animals than eat and forms cycle of respiration back to air

Question 4

What is the nitrogen cycle?

Answer 4

N2 in air gets fixated in roots, water and ground. Through decomposition and dentrification gets back into air

Question 5

What is the phosphorus cycle?

Answer 5

Phosphates in animal tissue, through decomp/excretion become soluble phosphates in soil which uptake in roots. Animals then eat this

Question 6

What is the water cycle?

Answer 6

Water evaporates and transpires and then condenses in clouds and precipitates

Question 7

What is the inefficient energy transfer?

Answer 7

Sunlight gives loads of energy to , primary producers gets lots by energy is lost up to tertiary consumers

Question 8

What are the organisational levels of ecology?

Answer 8

Global, Landscape, Ecosystem, Community, population, organismal

Question 9

What are the characteristics of global ecology?

Answer 9

All ecosystems within biosphere and external factors. Include seasonality, latitudinal variation, global air circulation, ocean currents, terrestrial biomes and aquatic biomes

Question 10

What are the characteristics of landscape ecology?

Answer 10

Group of ecosystems affecting eachother. Biotic and abiotic, flow of energy, recycling nutrients and trophic levels

Question 11

What are the characteristics of ecosystem ecology?

Answer 11

Biotic and abiotic factors within an ecosystem, flow of energy, recycling nutrients and trophic levels

Question 12

What are the characteristics of community ecology?

Answer 12

Ecological niche concept, species interaction, predator-prey relationships and food chains/webs

Question 13

What are the characteristics of population ecology?

Answer 13

group of individuals within species, responding to environmental changes, natural selection and growth rates

Question 14

What are the characteristics of organismal ecology?

Answer 14

behaviour to external/internal stimuli, individuals

Question 15

What are biomes (terrestrial and aquatic)?

Answer 15

Biomes are differences in same type of thing. Terrestrial is different land (dessert, ice) and aquatic is different water (lakes, oceans)

Question 16

What is the food chain?

Answer 16

Detrivores (decomposers/scavengers, secrete to soil-ants, flies, beetles), Primary producer (autotrophs-plants), Primary consumers (heterotrophs-herbivores), Secondary consumers (heterotrophs-carnivores), Tertiary consumers(heterotrophs-carnivores)

Question 17

What is a food web?

Answer 17

All possible energy paths

Question 18

What is prey-predator relationship?

Answer 18

Consummation of 1 organism by another

Question 19

What is a population?

Answer 19

All inhabitants of 1 place

Question 20

What is symbiosis?

Answer 20

long term permanent interactions

Question 21

What is the difference between Parasitism, Mutalism and Commensalism?

Answer 21

Parasitism- 1 organism benefits and other is harmed. Mutalism- both organisms benefit and Commensalism- 1 benefits and other is unaffected

Question 22

What is the difference between a dominant and keystone species?

Answer 22

Dominant is most abundant and keystone is less abundant but exerts disproportionate influence on community (wolves in yellowstone)

Question 23

What is a succession?

Answer 23

Orderly progression of changes in community composition that takes place through time

Question 24

What is primary succession?

Answer 24

Establishment (pioneer species)(weeds), facilitation (less weedy), Inhibition (original species may become inhibited by later species), Climax vegetation (final stage of succession, stabilisation)

Question 25

What is secondary succession?

Answer 25

existing community disturbed but organisms remain. Small scale- fallen tree, large scale-volcanic acitivity

Question 26

What is animal behaviour?

Answer 26

Nature- instinct, how it is born, allows for learning and nuture-how it is raised

Question 27

How does an animal learn?

Answer 27

Habituation (non associative learning), Conditioning (associative learning, classical- 2 stimuli and operant- reward/punish), Spatial (location), Imprinting (certain age), Cognition (using tools)

Question 28

What do animals communicate?

Answer 28

Visual (colour, vision, dance), Auditory (calls, language, songs), Chemical (Pheromones, food odours), Tactile (play fight, grooming) and Other senses (electric-eel, whales-sonar)