Ecology & Adaptations Flashcards
What is an adaptation?
And adaptation is any structure or behavior that allows an organism to survive in its environment.
Give five ways adaptations can help an organism to survive.
Help find food, help attract a mate(reproduce), hide from predators (Camouflage) conserve water(Needles), control body temperature (fur)
Give three adaptations for each biome: desert, tundra, rain forest
Desert: burying underground, store water, nocturnal
Tundra: Whitefir, Layer of fat, hibernation
Rain forest: bright colors (attract a mate), camouflage (hide from predators), poison
What is natural selection?
Natural selection is the process in which organisms that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.
What are predators and prey? Give examples of each
A predator is an animal that captures its food. I pray is the animal that gets captured and eaten. Predator: tiger, shark, owl, Eagle. Prey: mouse, rabbit, squirrel
How can natural selection lead to a change in a population over time?
Individuals that are better adapted to their environment will pass on their traits to offspring.
Describe some marine adaptations that allow fish to live in the water.
Long, streamlined bodies; gills to obtain oxygen from the water, fins
What is the purpose of camouflage?
Camouflage allows animals to hide from predators and gives them a better chance to survive and reproduce.
What are some adaptations that allow plants to survive in their environment?
Mini desert plants have needles for protection and can conserve water. Some plants have a large leaves to collect more sunlight on the rain forest floor. Trees in the taiga do not lose their leaves. (Evergreens)
What is the role of decomposers in an ecosystem?
Decomposers breakdown dead organisms and return nutrients to the ecosystem
Give examples of natural selection.
Birds have developed a bake sale allow them to eat specific types of food. Bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics.
What would happen if the herbivore population of the number of hawks increased?
The number of herbivores (mice and rabbits ) would decrease
If the disease mouse scratch fever wipes out the mouse population, what would happen to the snake population?
They would decrease due to lack of food
What to predators compete for grasshoppers for food?
Lizards and Hawks
Which herbivore has two different predators that prey upon it?
Mouse (snake and hawk)
How do autotrophs obtain energy? Heterotrophs?
Autotroph’s are organisms that are able to make their own food using energy from the sun. Heterotrophs must consume another organism to obtain energy.
List the following in order from smallest to largest: population, ecosystem, biosphere, community, and organism
Organism, population, community, ecosystem, biosphere
What is the primary function of bacteria in the nitrogen cycle?
Bacteria live on the roots of certain plants called legumes and convert nitrogen (N2) to usable nitrates and Nitrite compounds for a plant to absorbency through a process called nitrogen fixation
What is a pyramid used to show the flow of energy in an ecosystem?
Less energy is available at each level of the food chain because some of the energy is lost as heat. Only 10% is passed on to the next level
What two life processes are used to cycle carbon throughout an ecosystem?
Cellular respiration puts carbon into the atmosphere and photosynthesis removes carbon from the atmosphere
