Ecology and Adaptation Unit Final Flashcards
what are the three domains of life
eukarya, bacteria and archea
whats a homologous structure
Structures with similar anatomy, morphology, embryology and genetics but dissimilar functions
whats an analogous structure
Structures that are superficially similar but anatomically dissimilar doing the same function
whats the first law of thermodynamics
the total energy in a closed system is neither lost nor gained, only transformed
whats the second law of thermodynamics
during energy transformations, some energy is lost as heat
what happens as the trophic level increases
less energy becomes available to be used by the next organism
whats the formula for efficency
output/input x 100
what is biomass
the dry weight of living material
what does the pyramid of energy illustrat
the loss of energy at successive levels of a food web
what happens with each higher trophic level
biomass decreases
why are food chains short
because after higher-level consumers have ingested and metabolized there food, there’s is an insufficient supply of energy for a another energy transfer to occur
what do biomass pyramids indicate
that there is a large difference in the biomass content between the producers and top-level carnivores
whats an organism in the 1st trophic level caled
producer
whats an organism in the 2nd trophic level called
primary consumer
whats an organism in the 3rd trophic level called
secondary consumer
whats an organism in the 5th trophic level caled
quaternary consumer
whats an organism in the 4th trophic level caled
tertiary consumer
whats an organism in the 6th trophic level caled
quintary consumer
whats an organism in the 7th trophic level caled
sextary consumer
whats predation
when one living organism (the predator) feeds on another living organims (the prey)
whats parasatism
a type of symbiosis in which one of the species causes some harm to the other but tends not to kill it
whats commensalism
a symbiotic relationshuiph between two species in which one species Is benefited nd theother is neither helped nor harmed
whats an example of parasitism
tapeworm
whats an example of commensalism
remore on a shark
whats mutualism
symbiotic relaitonship wehre both members benefit
whats an exmaple of mutualism
termites and protozoans, clownfish adn sea anenomine
whats intraspecfic competion
competition between members of the same species
whats interspecific competition
competition between members of two different species
how does the lynx-hare cycle work
hares reproduction rate increases so they eat more of there food supply until they are forced to supplement their diet with less desirable and nutritious food because they eat so much. the lynx population increases in response, and other preadaotrs opportunistically begin to hunt the hare because there is more. the less nutritious diet begins to have an effect and hares begin to die which causes less hares to be born decreasing the population which causes the lynx population to decrease, allowing the vegetation to recover. once there is enough vegetation for the hares the population begins to increase again and the whole cycle starts over
whats the order for the classification system
domain, kingdom, phylem, class, order, family, genus, species
how is binomial nomenclature written
first part is genus with first letter capitalized, second part is species with first letter lowercase, whole name italicized
whats the order for the classification system
domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
whats a food web
collection of food chains
where does most energy in the food chain go to
producers
where does all energy in the food chain come from
sun
what are the 4 steps of the nitrogen cycle in order
decomposition, nitrogen fixation, nitrificaiton, denitricicaiton
what happens in decomposition
decomposers break down dead material into ammonia
what happesn in nitrogen fixation
bacteria converts nitrgoen to ammonium
what happens in nitrification
Nitrifying bacteria takes ammonium and convert it to nitrite and then nitrate, which can be used by plants
what happens in denitrification
Bacteria convert nitrate back to N2 to restart the cycle
whats the forumal for nitrate
NO3
whats the forumla for nitrite
NO2
what type of relationship is there between nitrogen-fixing bacteria and plants
mutualistic
what happens in nitrification
nitrifying bacteria takes ammonium and convert it to nitrite then nitrate which can be used by plants
whats albedo
the amount of energy reflected off of a surface
what does a pyramid of numbers show
the pattern that there are fewer numbers of organisms the higher the trophic level
what does a pyramid of biomass show
the amount of energy at each trophic level and in the living tissues of an ecosystem
what does a pyramid of energy show
the total amount of energy that is transferred through each trophic level
steps of water cycle
evaporation, condensation, sublimation, precipitation, transpiration, runoff, infiltration
steps of carbon-oxygen cycle
carbon goes into photosynthesis which produces oxygen that goes into cellular respiration which has a bi product of carbon that goes back into the atmosphere for the cycle to continue
what does the term environment refer to
eferthing that affects an organism thorugh its life as well as everything that the organism effects
whats a population
a group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area at the same time
whats a community
all of the individuals in all of the interacting populations in a given area
whats an ecosystem
a communithy of populations together with the abiotic factors that surround and affect it in that area
whats a biosphere made up of
all the ecosystems in the world and their intractions
whats the orginization levels of the bioshpere in order from smalest to biggest
individual organism, population, commmunity, ecosystem, bioshphere
whats natural selection
process that results when the charactersitics of a population of organisms change because individuals with certain inherited traits survive specific conditions and pass on their traits to their offspring through reproduction
what is needed for natural selection to occur
diversity within a species
whats lamarcks theory called
the inheritance of acquired characteristics
what does lamarcks theory suggest
that adaptations developed by an organism thorugh its life span resulted in characteristics that could be inherited by offspring
what was charles darwins theory called
natural selection
what are the 2 pathways that can lead to speciation
transformation or divergence
whats transformation
when a new species gradually develops as a result of mutation and adaptation to chaing environmental conditions, and the old species is gradually replaced
whats divergence
when one or more speies arise from a parent species that continues to exist
whats symbiosis
the direct or close relationship between individuals of different species that live together
whats succession
the sequence of invasion and replacemnt of species in an ecosystmen that results in a gradual change in community structure, beginning with a pioneer ommunitya dn leading towards a climax community
what makes up the pioneer communit
the first species to colonize an area and initiate sucsess
whats teh biosphere
the narrow zone around the earth that harbors life
what are teh 3 structural zones of the earth
lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere
zones or earths atmosphere in order from to closest to earth to farthest from earth
troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, upper atmosphere, magnetosphere
where is teh ozone layer
in the stratosphere
wheres the ionosphere
upper atmosphere
whats the ionosphere
zone that absorbs most of the deadly x rays and gamma rays produced by solar radiation
wheres teh magnetosphere
just beyond the limits of the atmosphere
what does the magnetosphere do
deflects most of the charged and potentially lethal particles that are emitted by the sun or that come from interstellar space
what must happen to matter to maintain the bioshpehre
matter has to be recycled
what are the 2 ways that phospherous tends to recycle
a long term cycle involving rocks of the earths crust, a shorter cycle involving living organisms
