Ecology Introduction

Question 1

Biotic factors

Answer 1

all living organisms inhabiting the earth

Question 2

Ecology

Answer 2

The scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environments

Question 3

Abiotic factors

Answer 3

Non living

Temp, soil, light, moisture, air currents

Question 4

Hierachy of the environment

Answer 4

Organisms -> populations -> community -> eco system -> biosphere ->

Question 5

Organism

Answer 5

Any unicellular or multicellular living individual

Question 6

Population

Answer 6

group of organisms of one species living in same place same time that interbreed
members of same species can produce fertile offspring
compete with each other for food mates shelter

Question 7

Community

Answer 7

Several to many interacting populations that inhabit a common environment and are interdependent

Question 8

Ecosystem

Answer 8

populations in a community, and the abiotic factors with which they interact

Question 9

Biosphere

Answer 9

Life supporting area of the earth composed of air, land, fresh water, and salt water

Question 10

Habitat vs Niche

Answer 10

Habitat - the place in which an organism lives out its life

Niche - the specific or unique role a species plays in a community

Question 11

Limiting factors

Answer 11

any biotic or abiotic factor that
restricts the existence of organisms in
a specific environment.
* examples of limiting factors:
*Amount of water
*Amount of food
*Temperature
Amount of space

Question 12

Feeding relationships

Answer 12

Producers (also called
autotrophs) convert energy
from the sun into chemical
energy
* They form the bottom of the
food chain

Question 13

Different types of diet

Answer 13

• Herbivores – diet consists of producers
  (plants)
• Carnivores – eat other animals/insects
• Omnivores – eat a variety of both plant/animal
• Decomposers – eat dead things

Question 14

Types of consumer

Answer 14

Predators:
Hunt prey animals for food.
* Scavengers:
Feed on dead animals
* Decomposers:
Breakdown the complex compounds of dead and
decaying plants and animals into simpler molecules,
that can be absorbed

Question 15

Symbiotic relationships

Answer 15

Symbiosis- relationship between two
different organisms that live closely
together
* Three types of symbiosis:
1. Commensalism:…………………….
2. Parasitism…………………………….
3. Mutualism………………………..

Question 16

Commensalism

Answer 16

one species benefits and the
other is neither harmed nor
helped
Example: polar bears and cyanobacteria

Question 17

Parasitism

Answer 17

one species benefits (parasite) and the other is harmed (host)

Example: lampreys, leeches, fleas, ticks, tapeworms

Question 18

Mutualism

Answer 18

beneficial to both species
Example: cleaning birds, cleaner shrimp, lichen

Question 19

Trophic Levels meaning

Answer 19

Each link in a food chain is known as a trophic level.

Trophic levels represent a feeding step in the transfer of energy and matter in an ecosystem.

Question 20

Trophic levels level

Answer 20

Tertiary Consumers - 0.1% - 4
Secondary Consumers - 1% - 3
Primary consumers - 10% - 2
Producers - 100% - 1