Ecosystems Flashcards
a biome has a lot of what inside them?
different ecosystems
the actual place an organism lives is called a?
habitat
what 2 factors effect an organism within a habitat?
physical and biological
which organisms tend to live in smaller micro habitats?
little organisms, like fungi, trees, bugs, worms and the soil they make/use
Whats a niche?
describes what an organism does in its habitat…its work.Including how it goes about reproducing offspring.
whats a resource?
any necessity to life (sun, air, hamburger, river to drink or fish from)
What are the 2 components of a niche?
biological and physical
examples of physical niches?
some animals need water and others need land, some need sun and others need shade
examples of biological niches?
biotic features: the food each organism eats, where and how they mate.
what is the competitive exclusion principle?
no 2 species can occupy that exact same niche…they’ll compete and 1 species will win and the other will need to change its niche to survive.
what is a keystone species?
the 1 species that can make a huge difference in an ecosystem (ex. sea otter is important to pacific coast, it keeps the sea urchins in line so they don’t eat too much kelp which in turn helps keep the fish and birds fed).
what is symbiosis
an interdependent relationship
what are 3 types of symbiosis?
mutualistic, commensalism, and parasitic
what is a commensal relationship?
1 organism get a benefit and the other isn’t helped or harmed.
what is mutualism?
both benefit. many of the bacterium in our gut help us and we help them.
parasitic?
1 benefits and the other is harmed. ex. tapeworms.
ecological succession?
series of predictable ecological events that occur over a period of time.
What happens in primary succession?
succession that forms on newly formed rock. Its where the pioneer species forms
What happens in secondary succession?
when something disturbs an ecosystem but doesn’t completely destroy it, this faster growing community emerges (often from hurricanes or forest fires).
biological diversity and variability is called?
bio diversity
what is ecosystem diversity?
variety of habitats and ecosystems
Name 3 benefits of biodiversity.
1 contributions to medicine9 ex. penicillin). 2. contributions to agriculture. 3. making organisms more adaptive/resilient.
autotroph?
organism that can capture energy from a nonliving source and make it available for other organisms.
primary producers?
autotrophs. All life depends on primary producers. ex. plants and algae, some bacteria
consumers?
organisms that rely on other organisms for energy. heterotrophs: ex. humans, fungi, many bacteria
6 types of consumers?
- herbivores (eat plants) 2. omnivores (eat plants and animals). 3. detritivores (eat decomposers and the chemically decomposed matter. ex. earth worm). 4. decomposers (eat by breaking down organic matter. ex. bacteria and fungi). 5. carnivores (eat meat). 6 scavengers (eat the carcasses of the carnivores kill. ex. vulture).
what’s the difference between a detritivore and a decomposer?
The decomposer (fungi and bacteria) breaks down the dead material and the detritivore (worms, snails) eats the broken down material, making it smaller (and sometimes they eat the decomposers too).
Whats one of the biggest producers on the planet?
phytoplankton (algae)
feeding interaction in an ecosystem that show how both energy and matter move is called?
food web
The way energy is transferred from one organism to the next is called
food chain
what would happen without decomposers in the food web?
nutrients would be locked forever inside of dead material.
each step in a food web or food chain is called?
trophic level. primary producers make up the first tropic level.
models that show the amount of energy at each trophic level is called?
ecological pyramid
As the trophic level in a pyramid goes up, what goes down?
energy
On an average, what % of energy is transferred to the next higher level in a ecological pyramid?
Only 10% When we eat a cow, we get 10% of the energy.
biomass?
total amount of LIVING tissue within a trophic level.
How is biomass measured?
grams
