lecture 1 - the web of life

Question 1

what is ecology?

Answer 1

scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment

Question 2

ecological hierarcy

Answer 2

organism -> population -> community -> ecosystem -> landscape -> biosphere

Question 3

what is an ecosystem

Answer 3

the community and physical environment

Question 4

what is a landscape

Answer 4

areas that vary substantially from one place to another and typically include more than one ecosystem

Question 5

biosphere

Answer 5

all living organisms on earth plus the environments which they live

Question 6

population

Answer 6

a group of individuals of a species that live in a particular area and interact with each other

Question 7

community

Answer 7

an association of different populations of different species that live in the same area

Question 8

biotic components

Answer 8

all living components in an ecosystem

Question 9

abiotic components

Answer 9

the physical non living components of a natural system

Question 10

example of biotic components

Answer 10

populations, communities

Question 11

examples of abiotic components

Answer 11

altitude, salinity

Question 12

true or false
ecosystems, landscapes, and biospheres have both biotic and abiotic characteristics

Answer 12

true

Question 13

natural selection

Answer 13

the process by which individuals with certain traits tend to survives and reproduce at a higher rate than other individuals because of these traits

Question 14

how many ecological maxims are there

Answer 14

7

Question 15

first ecological maxim

Answer 15

organisms interact and are interconnected

Question 16

second ecological maxim

Answer 16

everything goes somewhere (nutrient cycling)

Question 17

third ecological maxim

Answer 17

no population can increase in size forever

Question 18

fourth ecological maxim

Answer 18

finite energy and resources result in trade offs

Question 19

fifth ecological maxim

Answer 19

populations evolve

Question 20

sixth ecological maxim

Answer 20

communities and populations change over time

Question 21

seventh ecological maxim

Answer 21

spatial scale matters

Question 22

trade offs

Answer 22

making choices, trading off one thing for another

Question 23

evolution

Answer 23

aka genetic variation
change in allele frequencies within a population overitme

Question 24

adaptation

Answer 24

aka survival of the fittest
a characteristic of an organism that improves its ability to survive or reproduce
can only have adaptation through natural selection

Question 25

ecological studies

Answer 25

observational studies, experimental studies

Question 26

observational studies

Answer 26

no manipulation in study
observing what existed in world and how did the other variable respond
powerful, allows larger scales

Question 27

experimental studies

Answer 27

limits scales
results caused by manipulation
difficult to do over a wider scale

Question 28

scales experiments can be done at

Answer 28

laboratory, small scale, large scale