Midterm Flashcards
The study of the relationship between living organisms and their environments is called:
Ecology
A scientist who studies interactions between abiotic and biotic parts of the environment is called a…?
Ecologist
Where does the word ecology come from?
It comes from the Greek word meaning “home”
When was the last swift fox seen in Alberta?
1928
What happened to the Swift Foxes?
They were accidently killed in the early 1900s when people used poison to control the wolves and coyotes
What are the basic needs of an animal?
Food, air to breathe, shelter and water
Food provides animals with nutrients such as fat, protein and carbohydrates which help animals…
grow, repair, and reproduce
Plants use carbon dioxide and “breathe” out…
oxygen
Animals breathe in oxygen and breathe out…
carbon dioxide
An inherited characteristic that helps an organism survive in its environment
an adaptation
An example of an adaptation is
Robin’s feet
The interactions between living and non living things in a particular environment is called an
ecosystem
All living things such as trees and animals and all the non-living things such as the sunlight and the air are…
interacting
When two species live closely together in a relationship that lasts over time is called…
symbiosis
Mutualism
a relationship between two different organisms in which each partner benefits from the relationship
What kind of relationship do ants and aphids have?
Symbiotic
How many types of symbiotic relationships are there and what are their names?
3:
- Mutualism
- Commensalism
- Parasitism
An organism that meets its needs at the expense of the other organism is what kind of relationship?
parasitism
A symbiotic relationship in which one partner benefits and the other partner appears neither to lose nor gain from the relationship
Commensalism
An example of commensalism
An orchid plant attached high up on a tree trunk
Natural resources are
materials and products that are found in nature to meet our basic needs
What are some examples of natural resources we use?
trees, water, oil and minerals
Many human technologies depend on
natural resources
An example of using technologies for natural resources is
generating electricity from trapping the energy from nature
Human needs often conflict with the needs of other living things such as when…
humans drive cars which harm the ecosystem with pollution
The major cause of songbird fatality in toronto is
the birds are attracted to the lights of the buildings and crash into the glass
How has the relationship between humans and their environment changed in Alberta since the time of the first settlers arrived here?
When settlers came they has a relatively low impact on the environment as all the goods were local. Now we import form other places which makes a larger impact on the environment
Why would our impact on the environment be different if we ate only locally grown food?
It would take less fuel and land to feed people who are eating locally
Describe how you use water as a need
to drink to stay hydrated
Describe how you use water as a need
Taking really long, hot showers
The environmental biologist who helps governments and developers use their land in a way that preserves the existing wildlife is names
Linda Sober
Shipping food from other countries is a (want or need)
Want
A computer game is a (want or need)
want
Feeding yourself properly is a (want or need)
need
Using resources in a way that allows nature to renew them quicker than they are being used is called
sustainability
How much land does the average Canadian need to sustain him/herself
4.3 hectares of land
the calculation of the total area of land and water to supply all the materials and energy a huamn uses as well as absorb the waste produced
Ecological footprint
Carpooling saves energy by
Using one less car to drive two people as opposed to driving in two separate cars
Example of reducing
limiting the amount of garbage you produce
Using things over and over again is called
reusing
Converting garbage into reusable material is called
recycling
Example of recycling
composting kitchen scraps
Blue box program
a waste management program that turns recyclables into goods
Technologists have figured out how to turn plastic into…
what they were originally made from
Another word for living parts of an ecosystem
biotic
types of biotic things
humans, trees, animals
abiotic
word for non-living things
example of abiotic
air, water, soil
soil contains abiotic parts such as
minerals
the role that is undertaken by an organism in an ecosystem
niche
How do you determine an organisms niche?
look at what it eats, where it lives and how it interacts with the other organisms in the ecosystem
Plants and algae are able to grow using the energy from the sun and nutrients from the soil. They fill the niche called
producers
What are the three types of niches?
Producers, consumers and decomposers
Consumers
eat food made by producers
Consumers are divided into what three groups?
herbivores, carnivores and omnivores
animals that only eat producers are called
herbivores
animals that only eat other consumers are called
carnivores
examples of herbivores
cows, deer
Examples of carnivores
lion, cougar
Predators are
consumers that kill and eat other animals called prey
Omnivores are animals that
each both plants and animals
Koalas are endangered because
eucalyptus forests were cut down to make room for farms and other developments
the total mass of living matter often expressed in dry weight or unti per area is called
biomass
Fibre
the tissue of the plants stem, leaves, seeds or roots
HOw do humans use plants?
food, clothing, paper and building materials
Plants are critical to the ecosystem because
they produce oxygen that most organisms need for life
Cotton is a
natural fibre used by humans for centuries
the world’s most important non-edible plant is
cottom
the oldest cultivated plant in the world that has less negative effect on the environment
hemp
Flax
a food a fibre crop grown in the northern cooler regions of the world
how many medicines are made from plants
more than 7000
the movement of a fluid from an area of higher concentration to an area of low concentration
diffusion
Differentially permeable
some materials are allowed to pass through
Osmosis
the diffusion of water through a differentially permeable membrane
the part of the plant that absorbs water and minerals from the soil. It also acts as an anchor for the plant so that it is not blown away or washed away.
Roots
A taproot has numerous
small roots coming out of it
The smaller parts of the roots that increase the ability of the plant to absorb water and nutrients from the soil
root hairs
Fibrous roots
a shallow system of similar-sized roots that can quickly soak up moisture
Diffusion and osmosis are two key processes that allow
roots to absorb water and dissolve substances such as materials
Where do the water and dissolved nutrients go after they are absorbed by roots?
The stems transport water between the leaves and roots
What are the 5 layers of the tree
- Heartwood
- Xylem
- Cambium
- Phloem
- Bark
Heartwood
the dead wood centre of the tree that gives the tree its strength
Xylem
carries water and nutrients from the roots up to the leaves. As new layers develop, the inner layers die and become heartwood.
Cambium
the growing part of the trunk.
Each year the cambium produces new
phloem and xylem
Phloem
the layer of cells that carries sugars from the leaves to the rest of the tree. As these cells die, they become part of the outer bark
the woody skin that stops a tree from dying out is called
bark
The second function of a stem is to
support the leaves and ensure that they receive adequate light, which the plant needs to produce food
the process for when plants release carbon dioxide and let oxygen into their cells
respiration
Transpiraton
the loss of water from a plant through evaporation
Chlorophyll
the pigment that makes leaves green
When people breed two types of plants to get desired characteristics, it is called
Selective breeding
Genes
genetic material from a plant that determines its genes
the production of seeds and fruits from specialized cells of two plants is called
sexual reproduction
Another word for asexual reproduction is
vegetative reproduction
Asexual reproduction is when
a parent plant grows new plants from its roots, stems or leaves
Cone
the part of the tree that has a series of woody scales
Pollination
the process of pollen traveling to the female cone
Stamen
the male reproductive organ of a plant
Pistil
the female reproductive organ of the plant
Petals are usually the
brightly coloured parts of the flower
Sepals
green and underneath the flower
cases containing male reproduction cells are called
pollen grains
Filament
the stalk that supports the anther
4 female reproductive organs
stigma, style, ovary, ovules
Stigma
the sticky lip of the pistil that captures pollen grains
Style
the stalk that support the stigma
Ovary
swollen base of pistil containing ovules
Ovules
sacs containing female reproductive cells
Sustainability
being able to grow food and fibre while keeping our natural systems healthy for the long term
The most common crops in alberta are
wheat, oats, canola and barley
Lois Hole helped to develop
special hardy seed varieties that could thrive in the Alberta climate
Irrigation
using a system of large sprinklers and pipes
Monoculture
only one type of plant in a field
