Module 6 - Ecology

Question 1

The definition of Ecology

Answer 1

the interactions of any organism with its environment, both the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) portions.

Question 2

ecosystem

Answer 2

consists of all the living and nonliving components of a defined geographical area

Question 3

A population consists of

Answer 3

all the members of a particular species that live within an ecosystem

Question 4

a community is defined as a

Answer 4

group of interacting species populations occupying the same geographical area.

Question 5

Environmental resistance is the

Answer 5

push back of the environment on the population and take the form of competition, predation, as well as natural events.

Question 6

logistic growth curve is what shape?

Answer 6

S shaped curve

Question 7

The concept of an ecological carrying capacity is that

Answer 7

The maximum population size that can be sustained indefinitely without damage to an ecosystem is called the ecosystem’s carrying capacity

Question 8

biosphere

Answer 8

All of the ecosystems in the entire habitable surface of Earth comprise the biosphere

Question 9

can natural increase of a population be negative?

Answer 9

yes if deaths exceed births.

Question 10

Regardless of the population density, population size is limited by ____-____ ____.

Answer 10

Density-independent factors

Question 11

Density-dependent factors

Answer 11

increase in effectiveness as the population density increases

Question 12

some density independent factors

Answer 12

weather (short-term atmospheric conditions such as temperature, rainfall, and wind) and climate (long-term weather patterns).

Question 13

interspecific competition

Answer 13

two or more species utilize the same resources

Question 14

In consumer–prey interactions

Answer 14

one species (the consumer) uses another species (the prey) as a food source.

Question 15

In mutualism

Answer 15

two species cooperate in ways that increase both species’ access to resources.

Question 16

In symbiosis

Answer 16

the relationships are prolonged and intimate, so that members of the two species are almost always found together.

Question 17

co-evolution

Answer 17

inter-acting species acting as agents of evolution for one of the species. for example a fox making a rabbit able to run faster over generations.

Question 18

Ecological niche

Answer 18

is a term for the position of a species within an ecosystem, describing both the range of conditions necessary for persistence of the species, and its ecological role in the ecosystem.

Question 19

resource partitioning helps to reduce…

Answer 19

interspecific competition as different species adapt to feeding on different parts of a plant.

Question 20

intraspecific competition

Answer 20

is the most intense form of competition, because every member of the species competes for all of the same resources.

Question 21

In an ecosystem, each category of organisms through which energy passes is called a

Answer 21

trophic level, photosynthetic organisms make up the first trophic level.

Question 22

autotrophs

Answer 22

produce their own energy using inorganic nutrients and solar energy.

Question 23

heterotroph or consumer

Answer 23

organism which cannot produce its own energy from the sun.

Question 24

primary consumers (herbivores)

Answer 24

feed directly on producers (plant matter)

Question 25

Secondary consumers

Answer 25

consume herbivores, do not consume carnivores.

Question 26

Tertiary consumers.

Answer 26

when an organism consumes other carnivores it occupys the third trophic level.

Question 27

usually given as grams of biomass per square meter per year is
___ _____ _____

Answer 27

net primary

production.

Question 28

A food chain is a

Answer 28

linear feeding relationship that includes a single species in each trophic level that is fed upon by a single species in the trophic level just above it.

Question 29

microscopic photosynthetic protists and bacteria collectively called

Answer 29

phytoplankton.

Question 30

what shows many interconnected food chains and more accurately describes the actual feeding relationships in a community ?

Answer 30

A food web

Question 31

Detritivores (“debris- eaters”)

Answer 31

are an army of mostly small and often unnoticed organisms, including nematode worms, earthworms, milli- pedes, dung beetles, and the larvae of some flies. feed on chunks of organic matter.

Question 32

Decomposers

Answer 32

are primarily fungi and bacteria.

Question 33

Biomagnification

Answer 33

the increasing accumulation of a toxic substance in progressively higher trophic levels. For instance, accumulation of toxic chemicals in shark meat

Question 34

An energy pyramid illustrates

Answer 34

the energy relationships between trophic levels widest at the base and progressively narrowing in higher trophic levels

Question 35

The four postulates regarding populations proposed by Darwin and Wallace’s theory of evolution by natural selection

Answer 35

1. individuals in a population Vary
2. Traits are passed from parent to offspring
3. some individuals Fail to survive and reproduce
4. Survival and reproduction are not Determined by chance but by characteristics

Question 36

evolution

Answer 36

change over time in the characteristics of a population.

Question 37

process of natural selection

Answer 37

Individuals with advantageous traits survive longest and leave the most offspring with those similar traits

Question 38

Vestigial structures

Answer 38

a structure that is an evolutionary remnant that performed a useful function in an ancestor, but is no longer useful. Like a tail bone in a human.

Question 39

Convergent evolution:

Answer 39

the independent evolution of similar structures amongst unrelated organisms as a result of similar environmental pressures. Like a bird and bat wings.

Question 40

Analogous features:

Answer 40

structures that have a similar function and a superficially similar appearance but very different anatomies. For instance, wings of birds and insects

Question 41

Artificial selection:

Answer 41

the purposeful breeding of domesticated animals and plants to produced desired characteristics

Question 42

Gene pool:

Answer 42

the total of all alleles, of all genes in a population

Question 43

Gene flow:

Answer 43

the movement of alleles from one population to another owing to the movement of individual organisms

Question 44

Allele frequency:

Answer 44

for any given gene, the relative proportion of each allele of that gene in a population. For instance, for the eye color allele, the proportion in the population that holds the blue allele, compared to all other colors

Question 45

Genetic drift:

Answer 45

a change in the allele frequencies of a small population purely by chance

Question 46

Population bottleneck:

Answer 46

the result of an event that causes a population to become extremely small; this may cause genetic drift that results in changed allele frequencies and loss of genetic variability

Question 47

Founder effect:

Answer 47

an isolated population is founded by a small number of individuals. This may result in genetic drift if allele frequencies in the founder population are different from those of the parent population

Question 48

Adaptation:

Answer 48

a trait that increases the ability of an individual to survive and reproduce compared to individuals without the trait