Science Flashcards
Biotic interactions are between two or more __________.
Living things
Abiotic relationships are interactions between one or more organisms and it’s ______________.
Surroundings
What are the levels of ecological organization?
Organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere
The original term for ecology was __________, originally used by German biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866.
“Oekologie”
When did Ernst Haeckel live?
1834-1919
Who wrote the Origin of Species in 1859?
Charles Darwin
Ecology is closely connected to the theory of ___________.
Natural selection
What is the process by which individuals with better adapted heritable characteristics tend to survive and reproduce more successfully than other individuals with less adapted characteristics?
Natural selection
Environmental studies examines what?
Human impacts on physical, biological, and chemical processes
What social movement seeks to take steps to minimize human impacts on planet Earth?
Environmentalism
Individuals often compete with each other for limiting resources. What are these resources?
Light, water, food, and/or nutrients
What is a population?
A group of individuals of the same species that live in a particular area and interact with each other
What is the study of populations of organisms?
Population ecology
What is a community?
Two or more interacting populations within an area
What is the study of interactions among communities?
Community ecology
What is an ecosystem?
A community of of organisms and the abiotic environment in which they live
What are patch works of multiple communities and ecosystems?
Landscape
What is a biome?
A large scale region dominated by similar ecosystems
All of the world’s ecosystems together make up the _______________.
Biosphere
What is the order of the scientific method?
Ask a question, state a hypothesis, conduct an experiment, analyze the results, make a conclusion
What is a hypothesis?
An educated guess
What is formed to collectively explain the results of a large number of experimental observations?
Theory
What is ecology?
The scientific study of the relationship between organisms and their environment
Describe Histosols.
Organic, deep organic matter, wet conditions
Describe Andisols.
Volcanic, mild weathering
Describe Gelisols.
Permafrost, very cold
Describe Inceptisols.
Very little B Horizon development
Describe Aridisols.
Dry, desert conditions
Describe vertisols.
Swelling clay, high base, dry season
Describe Alfisols.
Mildly acidic, clays, moist
Describe Entisols.
Recent, less developed
Describe Mollisols.
Soft, dark, semi arid to moist, grass lands
Describe ultisols.
Strongly acidic, clays, wet, warm, acid silicate, and oxidizes
Describe spodosols.
Spodic, cool, wet, sand, acid, coniferous forest
Describe oxisols.
Oxides, wet, tropical ion activity, clays, extremely weathering, highly developed
_______ is a critical component in all organisms.
Water
What is surface runoff?
Overland flow of excess water
Evapotranspiration is what?
The sum of the water lost from evaporation plus transpiration
What is transpiration?
The movement of water through a plant
The conversion of sunlight into carbon compounds is what?
Photosynthesis apparently
What is the first step of photosynthesis?
Harvesting sunlight and transporting it
What is the second step of photosynthesis?
Fixing carbon to generate carbohydrates
What aspect of photosynthesis determines the supply of energy available to organisms?
The rate of photosynthesis
What happens to deciduous trees?
They lose their leaves in the fall
Community ecologists seek _________.
To find how interaction, species, and spatial arrangements make up an ecosystem
The number of different species in a defined geographical area.
Species Richness
The percentage that each individual species contributes to the environment.
Evenness
Species diversity combines __________ and ___________
Species richness and relative abundance
