SCIENCE: ECOLOGY ))):

Question 1

The specific physical environment an organism lives in and is adapted to.

Answer 1

Habitat

Question 2

The largest ecosystem (Planet Earth)

Answer 2

Biosphere

Question 3

individual living things

Answer 3

organism

Question 4

the external surroundings that surround and effect an organism

Answer 4

environment

Question 5

the study of how organisms interact with each other and the environment

Answer 5

Ecology

Question 6

an interacting group of various species in a common location

Answer 6

community

Question 7

a unit of nature and the focus of study in ecology

Answer 7

ecosystem

Question 8

the total number of a species in a given area

Answer 8

population

Question 9

an organism’s role in it’s environment

Answer 9

niche

Question 10

an animal that kills and eats another animal

Answer 10

predator

Question 11

an animal that is killed by another for food

Answer 11

prey

Question 12

organisms which break down dead organisms and return the nutrients tot he soil

Answer 12

decomposer

Question 13

animals which primarily eat dead animals

Answer 13

scavenger

Question 14

organisms that produce food for themselves and other organisms

Answer 14

producer

Question 15

organisms that depend on other organisms for food

Answer 15

consumer

Question 16

represents a single pathway by which energy and matter flow through an ecosystem

Answer 16

food chain

Question 17

represents multiple pathways through which energy and matter flow through an ecosystem

Answer 17

food web

Question 18

shows how the available energy in an ecosystem is decreased as you go from producers to consumers

Answer 18

energy pyramid

Question 19

environmental factors that limit the growth of population

Answer 19

limiting factor

Question 20

the number of individuals of a population that an area can support for a long period of time

Answer 20

carrying capacity

Question 21

a measure of the number of different species and the population of each in an ecosystem

Answer 21

biodiversity

Question 22

a species of plan or animal that is seriously at risk of extinction

Answer 22

endangered species

Question 23

doesn’t exist anymore

Answer 23

extinct

Question 24

it is either alive or used to be living

Answer 24

biotic

Question 25

it never was alive

Answer 25

abiotic

Question 26

one that place an especially important role in its community

Answer 26

keystone species

Question 27

an animal adapted to only eat plants

Answer 27

herbivore

Question 28

an animal adapted to only eat meat

Answer 28

carnivore

Question 29

an animal adapted to eat meat and plants

Answer 29

omnivore

Question 30

the total mass of organisms at a tropic level

Answer 30

biomass

Question 31

one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed

Answer 31

parasitism

Question 32

both organisms benefit

Answer 32

mutualism

Question 33

one organism benefits, the other is unaffected

Answer 33

commensalism

Question 34

the observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological community

Answer 34

ecological succession

Question 35

occurs on in area that has never been colonized (name an example)

Answer 35

primary succession (volcano eruption)

Question 36

occurs in a formerly inhabited area that was disturbed; the nutrients are still there (name an example)

Answer 36

secondary succession (forest fires)

Question 37

name 5 abiotic factors which determine what type of organisms can live in a certain ecosystem

Answer 37

1. sunlight
2. water
3. soil
4. climate
5. O2 levels

Question 38

describe how QUADRATS, INDIRECT COUNTING and the MARK-RECAPTURE techniques can be used for estimating populations

Answer 38

if you use QUADRATS to estimate population you need to count all of the organisms in a small area and extrapolate to find the total population.
Using the MARK-RECAPTURE technique, first you capture the organisms without harming it and you mark them. Then after a period of time you recapture another sample. By comparing ratios of the marked and unmarked animals, you can get a good estimate.
The INDIRECT COUNTING technique consists of looking for signs of the organisms and estimate such as live traps etc..

Question 39

use the terms POPULATION, CARRYING CAPACITY, and LIMITING FACTOR to argue for or against deer hunting

Answer 39

I think deer hunting should be allowed because of the LIMITING FACTORS of space, food, water, and shelter. If there is a high POPULATION of deer then there wouldn’t be enough resources for all of them, so most of them will eventually die. Depending on the CARRYING CAPACITY of a zone in MN, a certain amount of deer should be allowed to hunt.

Question 40

Give specific examples of PARASITISM, MUTUALISM, and COMMENSALISM.

Answer 40

PARASITISM- tape worm and human (tapeworm takes the nutrients for the human’s body when they digest their food.)
MUTUALISM- oxpecker and zebra (the oxpeckers eat ticks and other parasites off the zebra; zebra gets rid of parasites)
COMMENSALISM- barnacles and whales (barnacles live on whales and use them as transportation; whales don’t get affected)

Question 41

Why is biodiversity important to the health of our planet

Answer 41

90% of our medicine comes from plants, helps fight disease, cleans up our waste, provides o2, agriculture

Question 42

how have humans altered an ecosystem

Answer 42

industrial pollution: factories release amount of toxic gases in the atmosphere this causes air pollution.

Question 43

name the 3 common distribution patterns

Answer 43

1. random
2. regular
3. clumped

Question 44

4 methods of determining the size of a population

Answer 44

1. direct observation
2. indirect observation
3. quadrats
4. mark and recapture