Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

School > Science Test: Ecology > Flashcards

Science Test: Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

What is Ecology?

A

The study of the relationship between organisms and their environment.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

An Abiotic factor is…

A

Non-living

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

A Biotic factor is…

A

Living

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is the Biosphere

A

The world-wide sum of all ecosystems: water, land, air. All of life itself.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is the Atmosphere?

A

All the layers of gases (air) around Earth that surround us.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is the Hydrosphere?

A

All the water on Earth’s surface.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is the Lithosphere?

A

All the land on Earth.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are the 6 Ecological Levels of Organization?

A

Biosphere, Biome, Ecosystem, Community, Population, Species

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is a Biome?

A

A large naturally occurring community of common characteristics.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is an Ecosystem?

A

A community of living organisms that interact with each other in a specific place.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is a Community?

A

A group of two or more populations from different species in the same area.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is a Population?

A

A group of individuals that belong to the same space and live in the same area.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is a Species?

A

A group of living organisms that share common characteristics and are classified as alike in some manner.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What are the 5 Major Biomes in Canada?

A
  • Tundra
  • Temperate Rainforest (Temperate Coniferous Forest)
  • Boreal Forest
  • Grassland
  • Temperate Deciduous Forest
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

A Marine Biome is…

A

found in our oceans, and has a high salt concentration

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

A Freshwater Biome is…

A

very low salt concentration
vary in their nutrient content, temperature, and depth
3 categories: 1. rivers and streams, 2. lakes and ponds, 3. wetlands

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is a Habitat?

A

The environment in which an organism lives, their “address.”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is a Niche?

A

An organism’s niche is it’s totally way of life, their “occupation”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What is a Food Chain?

A

A simple and direct illustration that shows the energy flow at each trophic (feeding) level.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is a Food Web?

A

A way of illustrating the complexity of the energy transfer when more organisms are involved.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Primary Producer

A

Produce their own food (autotrophs)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Primary Consumer

A

Eat autotrophs (primary producers)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Secondary Consumer

A

Eat the primary consumers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Tertiary/Top Consumer

A

Eat the secondary consumers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Producers/Autotrophs

A

Use energy from sunlight to make glucose

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Consumers/Heterotrophs

A

Don’t make their own food, consume other organisms to live

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Herbivores

A

Eat only plants aka other producers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Carnivores

A

Eat only meat aka other consumers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Omnivores

A

Eat both plants and animals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

Decomposers

A

Absorb any dead material and break it down onto simple nutrients or fertilizers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

Detritivores/Scavengers

A

Feed on the tissue of dead organisms (both plants and animals)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

Ecological Pyramids

A

A geographic model that illustrates the amount of energy available at each trophic level in a food chain.

Can be represented as:
Biomass (total mass of organisms at each level in a food chain is shown)
Numbers (number of individuals at each trophic level is shown)
Energy (the amount of energy available at each trophic level is shown)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

Cellular Respiration

A

The process in which chemical energy is released from food (glucose)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

Photosynthesis

A

Getting the sun’s energy into a useable form, the process of converting light energy, water, and carbon dioxide into glucose (food) and oxygen

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

The products of photosynthesis are the … of cellular respiration

A

Reactants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

The products of cellular respiration are the … of photosynthesis

A

Reactants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

What is the importance of Nutrient Cycles?

A

They allow the movement of nutrients to rough the biotic and abiotic parts of the environment
- this allows nutrients to be continuously consumed, rearranged, stored, and used

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

Carbon Cycle

A

Released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned & respiration
Used in photosynthesis to produce carbohydrates
Plants eaten by animals
Carbon Dioxide is in decaying matter

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

Water Cycle

A 
Evaporation & Transpiration 
Condensation
Precipitation 
Runoff
Seepage
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

Nitrogen Cycle

A

Nitrogen fixation: the process of converting atmospheric nitrogen gas into a useable form
Nitrification: the oxidation of the ammonium compounds in dead organic material into nitrites and nitrates
Assimilation: the process by which plants and animals incorporate the nitrates - and ammonia
Ammonification: incorporation of ammonia and nitrates into biological tissues
Denitrification: the chemical reduction of soil nitrates or nitrites by denitrifying bacteria

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

Why is it important that nitrogen is useable?

A

Because if it isn’t useable it can’t be absorbed into food chains or webs.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

Limiting Factors

A

Any factor that restricts the size of a population or where it can live, can be abiotic and biotic.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

Abiotic Limiting Factors

A
  • Space
  • Oxygen levels in aquatic environment
  • Temperature
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

Biotic Limiting Factors

A
  • Disease
  • Predation
  • Competition
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

Tolerance Range

A

Range of abiotic conditions (environmental conditions) within which a species can survive and reproduce.
Many different abiotic factors influence where species can live, some species have a wide tolerance ranges and some have narrow tolerance ranges.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

Competition

A

Interactions between two or more organisms competing for the same resource in a given habitat. Intraspecific = same species, Interspecific = different species

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
47
Q

Predation

A

When one organism eats another organism to obtain food

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
48
Q

Disease

A

When harmful bacteria, viruses and fungus drastically affect the size of a population

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
49
Q

Symbiosis

A

A close interaction between two different species in which members of one species live in, on, or near members of another species.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
50
Q

Parasitism

A

One species benefits and the expense of the other.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
51
Q

Mutualism

A

Both species benefit

52
Q

Commensalism

A

One species benefits without nor harm or benefit to the other

53
Q

Carrying Capacity

A

The number of individuals of a species that an ecosystem can support.

54
Q

Predator Prey Relationship Graphing

A

When the number of prey increases in an ecosystem the number of predators will too.

55
Q

Ecosystem Services

A

Services provided by ecosystems that cannot be obtained any other way.

56
Q

What are examples of Ecosystem Services?

A
  • Food
  • Fuel
  • Natural resources
  • Water
  • Cycle nutrients
  • Decompose waste
  • Regulate climate
  • Provide cultural and recreational opportunities
  • Organisms with ecosystems pollinate crops and disperse seeds
57
Q

Why are Ecosystem Services critical?

A

These are critical because human well-being depends upon ecosystem structure and function.

58
Q

Three Types of Biodiversity

A

Genetic
Species
Diversity

59
Q

Genetic

A

Variation within species genetic makeup

60
Q

Species

A

Number of individual species

61
Q

Ecosystem

A

Variety of ecosystems

62
Q

5 Major Causes of Biodiversity

A
  • Habitat Change & Fragmentation
  • Overexploitation
  • Pollution
  • Invasive Species
  • Climate Change
63
Q

Habitat Change

A

When humans alter a habitat so that native species can no longer live there.

64
Q

Fragmentation

A

When a small area of land within a larger ecosystem is cleared for human purposes creating a patchwork of altered and original/native habitats.

65
Q

Urban Sprawl

A

The unplanned, disorganized growth of urban and suburban development into surrounding countryside as people build new homes and new businesses near the edge of a city or town.

66
Q

Smart Growth

A

Smart and sustainable urban and suburban development, planning development that is oriented around public transit, creating people centred healthy communities, persevering open and natural spaces, intensification of filling in existing areas.

67
Q

Overexploitation

A

The overuse of resources to the point where they cannot be replaced at a fast enough rate (population sizes decrease)

This is by people for food, clothing, pets, medicine, sport, and more.

68
Q

Overfishing

A

Industrialized fishing had been a huge problem since the 1950s, humans have removed a large pertained of fish from our seas.

69
Q

Overhunting

A

Animals are hunted for sport, food, pet trades, fur, horns and antlers, medicine, education, skins and shells, eggs, meat.

70
Q

Clearcutting

A

When commercial logging companies remove all the trees in an area.

71
Q

Slash and Burn

A

A widely used method of growing food in which wild or forested land is clear cut and any demanding vegetation burned.

72
Q

Unsustainable Use of Water

A

Fresh water is a precious resource but it is often unsustainably overused.

73
Q

What is Soil?

A

Soil is a mixture of minerals, water, air spaces, and organic matter.

74
Q

Why is it important to keep nutrient cycling occurring?

A

It’s important to keep nutrient cycling occurring because they ensure there’s always plenty of nutrients available for wombats to consume.

75
Q

Natural Fertilizers

A

These have been obtained from natural sources (manure) and have not been chemically altered by humans

76
Q

Synthetic

A

Are manufactured hashing chemical processes

77
Q

Fertilizer Dependance

A

Over fertilized soils can lose their supply of natural occurring nutrients, creating a dependency on synthetic fertilizers.

78
Q

Nitrate Groundwater Pollution

A

Fertilizers have serious impacts of groundwater when they get leached info the soil which occurs when nutrients become dissolved in water and deep out of the soil. Occurs because if acid precipitation.

79
Q

Cultural Eutrophication

A

When fertilizers from farm fields and lawns enter aquatic ecosystems, nutrients act like fertilizers for aquatic plants and algae. Creating “Algae Bloom” which blocks sunlight from reaching submerged aquatic plants that grow at deeper depths causing them to die off. The increased decomposition causes bacteria to use up oxygen in the water instead of fish, killing them off of the oxygen levels get low enough.

80
Q

Pests

A

Organisms that might compete with or damage crop species or lawns.

81
Q

Pesticides

A

A substance used to kill a pest.

82
Q

Broad-spectrum

A

Are effective against many types of pests.

83
Q

Narrow-spectrum

A

Are effective against only a few pests.

84
Q

Pest Resistance

A

When pesticides are used for long periods of time some pest species may become resistant to the pesticide and pass on the resistance to their offspring. Leading to excessive pesticides being used without any benefits.

85
Q

Bioaccumulation

A

The accumulation of toxic substances, such as pesticides, or other chemicals in the tissues of an organism.

86
Q

Biomagnification

A

The increasing concentration of a toxic substance in the tissue of organisms at successfully higher levels in a food chain.

87
Q

Damage to Non-Target Species

A

Pesticides often kill species that were not intended to be killed.

88
Q

Long-Range Transport

A

Pesticides do not stay in one place they can be transported over large distances.

89
Q

Point Source

A

A pollutant that enters water a species place from an identifiable source

90
Q

No Point Source

A

A pollutant that enters a body of water indirectly when water from rain or snow travels over land and picks up pollutants from many different sources before entering a stream or lake.

91
Q

Biological Indicator Species

A

Species that can tell us about the levels of pollution in an area of water.

92
Q

Cultural Eutrophication

A

When fertilizers from farm fields and lawns enter aquatic ecosystems, nutrients act like fertilizers for aquatic plants and algae. Creating “Algae Bloom” which blocks sunlight from reaching submerged aquatic plants that grow at deeper depths causing them to die off. The increased decomposition causes bacteria to use up oxygen in the water instead of fish, killing them off of the oxygen levels get low enough.

93
Q

What is Solid Waste?

A

Non-biodegradable substances coming from a variety of sources - households, industries, etc.

94
Q

What is the Problem with Littering?

A

Litter will contaminate ecosystems, harm marine life, and release nasty chemicals.

95
Q

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

A

A gyre of marine debris particles in the central North Pacific Ocean.

96
Q

What is PH?

A

A scale used to measure how acidic it basic something is.

97
Q

How can the PH or soil and water affect organisms?

A

Acid precipitation can cause changes in the PH of soil and water - some organisms cannot tolerate these changes and will die off
Acid soil does not hold nutrients well

98
Q

What are the major kinds of Air Pollution?

A
  • Nitrogen oxides
  • Sulphur oxides
  • Containing substances
  • Ground level ozone
  • Particulate matter (smoke fumes)
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Methane.
99
Q

Formation of Acid Rain

A

Once in the air, the pollutants (sulphur oxides & nitrogen oxides) combine with water vapour to form acids.

100
Q

Smog

A

Yellowish or blackish fog containing a mixture of various gases with dust and water vapour caused by ground level ozone.

101
Q

Native Species

A

Have originated in their location naturally and without human involvement.

102
Q

Invasive Species

A

Introduced species with growing populations that spread and have a negative effect on their environment.

103
Q

What are the 4 Main Ways Invasive Species cause Harm to Ecosystems

A
  • Ecological damage by displacing native species
  • Economic damage because of clean up costs and the loss of ecological services and damage to property
  • Damage to the tourism industry as ecosystems become degraded and less desirable as a tourist destination
  • Negative effects in human health as some invasive species carry diseases (i.e. West Nile Virus found in mosquitoes)
104
Q

What are the 3 Ways to Control Invasive Species?

A

Mechanical
Chemical
Biological

105
Q

Mechanical Control

A

The use of a physical barrier or the physical removal of the species.

106
Q

Chemical Control

A

The most widely used method is the use of pesticides.

107
Q

Biological Control

A

Using intentionally introduced organisms to control the invasive species.

108
Q

Extirpated

A

A species that no longer exists in Ontario but still occurs elsewhere.

109
Q

Endangered

A

A species that faces extinction or extirpation.

110
Q

Threatened

A

A species that is at risk of becoming endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.

111
Q

Special Concern

A

A species with characteristics that make it sensitive to human activities or natural events.

112
Q

Ex-situ conservation

A

Protect at-risk species in human-made environments (i.e. zoos, aquarian’s)

113
Q

In-situ conservation

A

Protect species in their native habitats

114
Q

Endangered Species Act

A

Passed in 2007 in Ontario, protects at-risk species and their habitats, made it illegal to damage or destroy ecosystems that species depend on, individuals or groups that ignore the law can be liable for repairing any damage they cause.

115
Q

Ecological Footprint

A

A tool/model used to estimate how much land, water, and other resources (what and how much you consume) are needed to support a person’s lifestyle

116
Q

How can you be an environmental steward?

A

Take care of natural recourses to ensure that they are used in sustainable ways for current and future generations.

Reduce - the amount of recourse we use
Reuse/Repurpose - items instead of throwing things away
Recycling - used items
Conserving - ecosystems
Restoring - damaged ecosystems
117
Q

Crop Rotation

A

Rotates different crops so that the pest has nothing to feed on and the population size decreases.

118
Q

Soil Conservation

A

Methods that protect the soil from erosion and loss of nutrients

119
Q

Organic Farming

A

Farming that does not permit the use of fertilizers or pesticides.

120
Q

Forestry Stewardship Council certified

A

Meets the guidelines for sustainable forestry practices.

121
Q

LEED Certification

A

Building has bern certified as being built in a sustainable way. (LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

122
Q

Consumer Demand

A

Businesses respond to consumer demands and will create products that are sustainable/environmentally friendly.

123
Q

What can you do to lessen your ecological footprint

A 
Reduce emissions 
Save energy
Eat food produced locally
Plant wisely
But wisely
Get involved
124
Q

How do clear cutting and slash and burn deforestation methods increase greenhouse gas concentrations?

A

By reducing forest cover we decrease the amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed, too much carbon dioxide leads to a warmer atmosphere.
Slash and burn also releases a large amount of carbon dioxide because if the burning aspect.

125
Q

Not-Native

A

Not typically found in an area.

126
Q

What health problems do nitrates cause?

A

They disrupt the blood’s ability to carry oxygen.

127
Q

What is Environmental Stewardship?

A

Managing resources today so that we have some for tomorrow (future)

School (86 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions