Unit 1

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

The study of connections in nature between biotic and abiotic components

Question 2

3 Factors sustaining life on earth

Answer 2

1 one way flow of high quality energy
2 round trip cycling of matter/nutrients
3 gravity

Question 3

Symbiosis

Answer 3

Two organisms relationship

Question 4

Commensalism

Answer 4

one benefits one is nuetral

Question 5

Niche

Answer 5

a species role in its environment

Question 6

Resource Partitioning

Answer 6

species avoid competition by dividing resources

Question 7

Competitive exclusion principle

Answer 7

If competition is present species will be excluded from niches they might otherwise inhabit

Question 8

Fundamental Niche

Answer 8

Possible niche

Question 9

Realized Niche

Answer 9

actual niche when competition is present

Question 10

Carbon in abiotic environment

Answer 10

from atmosphere dissolved in water
calcium carbonate in rocks (limestone and coral)
coal petroleum and natural gas from fossilized organisms
humus- dead organic matter

Question 11

Carbon enters biotic world

Answer 11

photosynthesis and chemosynthesis (archaebacteria)

Question 12

Carbon returns to atmosphere

Answer 12

cellular respiration
combustion
decay (methane when o2 not present)

Question 13

Sink

Answer 13

where it goes

Question 14

Biocarbonate

Answer 14

co2 form in the ocean

Question 15

watershed

Answer 15

the land area that delivers runoff sediment and dissovled substances to stream

Question 16

Artesian well

Answer 16

pressure from confined aquifer pushed water up at a location without a pump

Question 17

water table

Answer 17

the level below which the ground is saturated with water

Question 18

First law of thermodynamics

Answer 18

energy cannot be created/destroyed but can change forms

Question 19

second law of thermodynamics

Answer 19

• energy quality always decreases
• when energy changes form it is always degraded to a more dispersed form
• energy efficiency: how much useful work is accomplished before it changes to its next form

Question 20

Primary consumer

Answer 20

only eats producers

Question 21

Secondary consumer

Answer 21

third level in a food chain

Question 22

Detritivore

Answer 22

earthworms pill bugs etc

Question 23

Primary productivity

Answer 23

the rate at which autotrophs synthesize new biomass

Question 24

GPP

Answer 24

totally amount of production of biomass

Question 25

NPP

Answer 25

not all gpp goes into making biomass
this is the energy lost

Question 26

Productivity Formula

Answer 26

NPP = GPP - R

Question 27

Most productive ecosystems have

Answer 27

high temps, lots of water, light, and nutrients

Question 28

3 most productive biomes

Answer 28

swamps and marshes
tropical rainforest
estuaries/coral reefs

Question 29

least productive biomes

Answer 29

desert
desert shrub
tundra