unit 2 - ecology

Question 1

what is an ecological community?

Answer 1

an association of species that live in the same area and is characterized by diversity (just biotic)

Question 2

what is relative species abundance-how does this relate to ecological diversity?

Answer 2

how common one species is compared to another, higher relative species abundance the more diverse an ecological community is

Question 3

food chain vs food web

Answer 3

food chain is a direct line of who eats whom and food web is a bunch of food chains combined

Question 4

what is a keystone species

Answer 4

a species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend

Question 5

what happens when you remove a keystone species

Answer 5

there is a dramatic change (eg. wolf extermination in led to massive decline in aspens due to boom in omnivores)

Question 6

what are the four major examples of species interaction, think of example for each

Answer 6

mutualism (both species benefit, bison:magpie)
commensalism (one benefits, other is not affected, magpie:tree)
predation (one benefits other is harmed, wolf:elk)
parasitism (one benefits, predator, other is harmed, host; predator lives on host; mosquito:human)

Question 7

ecosystem vs ecological community

Answer 7

ecological community is just the living, biotic factors and ecosystem is the living, biotic, and nonliving, abiotic factors

Question 8

nutrients vs energy when moving through an environment

Answer 8

nutrients cycle and energy flows in one direction and is lost in ecosystem as heat

Question 9

define trophic levels

Answer 9

a level of the energy pyramid that corresponds to a step in the food chain

Question 10

what role do plants have in an energy pyramid

Answer 10

primary producers (support whole food chain, bottom of food chain)

Question 11

what role do omnivores have in an energy pyramid

Answer 11

primary consumers (second level of food chain)

Question 12

what role do carnivores have in an energy pyramid

Answer 12

secondary consumers (third level of food chain)

Question 13

what is the 10% role

Answer 13

only ~10% of energy is passed up to the next trophic level

Question 14

define primary productivity

Answer 14

the rate at which primary producers photosynthesize

Question 15

population size vs population density

Answer 15

population size is number of individuals in a population and population density is the population per unit area (ratio)

Question 16

logistic vs exponential growth

Answer 16

exponential growth rapidly increases whereas logistic growth accounts for the carrying capacity and other environmental resistance

Question 17

what is a carrying capacity

Answer 17

the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment

Question 18

give some examples of density-dependent factors that change population growth

Answer 18

disease, resources, predation

Question 19

give some examples of density-independent factors that change population growth

Answer 19

weather patterns, natural disasters, pollution

Question 20

what role do decomposers have in the flow of nutrients?

Answer 20

break down dead bodies, returning nutrients to abotic world to restart nutrient cycle

Question 21

state and define the two factors in every ecosystem

Answer 21

abiotic (non-living factors), biotic (living factors)

Question 22

how do nutrients move through an ecosystem

Answer 22

pass through abiotic then biotic world and back through decomposers (reused and recycled)

Question 23

how does energy move through an ecosystem

Answer 23

recieved and lost, bottom to top

Question 24

which trophic level has the largest amount of energy

Answer 24

producers

Question 25

producers

Answer 25

bottom of the food chain, uses energy from the sun

Question 26

consumers

Answer 26

an organism that consumes other organisms

Question 27

food chain

Answer 27

a direct line of who eats whom

Question 28

food web

Answer 28

a combination of food chains

Question 29

carnivore

Answer 29

an animal that eats animals

Question 30

herbivore

Answer 30

an animal that eats plants

Question 31

omnivore

Answer 31

an animal that eats plants and animals

Question 32

predator

Answer 32

consumer that eats plants or animals

Question 33

prey

Answer 33

eaten by predator

Question 34

scavenger

Answer 34

eats dead or dying animals

Question 35

decomposer

Answer 35

dissolves dead bodies to consume

Question 36

detritivore

Answer 36

mechanically breaks apart dead bodies

Question 37

parasite

Answer 37

an organism that lives in or on another species

Question 38

what are the four major factors of population growth/decay

Answer 38

births, deaths, immigration, emigration

Question 39

autotroph

Answer 39

primary producer (produces own food)

Question 40

heterotroph

Answer 40

consumer (consumes food made by autotroph)

Question 41

mutualism

Answer 41

species interaction where both benefit

Question 42

commensalism

Answer 42

species interaction where one benefits

Question 43

parasitism

Answer 43

species interaction where one lives on/in host

Question 44

predation

Answer 44

species interaction where one benefits and one is hurt

Question 45

what letters are used to represent exponential and logistic growth

Answer 45

exponential - J cure, logistic - S curve

Question 46

metabolic heat

Answer 46

The heat released as a by-product of chemical reactions within a cell, typically during cellular respiration.

Question 47

characteristics of exponential growth

Answer 47

lag phase and then extreme (exponential) growth, doesn’t stop increasing

Question 48

characteristics of logistic growth

Answer 48

lag phase, increase, pressure begins from environmental resistance, decrease/leveled out due to carrying capacity