Unit 2 - Feeding Relationships and Sampling

Question 1

What is the feeding relationship?

The way energy is moved through the ecosystem

Answer 1

1. Producer (Autotroph) - Organisms that make their own food through the process of photosynthesis
2. Herbivore (Primary Consumer 1° - Animals that only eat plants
3. Omnivore (Second/tertiary consumer 2°) - Animals that eat both plants and animals
4. Carnivore (Tertiary/Quaternary consumers 3° or 4°) - Eats animals
5. Decomposer - Eats dead or dying organsims, have to break down dead or dying

Question 2

Where does energy originate, and how does it become usable, and what are the limits?
1. Originates
2. Plants
3. Transforms
3. limits

Answer 2

• Originates from sun and becomes usable through photosynthesis (CO2 + H2O = Glucose + O2
• Plants and algae are autotrophs and can perform photosynthesis
• Plants use sunlight to transform molecules into carbohydrates like glucose and release O2 gas into the air as a waste product.
• CO2 is basically unlimited as there is too much in the atmosphere. The rate of photosynthesis is limited by the amount of water and sunlight they recieve.

Question 3

What is cellular respiration?

Answer 3

• All living organisms perform cellular respiration to produce energy for life activities and growth. Plants make their own energy and then use it.

Equation: Glucose + O2 = CO2 + H2O + ATP

Question 4

What is a food chain and how do we draw one?

What is a food web?

Answer 4

A food chain is the simplest representation of feeding relationships in an ecosystem

We draw it by making rectangles labeled with the organisms name, with ARROWS POINTED IN ORDER TO SHOW DIRECTION OF ENERGY FLOW (Thing being eaten to thing eating it)

Shows the movement of matter & energy in an ecosystem more completely

Question 5

What is a trophic level?

Answer 5

Term to identify where species exist in a food chain

• The first trophic level is always the producer
• Each organism is consumed by the one above

Question 6

What is a pyramid of numbers?

Answer 6

Records the number of individuals at each trophic level coexisting in an ecosystem

*NOTE: Can be wonky/not a pyramid shape, indicates this type (eg. one oak tree housing 1000 caterpillars)

Question 7

What is a pyramid of biomass?

Answer 7

• Represents mass of living organsims at each trophic level
• What is biomass - the dry mass of an organism
• This is representing a certain point in time and represents the standing stock at each trophic level
• *Most of the time, perfect pyramid
  *ALWAYS GOING TO HAVE UNIT OF MASS AND UNIT OF AREA, INDICATES THIS TYPE (kg/km^2)

Question 8

What is a pyramid of productivity?

Answer 8

Show the rate of flow of energy in an ecosystem usually over a year
- Always pyramid shape
- General rule is that ONLY 10% OF THE ENERGY IS TRANSFERRED from one trophic level to the next.
- When calculating the amount passed on, divide prouduct by initial, and multiply by 100%
- Look for time to see if this type of calculation (J/m^2/yr)

Question 9

Why is an energy pyramid ecosystem typically limited to 4 or 5 levels only?

Why are populations of top carnivores (such as hawks) smaller than amount of herbivores?

Answer 9

Each tertiary level gets the energy above, which is around 10%, so there isn’t enough energy for more levels

Energy is used for growth, movement, heat, leading to 90% lost energy (only 10% passed on)

Because they get less energy, carnivores need to eat more prey to sustain themselves. If there were as many carnivores as herbivores, there wouldn’t be enough food to support them all.

Question 10

What is a biome?

Answer 10

Geographical areas that have a particular climate and sustain a specific community of flaura (plants) and fauna (animals)

Question 11

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 11

All the biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors that will INTERACT with each other in some subset of the biosphere.

Abiotic factors (non-living components that affect living ones): soil, water, temperature, elevation, and location on the earth

Question 12

What is a community?

Answer 12

Groups of many DIFFERENT species of organsims interacting in a particular area. Only the biotic factors that interact between different species of organsims

Question 13

What is a population?

Answer 13

A group of organisms of ONE species that interbreed and live in the same place at the same time

Question 14

What is a species?

Answer 14

A group of organsims that can reproduce with one another in nature to create FERTILE offspring

Question 15

What causes differences in a biome?

Answer 15

There is a relationship between the temperature and precipitation in a region and the type of biome/ecosystem to exist, as they result in different plants and animals.

Warmer and wetter conditions tend to support dense, biodiverse ecosystems (like tropical rainforests), while colder or drier conditions support sparser, more specialized ecosystems

Also, soil quality: Nutrient filled soil supports a higher diversity of plant life, which creates more diverse ecosystem.

Hemispheres: (Hint: think of our for northern, opposite for southern)

Northern Hemisphere - Winter in December, January and February (same as us)

Southern Hemisphere - Winter in June, July and August (our summer)

Question 16

What is the tri-cellular model of air circulation?

Answer 16

1. Hadley cells (larger cells): At the equator, the warmer, less dense air rises to a hight of around 18km under troppause (lid of atmosphere). Air moves away, cools, and moves back.

Intense evaporation leads to rain as water condenses in the air and falls back down, leading to warmer desserts. (Warmest region of earth)

Hadley cells have descending dry air after moisture has been lost, leading to dry conditions.

2. Polar cells (smaller than Hadley): Cold, dense air descending in the polar regions at low levels going 60-70 degrees North or South. After leaving, air warms and returns to cool again.

Air warms up as it moves away, picking up moisture, then as it rises, air loses moisture, so cold, dry air is descending, and rain falls, leading to cold desserts. (less rain than Hadley)

3. Feral cells (between Hadley and Polar): (Not driven by temperature) Cells flow in opposite directions of other two, acting like a gear. Transport heat from equator to poles and vice versa.

Result in semipermanent areas of high and low pressure giving the climatic zones. Where air is rising, we see areas of lower pressure, so there is more rainfall. This is why the largest number of rainforests are near the equator. When air is descending, and area of high pressure is created, resulting in little rainfall.

Question 17

What is a climatograph?

Answer 17

A climatograph is a graph showing the percipitation and temperature of an area over a period of time. Graphical representation of climate. Always average data for a given location.

Climate: Influenced by temperature and percipitation. Climate is long term experience whereas weather is short term.

Question 18

How to draw a climatograph?

Answer 18

*There are 2 Y axis’ for temperature and percipitation, x axis is always months.
*Dots connected with line shows temperature, Bar graphs shows percipitation.
*Temperature indicates the hemisphere its in

Question 19

Hot, Humid Haven

Tropical forest biome?

Answer 19

Temperature in °C
H: 26
L:- 25
Precipitation in mm:
H: 325
L: 120
Location example: Indonesia

Question 20

Sunny Savanna

Savana biome?

Answer 20

Temperature in °C
H: 21
L: 7
Precipitation in mm:
H: 115
L: 10
Location example: Serengeti

Question 21

Dry Desert

Desert biome?

Answer 21

Temperature in °C
H: 35
L: 13
Precipitation in mm:
H: 19
L: 1
Location example: Arizona

Question 22

Freezing and Frigid

Polar Ice biome?

Answer 22

Temperature in °C
H: -3
L: -28
Precipitation in mm:
H: 30
L: 10
Location example: Antarctica

Question 23

Cool and Clear

Temperate Grassland?

Answer 23

Temperature in °C
H: 20
L: -10
Precipitation in mm:
H: 60
L: 13
Location example: Alberta

Question 24

Changing Seasons

Temperature Deciduous forest biome?

Answer 24

Temperature in °C
H: 20
L: -7
Precipitation in mm:
H: 80
L: 42
Location example: Toronto, Ontario

Question 25

Frozen Fields

Tundra biome?

Answer 25

Temperature in °
H: 3
L: -33
Precipitation in mm: (VERY LOW)
H: 5
L: 2
Location example: Arctic tundra

Question 26

What is random sampling and why is it important

Answer 26

• Sampling from random sections, equal chance of any area getting picked.
• It is important to remove the bias and ensure that we have a true representation of the ecosystem

Question 27

What is quadrat sampling?

Answer 27

A quadrat is a square of known area. It can be thrown randomly to measure plant species in a uniform area.

If an area shows variation (slope or seashore), then the quadrat can be used with a line transect. The quadrat is placed at regular intervals along the transect line and the area inside the quadrat is examined.

Question 28

Rules of quadrats

Answer 28

When using a quadrat the following guidlines must be followed:

1. Quadrats can be placed randomly or systematically
2. The area of the quadrat and the entire ecosystem must be known
3. Enough quadrat samples must be taken so that the results are representative of the entire ecosystem (10 - 15)
4. The population of each quadrat must be counted and averaged
5. Multiply the average number per quadrat by the total area of ecosystem

Question 29

How do we calculate percent error when quadrat sampling?

Would this work for animals and why?

Answer 29

% error = ((estimated of total population - actual total population)/actual total population) x 100%

esimated is calculated by averaging your data for quadrat samples and multiplying by total ecosystem area

Doesn’t work for animals cause they can move

Question 30

How do we calculate animal population size?

Answer 30

Mark and recapture - Assumes that study population is ‘closed’. In other words, two visits to the study area are close enough that no individuals are born, die, immigrate, emmigrate (move out) between visits. Also assumes marks don’t fall off/fade.

Lincoln Index - T = (n1xn2)/n3

T - Estimate of total population, N1 - Number of animals captured & marked on first visit, N2 - Number of animals captured & marked on second visit, N3 - Number of animals captured on first visit that were recaptured on second visit

Question 31

Characteristics and Impacts

Amazon Rainforest

Answer 31

Characteristics:
- The total area is 6.7 million sq km in located South America

• 60% of the rainforest is in Brazil

Impacts:
- The rainforest is being destroyed by clearing for farming, timber, roads, hydropower dams, mining, house building, or other developments

• The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization is working on helping
• Brazil’s policies have actually increased deforestation, which has hurt conservation initiatives
• Wildlife Fund estimates that 27% of the Amazon biome will be without trees by 2030 if the current rate of deforestation continues.

Question 32

Similarities and Differences between Amazon and Chocó-Darién?

Answer 32

Differences
- Size: The Amazon is much larger, covering 6.7 million sq km, while the Chocó-Darién is 187,500 km²
- Rain: The Chocó-Darién experiences 4,000-9,000 mm of rainfall annually, almost 3 times more than the Amazon.

Similarites:
- Threats: Both face threats from deforestation and resource extraction
- Animals: Jaguar&Poison Frogs (Amazonian Poison Frog in the Amazon and Harlequin Frog in the Chocó-Darién) - (Think of Harley Quinn)