Unit 2- Principles of Ecology

Question 1

population density

Answer 1

total number of individuals living in a specific area

Question 2

immigration

Answer 2

organisms that move into a population

Question 3

emigration

Answer 3

organisms that move out of a population

Question 4

mortality

Answer 4

death rate

Question 5

natality

Answer 5

birth rate

Question 6

exponential growth

Answer 6

amount of time it takes for population to double in size

Question 7

R- selected species

Answer 7

many babies for survival, little parent care (insects, plants)

Question 8

K - selected species

Answer 8

few babies, parental care (humans, large animals)

Question 9

Biotic potential

Answer 9

the rate which a population could grow if nothing was holding it back (no limits)

Question 10

carrying capacity

Answer 10

maximum number of individuals of a population that a environment can sustain (has limits)

Question 11

density dependent control

Answer 11

factors that come into effect with population size (populations grow to capacity but are also dependent on outside factors)

Question 12

ecology

Answer 12

scientific study of interactions among organisms and their environments

Question 13

biosphere

Answer 13

portion of earth that supports life

Question 14

abiotic

Answer 14

non-living parts (air, water, soil)

Question 15

biotic

Answer 15

living parts (people, plants, animals)

Question 16

levels of organization in ecology

Answer 16

1) Organism
2) population
3) community
4) ecosystems
5) biosphere

Question 17

organism

Answer 17

an individual

Question 18

population

Answer 18

group of organisms of one species in the same place

Question 19

community

Answer 19

groups of populations that interact

Question 20

ecosystems

Answer 20

communities & surrounding abiotic things (terrestrial-land, aquatic-bodies of water)

Question 21

biosphere

Answer 21

all ecosystems

Question 22

habitat

Answer 22

living place of organisms

Question 23

niche

Answer 23

role “job” species plays in it’s environment (food, shelter, survival, reproduction)

Question 24

symbiosis

Answer 24

living together

Question 25

commensalism

Answer 25

one benefits, one gets nothing (ex: elephant & birds walking) q

Question 26

multulism

Answer 26

both things benefit (ex: alligator & bird teeth cleaning)

Question 27

parasitism

Answer 27

one lives off the other, but doesn't kill it (ex: tick on a dog)

Question 28

competition

Answer 28

between two or more species for a resource (food, other mates, ect.)

Question 29

predator

Answer 29

animal or organism that hunts & kills prey for food

Question 30

autotrophs

Answer 30

use energy from the sun or chemical component to make food

Question 31

producers

Answer 31

organisms that make food in a community

Question 32

types of consumers

Answer 32

1. heterotrophs 2. scavengers 3. decomposers

Question 33

heterotrophs

Answer 33

can not make food, must feed on other organisms

Question 34

scavengers

Answer 34

eat on animals that have already died

Question 35

decomposers

Answer 35

break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms (recyclers)

Question 36

primary consumer

Answer 36

animals that eat only plants

Question 37

secondary consumer

Answer 37

animals that eat other animals

Question 38

carnivore

Answer 38

only eats animals

Question 39

herbivore

Answer 39

only eats plants

Question 40

omnivore

Answer 40

eats both animals and plants

Question 41

food chains

Answer 41

simple model to show how matter and energy move through an ecosystem

Question 42

example of a food chain

Answer 42

plant --> insect --> frog --> snake

Question 43

trophic levels

Answer 43

each organism in a food chain represents a feeding step in the passage of energy

Question 44

5 trophic levels

Answer 44

1. producers 2. primary consumers (herbivores) 3. secondary consumer (omnivores/carnivores) 4 & 5. top (carnivores

Question 45

ecological pyramids

Answer 45

diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy in different trophic levels

Question 46

food webs

Answer 46

model that shows all possible feeding relationships at each trophic level in a community

Question 47

water cycle

Answer 47

1. precipitation (rain, snow) 2. evaporation (liquid to gaseous water) 3. transpiration (evaporation from plants) 4. condensation (gaseous water to liquid)

Question 48

carbon cycle

Answer 48

1. photosynthesis (how carbon gets from abiotic to biotic) 2. respiration (how carbon gets from biotic to abiotic) (reverse of photosynthesis)

Question 49

nitrogen cycle

Answer 49

(getting nitrogen into the soil) 1. lightning strikes 2. bacteria (through plants) 3. man-made (spraying fields with nitrogen) (rotating growing crops, ex: corn takes nitrogen out, beans bring nitrogen back)

Question 50

phosphorus cycle

Answer 50

1. short term (organisms dying) 2. long term (rocks slowly decaying)