Unit Two - Ecological Organization

Question 1

Define an give an example of limiting factors

Answer 1

Factors that hold the biotic potential in check

Ex) disease is a density independent limiting factor

Question 2

Give an example of how biotic potential is balanced by limiting factors.

Answer 2

The polar bears biotic potential is balanced by limiting factors like not enough seals ice melting oxygen levels in the water disease allowing only the strong to survive and their reproduction to slow

Question 3

Define and give an example of carrying capacity

Answer 3

The number of individuals that A given environment can support
Ex) carrying capacity of a rabbit in a forest is at its maximum when there is no food left to feed the rabbits

Question 4

Define and give an example of environmental resistance

Answer 4

The sum of the limiting factors of a population

Ex) after a cold winter the robin population is dropped 10 robins

Question 5

Give an example of how biotic potential is limited by environmental resistance

Answer 5

If the biotic potential is five baby foxes per mother fox per year for environmental resistance is being reduced to three baby foxes her mother fox per year after limiting factors

Question 6

Define and give an example of population density

Answer 6

The number of organisms per given area example 10 dear per square kilometer

Question 7

Give an example of how predation can be more beneficial to the prey population then some other limiting factor

Answer 7

Bunny = prey (limiting factors: no food, predators, cold winter, disease)
Fox = predator - Feed on the week old and slow bunnies then less bunnies wanting food and being susceptible to disease
Strong survive not all

Question 8

Define an give an example of The competitive exclusion principle

Answer 8

To complete competitors cannot coexist

Ex) tansies compete against native grasses on highway

Question 9

Define an give an example of interspecific competition

Answer 9

Competition among individuals of different species

Ex) shark and whale compete for fish

Question 10

Define an give an example of intraspecific competition

Answer 10

Competition among individuals of the same species

Ex) two different polar bears competing for seal

Question 11

Define an give an example of two density independent limiting factors

Answer 11

Limiting factors that aren’t dependent on a population
Temperature
Oxygen

Question 12

Define zero population growth

Answer 12

When birth rate equals death rate

Question 13

Define an give an example of an autotroph

Answer 13

Produces its own food

Ex) tree

Question 14

Define an give an example of first order consumer

Answer 14

Eats producers; herbivores

Ex) caterpillar

Question 15

Define an give an example of a carnivore

Answer 15

Consumers that feed on other consumers; eats meat

Ex) shark

Question 16

Define an give an example of second order consumer

Answer 16

Carnivores that eat herbivores

Ex) a frog eats a bug

Question 17

Define an give an example of an omnivore

Answer 17

Eats both plants and meat

Ex) bear - fish and berries

Question 18

List and describe the three different types of ecological pyramids

Answer 18

Numbers- each tropic level has less than the previous
Energy- loss of energy between links in a food chain, chemical energy from cellular respiration is used for life functions and lost as heat
Biomass- each tropic level contains less dry organic material than the previous one

Question 19

Define nitrogen fixation

Answer 19

The changing of nitrogen gas to a usable form by Cyanobacteria and other bacteria

Question 20

Define denitrification

Answer 20

The process by which nitrogen is released from the soil by the action of denitrifying bacteria

Question 21

Define an give an example of commensalism

Answer 21

A relationship in which one organism benefits from a host without aiding or harming the house
Ex) shark and fish that benefit from sharks waste

Question 22

Define an give an example of mutualism

Answer 22

The interaction in which two organisms depend on and benefit from each other
Ex) bee pollinates a flower

Question 23

Define an give an example of parasitism

Answer 23

A relationship between organisms in which one organism the parasite is completely dependent at some point in its lifecycle on the host which is usually harmed
Ex) mosquito and human

Question 24

Compare and contrast the terms latitudinal succession and altitudinal succession

Answer 24

Latitudinal- succession of a community from equator to poles
Altitudinal- succession of a community from low to high altitudes
Difference- altitude is equator to pole is the same the parallel each other in changes

Question 25

Define an give an example of estivation

Answer 25

A period of inactivity and low metabolism similar to hibernation but occurring in hot weather
Ex) snake in desert

Question 26

What is the difference between primary succession and secondary succession

Answer 26

Primary- begins on bare rock, 1st stage

Secondary- occurs in an area where previously there was a community

Question 27

List three characteristics of a temperate forest

Answer 27

Hundred centimeters per year of rainfall
vertical stratification
deciduous trees

Question 28

List three characteristics of a tropical rain forest

Answer 28

Equateral regions 
heavy rainfall 
Constant warm temperatures 
dense growth of different trees 
no dominant tree species 
not suitable for farming soil

Question 29

List three characteristics of a grassland

Answer 29

Characterized by grasses
between 25 cm and 75 cm of rainfall per year
perennial grasses replaced by annual
little organic material for decay and decomposition

Question 30

List three characteristics of a desert

Answer 30

Less than 25 cm of rain per year
widely spaced plants
plants and animals adapted to temperature extremes
estivation to endure extreme temperatures

Question 31

List define and give an example of the three different major classifications of organisms that live in the ocean

Answer 31

Benthos- Bottom dwellers - clam, starfish
Nekton- freely moving through water animals- fish, shark
Plankton- float in water- zooplankton + phytoplankton

Question 32

List and define the three different zones of the ocean

Answer 32

Littoral- area closest to shore
Neretic- alone continental shelf where slopes to become deeper
Abyssal- deepest part of the ocean

Question 33

Define biosphere

Answer 33

The atmosphere and hydrosphere be surface of the earth occupied by living things

Question 34

Define pest

Answer 34

Organisms that destroy a damage man made products, crops, forests, and livestock

Question 35

Define biodegradable

Answer 35

Can be chemically broken down and thus be recycled through a community

Question 36

Define nonbiodegradable

Answer 36

Cannot be chemically broken down into harmless in active compounds

Question 37

Define pollutant

Answer 37

Pesticides and other chemicals; Factor that damages or make the environment unclean

Question 38

Define inversion

Answer 38

A layer of air trapped close to the ground; concentration of pollutants increase

Question 39

Define greenhouse effect

Answer 39

Warming of the earth

Question 40

What is acid rain?

Answer 40

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide combine with water and/or oxygen to form acids in rain with a pH of 5.6 or lower

Question 41

List two ways acid rain has a negative impact on the environment

Answer 41

Accelerates the leeching of nutrients of soil

Damages plant tissues and interferes with photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation

Question 42

Define eutrophication

Answer 42

Water pollutants play a role in aging and death of a lake

Question 43

Define crop rotation

Answer 43

When a farmer alternates crops

A soil depleting crop and soil enriching plant is alternated

Question 44

Distinguish between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion

Answer 44

Nuclear fission- in one type of nuclear reactor radio active isotopes of uranium are split apart
Nuclear fusion- reaction in which small atoms collide to form larger ones

Question 45

List and describe three of the alternative solutions to pest control

Answer 45

Biological control- use of organisms to keep pest population in check
Autocidal control- sterilizing mail insects by radiation
Hormones- alter the development pattern of some insects
Pheromone- used as bait in a trap to interfere with finding mates
Genetic- used in production of pest resistant crops
Cultural control- breeding, planting, and harvesting crops in a way to reduce pests
Integrated pest control- uses chemical pesticides, biological and cultural control to control pests

Question 46

Define an give an example of biotic potential.

Answer 46

The highest rate of reproduction under ideal conditions
Ex) under ideal conditions (lots of wheat, ideal temperature, no predators, no disease) the mouse population would be 10 mice/square kilometer