Zoo BI 1

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

The study of the living world— interactions between living (animals, plants) and nonliving (earth, air, sun water) components in the environment.

Question 2

Environment

Answer 2

An animal’s environment is everything in its surroundings. The environment is made up of living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components.

Question 3

Biotic

Answer 3

Refers to the living parts of an environment such as plants and animals.

Question 4

Abiotic

Answer 4

Refers to the components of an environment that are non-living which include air, water, rocks and minerals, and sunlight.

Question 5

Ecosystem

Answer 5

A community of living organisms and their environment working together and in a natural balance.

Question 6

Clarify the difference between an ecosystem and an environment

Answer 6

An ecosystem includes the interactions between the environment and the organisms that dwell within it. The term environment does not include these relationships.

Question 7

Habitat

Answer 7

The specific environment in which any given organism or any given population lives. A habitat contains everything that an animal needs to survive, including air, food, water, shelter, sun, space and other animals of its own kind so that it can reproduce.

Question 8

Biome

Answer 8

[Large, naturally occurring, major habitat defined by its climate and dominant vegetation.]
The climate is mainly determined by the temperature and rainfall.
Each biome consists of many ecosystems whose communities have adapted to the small differences in climate and the environment inside the biome.
A biome supports a characteristic populations of fauna, which are adapted to that particular environment.

Question 9

Name the 5 principle biomes

Answer 9

Aquatic, desert, forest, grassland, tundra

Question 10

Aquatic biome

Answer 10

Freshwater habitats (ponds, lakes, streams, wetlands) as well as marine habitats (ocean, coastal waters, estuaries, coral reefs).

Question 11

Desert biome

Answer 11

Areas where rainfall is less than 10 inches/year. Desert habitat types include hot and dry, semiarid, coastal, and cold. (i.e. Antarctica is a desert biome because if its low rainfall)

Question 12

Forest biome

Answer 12

Areas that are dominated by trees and other woody vegetation.

Question 13

Grassland biome

Answer 13

Habitats dominated by grasses (not trees and shrubs). Grasslands include tropical savannas and temperate grasslands (prairies).

Question 14

Tundra biome

Answer 14

Cold habitats with low biotic diversity and simple vegetation structure.

Question 15

Which biomes have the fewest species?

Answer 15

The tundra and desert biomes occupy the most extreme environments, with little or no moisture and extremes of temperature. These two biomes have the fewest numbers of species due to the stringent environmental conditions.

Question 16

Which factors determine whether an organism can live in a specific biome?

Answer 16

Climate (temperature, rainfall, light, and altitude), available food sources, available plant life (provides food and shelter), other species it interacts with and predators (presence or absence of).

Question 17

Niche

Answer 17

The ecological role and space that an organism fills in an ecosystem. An animal’s niche includes its usage of resources, its unique way of life and its relationship to other biotic and abiotic factors.

Question 18

Name some specific components of an organism’s niche

Answer 18

Where it lives, when it is active, what it eats, predators.

Question 19

Give an example of a niche

Answer 19

The niche of a two-toed sloth:
-Lives in tropical and cloud forests of Central and South America
-Herbivorous
-Nocturnal
-Lives in the understory and canopy of rainforest trees.
-Primarily eats leaves, but also can eat berries, nuts, fruits, bark.
-Predators include big forest cats (jaguars, ocelots), harpy eagles, large snakes (anacondas)

Question 20

Name a way species avoid competition (by occupying different niches)

Answer 20

Hunt or forage for food at different times of the day. Those who forage at night are nocturnal. Those who hunt during the day are diurnal and those who hunt during the twilight (either dawn or dusk) hours are considered crepuscular.

Question 21

Name (and correctly spell) three terms describing the time of day when an animal is active

Answer 21

Those who are active at night are nocturnal. Those who are active during the day are diurnal and those who are active during the twilight (either dawn or dusk) hours are considered crepuscular.

Question 22

Photosynthesis

Answer 22

A process used by plants to convert light energy from the sun into chemical energy that can be later released to fuel the plant’s activities.
-The sun’s energy is captured by chlorophyll in the plant’s leaves. This energy fuels a chemical reaction with carbon dioxide and water to produce glucose, the main fuel that powers life. Oxygen is a by-product of this reaction and is released into the air.

Question 23

What is the ultimate source of energy and organic material for animals?

Answer 23

Plants (via photosynthesis)

Question 24

Describe plant respiration

Answer 24

Plants must breathe just as animals do; they take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. Their photosynthetic activity is however greater than their respiratory activity resulting in an increase in atmospheric oxygen levels.

Question 25

Producers vs consumers

Answer 25

Producer: organisms in an ecosystem that produce biomass from inorganic compounds; plants.
Consumer: organisms of a food chain that receive energy by consuming other organisms.
Through photosynthesis, plants make their own nutrients; they are producers. Anything that eats a plant (or another consumer) is considered a consumer.

Question 26

Interdependence

Answer 26

The idea that everything in nature is connected to everything else; what happens to one plant or animal also affects other plants and animals.

Question 27

Food chain

Answer 27

The linear sequence of who eats whom in an ecosystem to obtain nutrition.

Question 28

Example of interdependence

Answer 28

A food chain.

Question 29

List & describe the main parts of a food chain

Answer 29

Producer - make their own energy via photosynthesis (plants) OR chemosynthesis (e.g., bacteria at the bottom of the ocean; hydrogen sulfide + methane -> glucose)
Consumers - get energy from the food they eat; they survive by eating a producer, or another consumer that ate a producer, gaining the chemical energy from the original process of the producer
-Primary consumer - Herbivores. Eats plants.
-Secondary/tertiary consumer - Eats a primary(/secondary?) consumer and is a carnivore.
-Decomposer - Break down dead plant and animal matter at any level and help recycle nutrients back into the soil so that they can be used again. In this way nutrients are cycled through the food chain.

Question 30

Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore

Answer 30

Herbivore: an animal that gets its energy from eating plants, and only plants.
Carnivore: an animal that gets its energy from eating other animals
Omnivore: Eats both meat and vegetation.

Question 31

Nutrients (and examples in humans)

Answer 31

Inorganic compounds providing nourishment for living things.
Examples:
-phosphorous, which is in your teeth, bones, and cellular membranes.
-nitrogen, which is part of your amino acids, the building blocks of protein and the iron in your blood.

Question 32

Food web

Answer 32

A food web shows the more complex feeding connections/relationships present in an ecosystem. Several food chains put together.

Question 33

What is one reason it’s important to understand the interrelationships between organisms and their environment?

Answer 33

Helps us understand how best to protect ecosystems

Question 34

Adaptation

Answer 34

Special characteristics or features (evolved over time) which allow a species to be successful in their habitat.

Question 35

Kinds of adaptations

Answer 35

There are both physical and behavioral adaptations.

Question 36

Examples of adaptations

Answer 36

-Camouflage - an external physical characteristic. Blend into environment and avoid detection. A dry, savanna animal will be tan or brown, a wet, rainforest animal will be glossy green, and so forth.
-Coloring with physiological benefit - lighter colors reflect more of the sun’s radiation than a darker one and thus helps them to remain cool.
-Seeking shade resting in the hottest part of the day - (e.g., kangaroo) a behavioral adaptation

Question 37

Who developed the modern classification system for organisms? When? Describe the system.

Answer 37

-Carl Linnaeus in the 18th Century put forth a hierarchical classification system giving unique names to every plant and animal both extinct and extant.
-Linnaeus proposed a binomial nomenclature which turned out to be an important turning point in how we give formal names to organisms.

Question 38

Benefits of the taxonomy?

Answer 38

-By using a universal two part (binomial) name unique to each organism, confusion could be eliminated. The scientific names that Linnaeus proposed allowed scientists from across the world to discuss the same animal (or plant) that might be called by different common names in each region they existed.
-Provided a way for studying the relationships between these organisms (both extinct and extant).

Question 39

Binomial nomenclature

Answer 39

A formal system of naming species by giving each a name composed of two parts; one indicating the genus and one indicating the species. Each binomial name is unique to a specific species.

Question 40

What are the levels of the (current) taxonomy of organisms?

Answer 40

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

Question 41

Name (and correctly spell) some kingdoms

Answer 41

Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, Archaebacteria, Eubacteria

Question 42

What are the two different terms for the taxonomic level below Kingdom?

Answer 42

Phylum and Division (traditionally in botany the term Division is used in plant and fungi classification and is equivalent to the rank of phylum)

Question 43

Define species

Answer 43

An individual belonging to a group of organisms having common characteristics and are capable of mating with one another to produce fertile offspring.

Question 44

Can subspecies interbreed?

Answer 44

Sometimes, but some may produce sterile offspring

Question 45

Describe a species’ scientific name

Answer 45

Combines its genus and species. Both names are italicized or underlined. The genus is always capitalized. The species is never capitalized.

Question 46

What are humans’ scientific name

Answer 46

Homo sapiens. (H. sapiens)