Bio Exam! Chapters 3, 4.2, 4.4

Front 1

Describe what ecology is

Back 1

The scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their physical environment.

Front 2

Population

Back 2

A group of that is the same species and live in the same area.

Front 3

Community

Back 3

Different populations that live together in a defined area.

Front 4

Ecosystem

Back 4

All the organisms (different animals) that live in a place, together with the physical environment

Front 5

Biome

Back 5

A group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms.

Front 6

Explain how biotic and abiotic factors influence an ecosystem.

Back 6

The biotic influences all LIVING things. The abiotic influences all of the NONLIVING parts of the ecosystem.

Front 7

Describe the methods used to study ecology

Back 7

Observation - making an observation about something in an environment.
Experimentation - Test hypotheses made from observation.
Modeling - Ecologists make models of things that are too big, or take to long to watch actually happen.

Front 8

Primary producer

Back 8

The first producers of energy-rich compounds that are later used by other organisms. (supply energy)

Front 9

Autotrophs

Back 9

Organisms that feed themselves, also primary producers because of the energy stored in them.

Front 10

Heterotroph

Back 10

Organisms that cannot make energy for themselves, also called consumers.

Front 11

Trace the flow of energy through an ecosystem.

Back 11

The flow of energy goes one way through a system.

Front 12

Photosynthesis

Back 12

What many primary producers do to make energy, captures sunlight and combines it with water and carbon dioxide to form carbs and oxygen (energy)

Front 13

Carnivores

Back 13

Kill and eat other animals (meat eaters)

Front 14

Scavengers

Back 14

Consume the carcasses of other animals that are killed by predators, basically eats the left-overs.

Front 15

Decomposers

Back 15

"feed" by chemically breaking down organic matter (dead animals). They turn it in to detritus.

Front 16

Herbivores

Back 16

Eat plants (vegetarian)

Front 17

Omnivores

Back 17

Eats a variety of different food including meat and plants (humans).

Front 18

Detritivores

Back 18

Feed on the detritus particles made by the decomposers.

Front 19

Food Chain

Back 19

A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten.

Front 20

Food web

Back 20

The network of actions (eating each other) between all of the animals.

Front 21

Identify three types of ecological pyramids

Back 21

Pyramids of energy (show how much there is at each trophic level),
pyramids of biomass (show the amount of matter available at each trophic level), and pyramid of numbers (show the amount of organisms)

Front 22

Describe how matter cycles among the living and non-living parts of an ecosystem.

Back 22

Unlike the one way flow of energy, matter is decomposed and recycled within an ecosystem.

Front 23

Trophic level

Back 23

Each step in a food chain or a food web.

Front 24

Biomass

Back 24

The total amount of living tissue within a trophic level.

Front 25

Describe how water, nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycle through the biosphere.

Back 25

see chapter 3.4 pg 79

Front 26

Describe how the availability of nutrients affects the productivity of ecosystems.

Back 26

If there is good sunlight and a good amount of water, the primary productivity of an ecosystem may be limited by the availability of nutrients. So if one is missing, it could hold up a lot of productivity.

Front 27

Nitrogen fixation

Back 27

When nitrogen gas is turned into ammonia by bacteria in the soil for primary producers to create proteins.

Front 28

Denitrification

Back 28

When the nitrate, or nitrite in the soil is converted back into nitrogen gas.

Front 29

What is the difference between weather and climate?

Back 29

Weather is day-to-day and climate is based on yearly patterns.

Front 30

Tolerance

Back 30

Every species has a range of circumstances in the environment they can survive in.

Front 31

What factors influence climate?

Back 31

Solar energy trapped in the biosphere, latitude, and the transport of heat by winds and ocean currents.

Front 32

Habitat

Back 32

The general place where an organism lives.

Front 33

Niche

Back 33

The range of physical and biological conditions in which a species lives and the way the species obtains what it needs to survive and reproduce.

Front 34

How does competition shape communities?

Back 34

By causing species to divide resources, competition helps determine the number and kinds of species in a community and which niche each species occupies.

Front 35

Competitive exclusion principle

Back 35

States that no to species can occupy the same niche at the same time in the same habitat.

Front 36

Describe the role predation and herbivory play in shaping communities.

Back 36

Predators affect the size of the prey populations in a community and determine the places prey can live and feed.
Herbivores affect the size and distribution of plant populations and determine the places plants can grow.

Front 37

Resource

Back 37

Any necessity of life (water, food, shelter, light)

Front 38

Predation

Back 38

One animal feeds on another animal, (predator prey)

Front 39

Keystone species

Back 39

A change in the population of a single species.

Front 40

Herbivory

Back 40

When one animal feeds on producers (plants)

Front 41

The three symbiotic relationships

Back 41

Mutualism - Relationship between two organisms when both benefit.
Commensalism - Relationship when one organism benefits but the other is not harmed.
Parasitism - Relationship when one organism has a host for another one and harms it. (parasite)

Front 42

Symbiosis

Back 42

Any relationship when two species live closely together.

Front 43

Describe and compare the characteristics of the major land biomes.

Back 43

look at other study guide