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53 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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species
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a group of similar organisms that can breed in nature and produce fertile offspring.
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population
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a group of organisms of the same species living in a certain area.
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community
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a group of different populations living in the same area.
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ecosystem
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a collection of all the organisms living in a certain area along with their nonliving surroundings.
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biome
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a group of ecosystem with same climate and dominant life forms
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biosphere
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the total world of life that extends into the atmosphere and the depths of the ocean.
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Methods of Ecological Study
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Observing, Experiments, Modeling
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Observing
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asking ecological questions
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Experiments
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testing hypotheses
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Modeling
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help us to gain insight into complex phenomena that occur over a long time period or on a large scale.
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Feeding relationships
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the major strands in the web of life.
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Plants
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use sunlight to make food.
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the Web of Life
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where organisms interact with one another
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ecology
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The study of the living and nonliving parts of an environment and how they affect organisms
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Nonliving components of the environment
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such as temperature and light affect the growth of organisms.
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autotrophs
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Organisms that can capture energy from sunlight or inorganic chemicals are
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Autotrophs are sometimes called producers because
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they can make their own food
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Most autotrophs use light energy in the process of
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photosynthesis
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Some autotrophs use chemicals in the process of
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chemosynthesis
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an example of a chemosynthetic autotroph.They live in deep sea vents or in hot springs.
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Bacteria
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plants and algae.
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examples of autotrophs using photosynthesis
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Heterotrophs
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sometimes called consumers cannot make their own food
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Heterotrophs can be
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herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, or decomposers
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Herbivores
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are organisms that eat only plants.
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Examples of Herbivores
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rabbits, girafes, cows, koala bears, goats, elephants, lambs, panda bears, deer, llamas, ect
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Carnivores
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are [organisms that eat meat.] that eat other animals
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examples of carnivores
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eagles, cheetahs, tigers, lions, sharks, jaguars, dogs, ect
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Omnivores
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are organisms that eat both plants and animals.
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examples of omnivores
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bears, turtles, humans, crows, ect
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Detritivores
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are organisms that obtain their energy from the wastes and dead bodies of other organisms.
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Examples of detritivores
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vultures, crabs, and earthworms
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decomposers
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Consumers that break down the dead bodies of plants and animals are
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decomposers
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recycle materials in a community.
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food chain
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The passage of energy through animals eating
plants or other animals |
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Food contains
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chemical energy that is essential to lifefunctions. Energy is used for movement,
growth and reproduction. |
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food web
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The complex network of feeding relationships in a community
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trophic level
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Each step in a food chain or food web
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Photosynthesis
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the basis for almost all the food energy in the world.
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Plants use light energy
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to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars that are rich in chemical energy.
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in an ecosystem.
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Energy flows in one direction
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Energy flows from
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the sun or inorganic chemicals to autotrophs to heterotrophs.
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Ecological pyramids represent
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the transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next.
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3 kinds of ecological pyramids
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pyramid of numbers, energy pyramid, and biomass pyramid
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The pyramid of numbers is a
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graphical representation of the number of individuals at each trophic level.
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The number of individuals decreases at
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higher trophic levels, but not always
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Only 10% of the energy at one trophic level is
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transferred to the next trophic level
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The conversion of chemical energy to
the energy used by living organisms is not efficient. Much of the energy is converted to heat. |
true
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Most terrestrial ecosystems allow for only
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three or four trophic levels because too much energy is lost at each trophic level
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biomass
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Too much energy is lost at each trophic level
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Biomass is measured in
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grams
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Biomass decreases as it moves to a
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higher trophic level
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Biogeochemical Cycles
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The paths by which water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus pass from the nonliving environment to living organisms and back to the nonliving environment.
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recycled
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Unlike the one way flow of energy in an ecosystem, matter is
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