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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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How is ecology defined?
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how organisms act with and in the natural world |
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Who coined the term “ecology”?
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Ernst haeckel |
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How is ecological system defined?
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regularly interacting biological enteties forming a unified whole that functions in ecological context |
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Why do scientists and conservation managers need to know how ecological systems function?
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information flows in both directions |
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How is the field of ecology distinct from the fields of environmental science and conservation ecology?
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ecological concepts are applied to solve environmental problems |
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What are the five levels of ecological systems?
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organism, populations, communities, ecosystems, biosphere
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What is the smallest unit of ecology?
Why are organs, cells, etc. not units of ecology? Describe how organisms modify their environments. |
organism
no separate life in environment exchange of energy nutrient and wastes |
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What is the organism approach?
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form physiology and behavior allow to survive and reproduce |
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What is a population?
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many organism of same kind living together
-births and deaths of new individuals |
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What is the population approach?
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# indidvdiuals
sex ratio |
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What is a community?
What is the community approach? |
many populations of different species living in same place
diversity and abundances of different organisms in same place, focus on interactions that promote and limit species |
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How is ecosystem defined?
What is the ecosystem approach? |
assemblages of organism together with physical and chemical environment
-ogganism and activites and every/chemical elements |
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What is the biosphere approach?
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studies air and water move over earths surface
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Why is an understanding of evolutionary relationships important to the field of ecology?
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-foot print of evolution, |
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What is a fundamental ecological niche?
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where one species specializes and thrives |
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What is a habitat? How are habitats distinguished from one another?
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-place of physical setting in which organism lives
-niche is functional role |
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How is an organism’s habitat different from its niche?
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niche is funtional role |
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What are herbivores?
What are predators? What are decomposers? What are photosynthetic organisms? |
plant eaters carnivores fungi plants |
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Describe how increases and decreases in sea otter population numbers influence sea urchin and kelp.
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sea otters eat sea urchins. sea urchins are kelp and kelp protects fish larva. |
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How did killer whales influence the sea otter/sea urchin/kelp interactions in Alaska? |
killer whales eating sea otters destroys kelp forests because sea otters can eat urchins |
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How did humans influence the food web in Lake Victoria?
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Nile perch wiped out native species, then nile perch population collapsed because no food |
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Why is energy important to organisms, populations, and food webs?
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only exist by gathering energy, system needs constant source of energy |
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How does the movement of water, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen differ from the movement of energy through food webs?
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they are recycled |
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What is the definition of scale? Why is the correct scale of measurement important to scientific studies?
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dimension in time or space over which variation is perceived
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What is temporal variation?
Describe examples of events that are predictable and unpredictable in time. |
environmental changes.... hours or years -seasons changing are predictable -drought is unpredictable |
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How is the plant called green ice adapted to an unpredictable event?
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adapted to random fires |
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What is spatial variation?
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difference in environment from place to place -animals or soil |
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Describe how spatial and temporal processes are correlated.
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speciation requires long time and large amounts of space |
