Ecology 101
A linear feeding relationship showing how energy moves through organisms.
What is a food chain?
Organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down dead organisms.
What are decomposers?
The variety of living organisms in an ecosystem.
What is Biodiversity?
A toxic chemical that humans use to get rid of unwanted bugs or plants
What is a pesticide/herbicide?
All of the wolves living in the same area at the same time.
What is a population?
A graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community
What is a food web?
Sunlight, temperature, rainfall, soil pH, and a rabbit.
Identify the ONE biotic factor.
What is rabbit?
The disappearance of a species from Earth forever.
What is extinction?
When habitats are broken into smaller isolated pieces.
What is habitat fragmentation?
All living and nonliving factors in a particular area.
What is Ecosystem?
This process produces carbon dioxide as "waste"
What is cellular respiration?
An organism that hunts and consumes other organisms.
What is a predator?
What is mutualism?
Using resources in a way that allows them to be available for future generations.
What is Sustainability?
A species whose impact on an ecosystem is much larger than expected based on its population size.
What is Keystone Species?
Brainworms cause a degenerative condition in moose. This often leads to their death. This is an example of this type of relationship.
What is parasitism?
Human poaching acted as this type of environmental pressure on elephant populations.
What is a Selective Pressure?
When humans use too much of a resource and it does not have a chance to replenish.
What is Overexploitation/Overhunting/Overfishing?
A kelp forest contains 100,000 kcal of energy in its producers. Approximately how much energy is available to sea otters if the food chain is:
Kelp → Sea Urchin → Sea Otter
What is 1,000 kcal?
A forest fire destroys most vegetation but leaves the soil intact. What ecological process is likely to occur next?
What is secondary succession?
This process occurs when gases in the atmosphere absorb and re-radiate heat, leading to warmer global temperatures.
What is the Greenhouse Effect?