Chapter 3
What is ecology?
The study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment.
How does the greenhouse effect influence Earth's temperature?
Greenhouse gases trap heat, maintaining a habitable climate.
What factors determine biomes?
Climate, temperature, precipitation, and soil type.
What influences population growth?
Birth Rate, death rate, immigration, and emigration.
How does human activity impact ecosystems?
Urbanization, deforestation, habitat fragmentation reduce biodiversity and disrupt ecosystems.
What are biotic and abiotic factors?
Biotic factors are living components; abiotic factors are nonliving physical and chemical elements.
Why do climate zones vary?
Due to latitude, Earth's tilt, and the distribution of heat by winds and ocean currents.
What is exponential growth?
Rapid increase in population under ideal conditions, forming a J Shaped curve.
What is sustainable resource use?
Using resources at a rate that allows natural regeneration and minimizes environmental impact.
What roles do producers and consumers play?
Producers (autotrophs) make their own food; consumers (heterotrophs) consume other organisms.
What is a niche?
The role and resource use of a species in an ecosystem.
What are density dependent and density independent factors?
Density Dependent factors (competition, predation, disease) influence large populations; density independent (natural disasters) affect populations regardless of size.
Why is biodiversity important?
It maintains ecosystem stability, resilience, and provides resources for humans.
How does energy flow in ecosystems?
Energy flows unidirectionally from producers to consumers through trophic levels, forming energy pyramids.
What is the competitive exclusion principle?
No two species can occupy the same niche indefinitely; one will outcompete the other.
What is carrying capacity?
The maximum population size an environment can sustain.
How do conservation efforts help?
Protected areas preserve species and habitats, ensuring long term biodiversity.
What are biogeochemical cycles?
Cycles like water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus that recycle matter through the environment.
Name some symbiotic relationships.
Mutualism (both benefits), parasitism (one benefit, one harmed), commensalism (one benefit, other unaffected).