Abiotic vs. Biotic
Give one example of an abiotic factor.
Sunlight, temperature, wind, soil, or water
What is ecology?
The study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment.
What are the three basic parts of any food chain?
Producers, consumers, decomposers
Name two ways to describe a population
Range
Spatial Pattern
Size (N)
Density
Demography
How can you calculate population size?
Random quadrat sampling, transects, capture-release studies
What is the difference between biotic and abiotic factors?
Biotic = living (organisms)
Abiotic = non-living (environmental conditions)
What is the difference between climate and weather?
Climate = long-term patterns
Weather = short-term conditions
What does an herbivore eat?
Producers/plants
What kind of spatial pattern would be seen in a school of fish?
Clumped or aggregated
The population is growing
Which abiotic factor is most responsible for the seasons?
The tilt of Earth’s axis
What kind of ecology focuses on interactions between species or populations?
HINT: Not Population Ecology
Community Ecology
What is an apex predator?
he top predator in a food chain with no natural predators.
What is a metapopulation?
Group of populations that are connected through migration
What kind of survivorship curve would you expect to see in a salmon?
Type 3
How can wind influence an ecosystem?
It can affect seed dispersal, temperature, and evaporation rates
How does Earth’s tilt contribute to the creation of seasons?
Because of the tilt, different parts of the planet receive varying amounts of solar energy throughout the year as Earth orbits the Sun. This gives us varying temperatures as well as light, creating seasons.
What is the role of decomposers in an ecosystem?
They break down dead organisms and recycle nutrients back into the environment
What four factors does population size depend on?
Birth, death, immigration, emmigration
Name a type of human-assisted dispersal
Invasive species, introduced species
How do mountain ranges create rain shadows?
Moist air rises and cools on one side, dropping rain; dry air descends on the other side, creating desert conditions.
How do we test ecological hypotheses? Or how do we "do ecology"?
Through observation, hypothesis formation, experimentation, data analysis, and conclusion
Why do you think food chains are typically limited to around six levels?
Because energy is lost at each trophic level, limiting how far it can go
Why do some biomes appear in multiple regions of the world despite being far apart geographically?
Because they share similar abiotic conditions like temperature and precipitation.
How do you think that we could calculate population density?
Density = Total population / total area
EX: If a city has a population of 1,000,000 people and an area of 100 square kilometers, the population density would be 1,000,000 people/100 km2 to get a population density of 10,000 people per km2