Basic Terminology
What is ecosystem?
A complex network that combines living organisms, a physical environment, and their relationships within a specific geographical area
What are the 4 ecological interactions?
Mutualism, Predation, Commensalism, Parasitism
How plants turn sunlight into energy? What is the term called.
Photosynthesis. When Carbon dioxide from air and water from ground combine with sunlight to create oxygen and glucose.
Where do producers get their energy from?
The sun.
What is the 10% rule?
When energy is passed in an ecosystem from one trophic level to the next leading all the way to Quaternary Consumers which have the least amount of energy
What is abiotic and biotic?
Abiotic: non-living things in the environment ex. dirt and rocks
Biotic: living things in the environment ex. animals and plants
What happens to organisms when they share parts of their niche?
When organisms share parts of their niche, they end up competing with each other for resources. Competition: When individuals or groups of organisms compete for similar resources such as territory, mates, water, and food in the same environment.
Where is photosynthesis found and what are the functions of it?
Chloroplasts.
Main functions: 1. produce food (glucose) 2. store food energy
What is the difference between food chain and food web?
A food chain outlines who eats whom, a food web is all of the food chains in an ecosystem.
Food web: shows an animal eating more than another organism
Food chain: single line (one eats another organism)
What is a trophic level and what are the 6 trophic levels and give examples.
Trophic Level: group of organisms within an ecosystem which occupy the same level in a food chain
6 levels:
Producer: grass, plants
Primary Consumers: birds, insects
Secondary Consumers: lizards
Tertiary Consumers: snakes
Quaternary: hawk
Decomposers: fungi, bacteria
What are the 4 spheres of Earth? Give definitions for each of them.
Lithosphere: The solid earth ex. rocks, mountains
Biosphere: The zone inhabited by life
Atmosphere: A mixture of gases, mostly nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O), in the air
Hydrosphere: All of Earths water
Which example describes a mutualistic
relationship between organisms?
A. Young wasps prey on caterpillars.
B. Crabs eat the remains of dead fish.
C. Ants protect a tree on which they feed.
D. Tapeworms feed on food in the intestines of cats
C. Ants protect a tree on which they feed.
What is glucose and oxygen used for?
Glucose: for plant energy and growth
Oxygen: released in the air for us to breathe
What is a herbivore, carnivore, omnivore? Give examples.
Herbivore: animal that only eats plants ex. rabbit
Carnivore: animal that only eats animals ex. lion
Omnivore: animal that eats both animals and plants ex. bear
As you go up the energy pyramid, the energy increases TRUE or FALSE?
FALSE. This is false because only about 10% of energy from one trophic level is being transferred to the next with the rest being heat loss. The 10% rule is the same for all the other trophic levels it doesn't increase or decrease.
What is an aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem?
Aquatic: an ecosystem found in and around a body of water
Terrestrial: are ecosystems that are found on land
A species of snapping turtles has a tongue that resembles a worm. The tongue is used to attract small fish. Which best describes the interaction between the fish and the snapping turtle?
Predation.
What is the purpose of cellular respiration? What cell is used to make cellular respiration?
The purpose of cellular respiration is to convert the chemical energy stored in glucose into usable energy in the form of ATP. ATP is the primary energy source for cellular processes, allowing cells to grow and get energy. The cell used to make this is the Mitochondria.
There is a food chain: grass, rabbit, fox
What would happen to the fox population if the rabbits died?
If the rabbit population died slowly, the foxes will too because their food source (the rabbits) are not alive and they won't have anyone to feed on for themselves and get energy.
Why is the quaternary consumer ending up with less energy compared to all the other trophic levels in an energy pyramid?
The quaternary consumer receives less energy because energy decreases at each trophic level in an energy pyramid. Only about 10% of the energy from one level is passed to the next, with the rest being lost as heat or used for metabolism. By the time energy reaches the quaternary consumer, very little is left, typically around 0.1%.
What is carrying capacity and limiting factor?
Carrying Capacity: the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available
Limiting Factor: a resource or environmental condition that limits the growth, distribution or abundance of an organism or population within an ecosystem.
epiphytic orchids grow high up in the canopy, attaching themselves to the branches of large, mature tropical trees such as mahogany. These orchids are not parasites—they do not draw nutrients from the tree itself. Instead, they rely on the rainwater and moisture for hydration, and they gather nutrients from the debris that falls from the forest above, including decomposed leaves, organic matter, and bird droppings. What ecological relationship is this and which one is affected, not affected or neutral.
Commensalism. Orchid is benefited and Tropical trees are not getting benefited nor harmed.
What is the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
The relationship is that the products of photosynthesis (glucose and oxygen) are the reactants for cellular respiration, while the products of cellular respiration (carbon dioxide and water) are used in photosynthesis. This cycle of energy transfer supports life by continuously converting and recycling energy and carbon.
Describe the complex interactions between organisms in an ecosystem by comparing and contrasting food chains and food webs. Explain how energy flows through these systems, the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers, and how the removal or addition of certain species can impact the stability of an ecosystem.
Energy flows through ecosystems in a one-way direction, starting with producers (like plants) that capture energy from the sun through photosynthesis. Producers provide energy to primary consumers (herbivores), which in turn are eaten by secondary consumers (carnivores). Quaternary consumers are the highest trophic level, consuming other consumers. Decomposers, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms and recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem, ensuring the flow of energy continues. Energy decreases at each trophic level with only about 10% passing from one level to the next. In food webs, multiple food chains are interconnected, offering alternative energy paths and increasing ecosystem stability. The removal of a species, especially top predators, can disrupt the food web, leading to unchecked prey populations. Adding new species can disrupt energy flow.
What would happen if the top predator was removed?
For example, the removal of wolves (top predators) led to an overpopulation of elk, which overgrazed young trees and plants. This impacted plant species that other animals relied on for food. The addition of wolves helped restore balance by controlling elk populations, allowing plant life to recover and produce more.