Population and Community Ecology
What describes a biotic and an abiotic factor?
A biotic factor describes living factors in the environment while an abiotic factor describes non-living things.
Describe environmental responses.
Environmental response of organismal traits, or phenotypic plasticity, reflects the direct dependence of organisms' physiology, growth, development, and behavior on the environmental conditions they experience through their lifetimes
Which list is correct in descending classification (from largest to smallest grouping)?
kingdom, order, family, species
What would most likely happen to the food web if the amount of grass drastically decreased?
The entire food web would be affected.
What is the formula for calculating population density?
Population divided by area
A graph that represents the distinct patterns of species survival as a function of age
Survivorship curve
What is innate behavior?
Innate behavior is behavior that's genetically hardwired in an organism and can be performed in response to a cue without prior experience.
What is the advantages of an more biodiverse environment?
It increases specialization which allows them to survive events like natural disasters and invasive species
Which process is used by most producers to turn sunlight into food energy?
photosynthesis
What are the three natural factors affecting population density?
Relief, resources, climate
What is the rate at which individuals are born?
Natality
What is a learned behavior?
A learned behavior is one that an organism develops as a result of experience.
What happens when two animals occupy a similar or the same niche and they cant co-exist?
The competitive exclusion principle states that two animals that occupy the same niche cannot co-exist.
In order to support all of the organisms in an ecosystem, which should have the greatest amount of biomass?
producers
What does arable land mean?
land on which crops are able to grow
What are conditions in the environment that put limits on where an organism can live?
Limiting factors
What is the flight or fight response?
It is a reaction or response to a stimulus like a threat or a predator when an animal either reacts by fleeing or by standing its ground and fighting.
What are the main causes of biodiversity loss?
The main causes of biodiversity loss include habitat destruction, pollution and land use changes.
Maggots get their energy by breaking down dead and decaying animals. What are maggots?
decomposers
How does population density affect how people live?
Housing, land use, health, transportation
What are factors that effects on the size or growth of the population vary with the population density?
Density-dependent factors
Why do animals need to communicate
For territory, dominance, food, and reproduction.
What causes the increase in biodiversity?
An increase in vegetation and type of vegetation can lead to an increase in biodiversity.
The levels within the food chain where an organism obtains its energy.
Trophic level
Dividing the number of people in a country by its total land area.
arithmetic population density