Ecology 1
An organism that eats meat only.
What is a carnivore?
An organism that uses sunlight to create its food
What is a producer
An animal that feeds mainly on plants; plant-eater
What is a herbivore?
If a species is removed from a food web, which organisms will it immediately affect?
What are the organisms directly connected to it?
Define biodiversity.
The number and variety of organisms in a given area.
The ecosystem service provided by bees, hummingbirds, and insects.
What is pollination?
Name four main parts of the water cycle.
An organism that eats something else for food.
What is a consumer?
An area that is well suited for an organism to live.
What is a habitat?
Plants use this process to turn light into chemical energy
What is photosynthesis?
A diagram that shows the interactions of different food chains in an ecosystem.
What is a food web?
A method of measuring biodiversity that is often used in coral reefs.
What is transect sampling?
Biotic: birth rates, diseases, predation, competition, food supply, human impacts...
Abiotic: heat, sunlight, water, space, shelter, weather...
What are the two main processes in the carbon cycle and what organisms are they performed by?
Cellular respiration (animals) and photosynthesis (plants).
When animals fight for food, water, territory, and mates.
What is competition?
An relationship between two species where one benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefitted.
What is commensalism?
The study of interactions between organisms and their environment.
What is ecology?
The name of the organisms at the top level of a food web.
What an apex predator?
What are fogging, transect sampling, quadrant sampling, netting.
What information do we get from our ecological footprint? What is a factor we can change?
Our impact on the sustainability of our planet...
Define and provide an example of mutualism.
A symbiotic relationship where both organisms benefit.
(crocodile & bird, barnacle and whale)
The living and nonliving things and the ways they interact in an environment.
What is an ecosystem?
What is the proper chain from species to the biosphere?
Species -> populations -> communities -> ecosystems -> biomes -> biosphere
The rocky core and non-living surface of the Earth.
What is the lithosphere (geosphere)?
What is 10%?
The name for a geological area with a very high level of biodiversity.
What is a hotspot?
The phosphorus cycle can lead to eutrophication. What does that mean?
Causes algae to form at the surface of the water and ends up killing the plants below as they no longer have access to sunlight they need to produce their own food.
What are the three main processes in the nitrogen cycle and which organism is responsible for these?
What are denitification, nitrification, and nitrogen fixation.
An association between two different species where one benefits, and the other is harmed....
What is Parasitism?
The role that an organism plays in the ecosystem is called...
What is a niche?
A species that may be low in numbers but is absolutely essential to the ecosystem.
What is a keystone species?
If 2000 calories (energy) are available to the first trophic level, how many are available to the third trophic level?
What is 20 calories?
Why is biodiversity within ecosystems important for us as humans?
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are complimentary processes. What is the word equation for photosynthesis?
Light energy + water + carbon dioxide -> glucose + oxygen
Biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere (geosphere), cryosphere