Symbiosis
Which organisms that use a nonliving source of energy:
Chicken, Banana, Wheat, Monkey
Banana, Wheat
Biotic Factor
A living part of an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, bacteria, or fungi.
What happen if a nonnative plant thrives in a plant community of native plants?
It will become established and take over native plants.
Producers use sunlight for energy.
What aquatic ecosystem experiences changes in salt concentration?
Estuaries
A bird eats ticks off a zebra’s back. The zebra gets cleaned, and the bird gets food.
Question: What kind of symbiosis is this?
Mutualism — both benefit.
Abiotic factor
A non-living part of an ecosystem, like sunlight, temperature, water, or soil.
Situation: A type of bird has lived in Georgia for thousands of years and builds nests in local pine trees.
Question: Is this bird a native, non-native, or invasive species?
Native species — it naturally occurs in the region.
In a forest, insects eat plants, and birds eat the insects.
Question: Which organism is the secondary consumer in this food chain?
Birds.
Answer: The scientists are most likely studying the tropical rainforest biome.
A tapeworm lives inside a dog’s intestines and absorbs nutrients, harming the dog.
Question: What type of symbiotic relationship is this?
Parasitism — one benefits, the other is harmed.
Limiting Factor
Any condition that restricts the growth, abundance, or distribution of an organism or population.
Cause and effect in red squirrels: Why did populations increase?
Food resource increase
Why does only about 10% of energy get passed from one trophic level to the next?
Most energy is lost as heat or used for life processes like movement and growth.
Wildflowers will receive the sunlight as sunlight was the limiting factor.
A fox hunts and eats rabbits in a forest.
Question: What kind of ecological relationship is this?
Predator-prey — the fox is the predator, and the rabbit is the prey.
Carrying capacity
The maximum number of individuals of a species that an environment can support over time.
A plant from Asia is introduced to Georgia gardens. It grows quickly but doesn’t harm other plants.
Question: What type of species is this, and is it considered invasive?
It’s a non-native species, but not invasive because it doesn’t harm the ecosystem.
Answer: Energy moves through this food chain in a one-way flow from the grass → rabbit → fox.
What are the three primary ecosystem on Earth?
Terrestrial, Freshwater, Ocean
Remora fish attach themselves to sharks and feed on leftover scraps from the shark’s meals. The shark is not harmed or helped.
Question: What type of symbiotic relationship is this?
Commensalism — the remora benefits, and the shark is unaffected.
Invasive Species
A non-native species that spreads rapidly and causes harm to the environment, economy, or human health.
Situation: A species of vine spreads rapidly across forests in Georgia, choking out native trees and reducing biodiversity.
Question: What type of species is this, and what impact does it have?
It’s an invasive species. It harms the ecosystem by outcompeting native plants and reducing biodiversity.
As human population grows, what usually happens to large predators like panthers?
Lose space and numbers fall.
Why a rainforest plant would not survive in a desert?
Not enough water and soil is not nutrient.