Ecosystems
Give a specific example of a population
Examples may include:
A pack of dogs;
A gaggle of geese;
A flock of sheep;
A herd of horses
Define autotroph and heterotroph.
An autotroph is an organism that produces its own food (usually from sunlight).
A heterotroph is an organism that relies on other organisms for food (it must physically ingest food).
Community changes in which new populations or organisms gradually replace existing ones because of natural or human disturbance
The living portion of the water cycle in which water is returned to the atmosphere from plants.
What is transpiration.
A specific role that a species plays within an ecosystem, including how they affect other organisms.
What is a niche.
This term is used to describe all of the populations within an ecosystem.
What is a community
What type of organisms are at every level of an energy web?
What are Decomposers
Community that has reached relative stability
Climax community
Due to the burning of fossil fuels, this gas is released into the atmosphere.
What is carbon dioxide (CO2)
A symbiotic relationship in which one species is helped, and the other species is neither helped nor harmed.
What is commensalism.
The portion of the Earth that can sustain life!
Come up with a food chain that consists of four trophic levels.
Then, describe each level, beginning with “producer”.
Producer
Primary consumer
Secondary consumer
Tertiary Consumer
first organisms to colonize an area; gradually replaced by members of the climax community
Pioneer species
Bacteria are extremely important in which two cycles: nitrogen, carbon, water and oxygen.
What are nitrogen and carbon
A species that has been introduced to a new ecosystem, most likely by humans, and can cause disruption in the ecological balance.
What is an invasive species.
Define “ecosystem”.
An ecological system consisting of the community and physical factors.
Define AND describe an energy pyramid.
An energy pyramid is a pyramid that reflects the amount of energy in the trophic levels.
It depicts the “10 percent law”, which states that 10% of energy from one trophic level is passed on to the next.
Lichens are an example of a climax community organism - True or False
False - they are a pioneer species
Name one way that Carbon returns to the water or air in the carbon cycle.
Name one: respiration, combustion, erosion
The symbiotic relationship shared among bees and flowers.
What is mutualism
Name and describe one process that forms ecosystems.
Two possible answers:
Primary Succession
(first growth)
-or-
Secondary Succession
(re-growth)
What is biomass and at which trophic level would you find the most biomass
...and...
Why?!?!
Biomass is the dry weight of organic matter (living tissue) in an ecosystem.
Most of the biomass is found within the 1st trophic level (the producers), because you need a lot of them to feed higher level carnivores!
_________ succession happens after a catastrophic event such as a glacier scraping to bare rock or a volcanic eruption covering the area in ash.
What is Primary
converting gaseous nitrogen in atmosphere into usable forms
Nitrogen Fixation
Back and forth evolutionary adjustments that can be used to explain the amazing symbiotic relationships we see today is known as this.
What is coevolution.