Vocab
This is a system of classification in which different levels are ranked according to size or superiority
What is a hierarchy?
This is a group of interacting populations living in the same place at the same time
What is a community?
These organisms make form the base of every food chain
What are autotrophs/producers?
This is described as the maximum number of organisms that an environment can support
What is the carrying capacity?
This is the definition of ecology
What is 'the scientific study of the interrelationships between organisms and their non-living environments?'
This refers to the general process by which one biotic community replaces another over time
What is ecological succession?
This occurs when one group of plant communities replaces another over time, where a biotic community has existed before
What is secondary succession?
This term refers to the process by which biotic/plant communities replace each other over time, in an area of bare rock or sand
What is primary succession?
These are two factors that influence what types of plant communities can form in any location on earth
What are 1) climate, 2) weather, and 3) latitude?
This is the definition of a limiting factor
What is 'any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the growth or distribution of a population?'
Define an ecosystem engineer and give an example
What is 1) any organism that creates or modifies habitat and increases the biodiversity of an area and 2) beavers, Gopher tortoise, pollinators?
Define mutualism and give an example
What is 1) a type of symbiotic relationship where both organisms benefit and 2) humans and dogs, crocodiles and bird species, rhinos and bird species, sharks and cleaning fish, etc?
Define parasitism and provide two examples
What is 1) a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed and 2) humans and tapeworms, dogs and ticks/fleas, humans and mosquitoes, rats and fleas, etc?
These are the four criteria that organisms must meet to be considered members of the same species
What is 1) carry the same number of chromosomes, 2) carry the same genes in the same order on those chromosomes, 3) live in the same place at the same time, and 4) be able to reproduce and create a fertile offspring?
This term describes how organisms are spread through their environment
What is 'spatial distribution?'
Define 'scavengers' and provide two examples
What are 'organisms that feed on the leftovers of organisms that have already been killed; vultures, buzzards, hyenas, crows/ravens?'
List four density-independent factors that could affect populations
What are 1) forest fires, 2) floods, 3) droughts, 4) hurricanes, 5) volcanoes, 6) earthquakes, 7) tsunamis, etc?
Briefly explain what happens when an apex predator is removed from its ecosystem
What is 'the populations below the predator on the food chain either explode or collapse and the entire ecosystem can collapse as well?'
Define a predator and give two examples
What is 'any organisms that uses energy to hunt and kills its prey; ex: wolves, lions, tigers, any big cats, foxes, hawks, etc?'
Is an apex predator always a keystone species? Why or why not?
What is 1) yes and 2) because all apex predators maintain or increase the biodiversity of the ecosystem that they are a part of?
List three density-dependent factors that can affect populations
What are 1) predation, 2) disease, 3) competition for mates, 4) competition for other resources, 5) types of symbiosis?
Define the term 'tolerance' and explain how this concept relates to pioneer species
What is 'tolerance refers to the range of environmental conditions that an organism can withstand; all pioneer species have to have broad ecological tolerance so they can exploit the very limited resources found in harsh environments like bare rock or sand?'
Define 'decomposers,' give an example, and explain why they are so important in ecosystems
What is 1) any organism that feeds of dead or decaying matter, 2) bacteria, worms, and fungi, 3) they breakdown organic matter into basic elements that are recycled back into the environment?
List the two major ways that carbon is released into the atmosphere and two major ways carbon is 'permanently' removed from the atmosphere
What are 1) cellular respiration of plants & animals and burning fossil fuels (release carbon into atmosphere), 2) the ocean and photosynthesis of autotrophs (would also accept formation of fossils)?
List the levels that make up the hierarchy of life from atoms to the biosphere
What is 'atoms > compounds > biomolecules > organelles > cells > tissues > organs > organ systems > organisms/individuals/species > populations > communities > ecosystems > biomes > biosphere?'