Ecology Vocab
What is carrying capacity
the max amount a population can get due to the environments limit
What is the role of a decomposer
the break down dead animals, plants, etc to produce nutrients
Define renewable and nonrenewable energy
renewable: can be easily replinished
nonrenewable: takes a long time to replinish
What is a dead zone
define the Tragedy of Commons
when individual, acting out of self interest, overuse shared resources
Define predator and prey
predator: an animal that survives on hunting and eating other animals
prey: animals that are eaten
What is the relationship between predator and prey (think about how the population sizes change)
as prey increases, predators will increase
as prey decreases, predators will decrease
Give 3 examples of renewable resources
wind
solar
biomass
geothermal
What is the primary indicator of eutrophication
algae blooms
what is a solution to the Tragedy of Commons
government regulations
Define carnivore, herbivore, and omnivore
carnivore: eats only meat
herbivore: eats only plants
omnivore: eats both
Which has more energy units primary consumers or tertiary consumers
primary
Give 2 examples of nonrenewable resources
nuclear
fossil fuels (crude oil, natural gas, coal)
What is point source pollution
identifiable source of pollution
Give an example of the tragedy of commons
overfishing, overgrazing shared lands
What is an autotroph
organisms that produce their own energy
What are the products of photosynthesis
oxygen and sugar (glucose)
What is uranium used for
Nuclear energy
Eutrophication is caused by the build up of what 2 nutrients
nitrogen and phosphorous
Wood, leaves, and manure are all example of what energy resource
biomass
What is the 10% rule
Only 10% of energy is passed to the next trophic level
What are the products of cellular respiration
What is a disadvantage of hydroelectric power
blocks fish migration
If you were conducting water testing to determine the quality of water and you see only pollution tolerant organisms, what does that tell you about the water
it is probably polluted
What is the albedo effect
how much sunlight an object absorbs vs reflects back into space