Limiting Factors
This term describes factors that restrict the growth, distribution, or abundance of organisms in an ecosystem.
What are limiting factors?
This type of symbiotic relationship benefits both organisms involved.
What is mutualism?
These organisms make their own food using sunlight or chemicals.
What are producers?
This type of scientific explanation describes why a phenomenon occurs based on evidence and reasoning.
What is a theory?
This variable is intentionally changed by the scientist to test its effect.
What is the independent variable?
The two main types of limiting factors are ___________ and ___________.
What are biotic and abiotic factors?
Barnacles attaching to a whale for transportation without affecting the whale is an example of this type of relationship.
What is commensalism?
These consumers eat both plants and animals.
What are omnivores?
This is a statement that describes a consistent natural phenomenon, often expressed mathematically.
What is a law?
This is the variable that is measured or observed in response to changes in the experiment.
What is the dependent variable?
A predator-prey relationship is an example of this type of limiting factor.
What is biotic limitation?
This type of symbiosis occurs when two species compete for the same resource, like sunlight or water.
What is competition?
Consumers that rely on producers for their energy are called this.
What are primary consumers?
This is broader in scope and explains the mechanisms behind laws.
What is a theory?
These variables remain constant to ensure that the results of the experiment are reliable.
What are control variables?
Invasive species often compete with native species for these two essential resources.
What are food and space?
Mosquitoes biting humans to feed on their blood is an example of this type of relationship.
What is parasitism?
A hawk that eats a snake, which has eaten a mouse, is at this level.
What is the tertiary consumer level?
Unlike laws, theories are subject to these if new evidence is discovered.
What are changes?
In an experiment testing how the amount of water affects plant growth, this variable would be the height of the plant.
What is the dependent variable?
If predators in an ecosystem decrease, this might happen to the population of prey species.
What is an increase?
Predation differs from parasitism because, in predation, the prey is ___________.
What is killed?
Arrange these in the order of energy flow in a food chain: decomposer, primary consumer, producer, secondary consumer.
What is producer → primary consumer → secondary consumer → decomposer?
This is the key difference between a theory and a law: theories explain ___________ while laws describe ___________.
What are "why something happens" and "what happens"?
In an experiment where different types of fertilizer are tested, this variable would remain the same for all test groups, such as the type of plant and amount of sunlight.
What are control variables?