🤝 Symbiotic Relationships
What type of relationship benefits BOTH organisms?
Mutualism
What do we call an organism that hunts and eats another organism?
Predator
The variety of living organisms in an ecosystem or on Earth...
What is biodiversity?
A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area.
What is a population?
What is the main source of energy for most ecosystems?
The Sun
One benefits, while the other is not affected. (+/0), which symbiotic relationship is this?
commensalism
What do we call an organism that is hunted and eaten by a predator?
Prey
What happens when a forest is cleared to build houses and roads?
Habitat is destroyed, causing organisms to lose food, shelter, and space.
The largest population an environment can support over time with its available resources.
What is carrying capacity?
What organisms make their own food and form the first trophic level?
Producers/autotrophs
A tick attaches to a dog and feeds on its blood. What type of relationship is this?
Parasitism
Two birds compete for the same nesting space. What type of ecological interaction is occurring?
Competition
Using or harvesting organisms/resources faster than they can naturally recover.
What is overexploitation?
A deer population grows rapidly because there is plenty of food and space. What happens as resources become limited?
Competition increases and population growth slows.
In the food chain
Grass → Rabbit → Snake → Hawk
which organism is the primary consumer?
Rabbit
Bees get nectar from flowers while helping the flowers reproduce by moving pollen. What type of relationship is this, and why (Bonus)?
Mutualism; both organisms benefit.
A rabbit population increases. What could happen to the population of foxes that eat the rabbits?
The fox population could increase because more food is available.
A non-native plant is introduced into an ecosystem and spreads rapidly. It takes resources away from native plants. What type of human impact is this?
An invasive species.
A population reaches the carrying capacity of its environment. What happens to its growth?
Population growth slows or levels off because resources become limited.
What happens to the amount of available energy as you move UP a food chain?
The amount of available energy decreases.
A small fish follows a shark and eats leftover pieces of food. The shark is not helped or harmed. What type of relationship is this? Explain.
Commensalism; the fish benefits while the shark is not affected.
A disease causes the rabbit population to decrease significantly. What could happen to the fox population that depends on rabbits for food? Why- Bonus?
The fox population could decrease because there is less prey available for them to eat.
A wetland is drained to build a shopping center. Name TWO possible effects this could have on the ecosystem.
habitat loss, decreased biodiversity, population decreases, less water filtration, increased flooding, or disrupted food webs.
A lake can support about 500 fish. The fish population grows to 800, and food becomes scarce. What will most likely happen to the fish population?
The population will decrease because it has exceeded the carrying capacity and resources are limited.
In this food chain, Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake, the grasshoppers decrease greatly. What is one likely effect on the frogs?
The frog population could decrease because there is less food/energy available to them.