Ecosystem
Energy Flow
Population
Interactions
Who am I?
Human Impact
100
A plant, animal, or any living thing are all examples of this _____.
What is an biotic factor?
100
This type of organism makes its own food using sunlight.
What is a producer?
100
A group of the same species that live in the same place.
What is a population?
100
Both animals benefit from this relationship.
What is mutualism?
100
I am a Burmese python originally from South Asia. I was brought to Florida because people thought I was a cute pet, but many years went by and I got too big for my tank. Later I was released into the swamp.
Now I eat everything in sight, and I have no natural predators.
What is an invasive species?
100
This human activity involves cutting down forests, which can reduce habitat for many species.
What is deforestation
200
Sunlight, water, and soil are all examples of these non-living parts of an ecosystem.
What are abiotic factors?
200
This type of organism breaks down dead things and gives them back to the soil...
What is a decomposer?
200
Something in the environment that decreases the population or prevents it from growing...
What is a limiting factor?
200
This is when one animal benefits and the other is not affected.
What is commensalism?
200
I show the energy flow from many different animals in an ecosystem...
What is a food web?
200
A species introduced (either by accident or on purpose) by human actions into places that cause environmental harm
EXAMPLE:
What is an invasive species?
300
A plant died because it did not get enough water. The dead plant would be an example of a ______
Biotic factor
300
This is the original source of energy for almost all living things on Earth.
What is the Sun?
300
A forest has a large population of deer. Over the past few years, new houses have been built, reducing the amount of available habitat for the deer.
As a result, there is less food and space for the deer to live...
What is population decrease?
300
A tick latches onto a dog after going for a walk. The tick cannot survive on its own without the blood from the dog.
What is parasitism?
300
I am the victim of a parasite...
What is a host?
300
Building homes on beaches reduces the sea turtle population. This is an example of a...
Limiting factor
400
How do biotic factors depend on abiotic factors?
Example: Plants and animals (biotic) need water, shelter, and sunlight to live. (abiotic.)
400
Rabbits eat grass and other plants to survive, but they do not eat animals. A rabbit would be considered a ______
What is a primary consumer?
400
A group of rabbits lives in a grassy field. One year, there is an unusually warm spring, causing the plants in the field to grow faster than usual. This means there is more food for the rabbits to eat.
What is population increase?
400
A pride of lions goes hunting for a meal, in the process, a mother lion kills a gazelle to feed her cub.
What is predation?
400
I am living thing that eats only consumers and nothing else eats me...
What is a tertiary consumer/apex predator?
400
A factory near a river releases chemicals into the water. The river contains algae, small fish that eat the algae, and larger fish that eat the small fish. Over time, the chemicals kill the algae.......
Small fish and large fish population decrease
500
You are an ecologist researching the local wolf population in a nearby forest. A wildfire broke out a month ago, burning down half of the forest.
Identify the biotic and abiotic factors. How might this wildfire affect the ecosystem?
Abiotic factor: Wildfire
Biotic factor: Wolves, prey animals
If resources are scarce due to the fire, prey animals might gather around water sources, making it easier for predators to hunt, which could reduce the prey population.
500
This animal can be considered both a primary and secondary consumer.
What is a Bluegill?
500
In a large lake, overfishing of grouper and snapper has been happening for several years. Fishermen are catching these fish faster than they can reproduce...
What is population decrease?
500
A large oak tree shares space with a field of grass. The grass underneath the shade of the tree dies because it does not receive enough sunlight...
What is competition?
500
I am the gopher tortoise, and my burrows bring shelter to many animals here in Florida. My predators include raccoons, indigo snakes, bear, and red-tailed hawks.
I have always lived here in Florida and no human ever brought me here...
What is a native species?
500
A farm introduces a new type of pesticide to reduce the number of flies around their cattle. Cattle egrets (birds) usually follow the cattle, eating the insects stirred up as the cattle graze. This relationship helps the cattle by reducing the number of pests around them, and it provides the cattle egrets with a food source.
Question: What kind of symbiotic relationship is this? How might the use of pesticides on the farm impact the symbiotic relationship between cattle and cattle egrets?
This is an example of mutualism because both species benefit. The use of pesticides could reduce the number of insects for the birds to eat, weakening the symbiotic relationship.
With fewer insects, the birds may leave the area, or the population may decrease.