Ecology Ch 1.1
What is an ecosystem?
consists of all the organisms living in an area, as well as the nonliving parts of that environment
What is a producer? A consumer?
producer - organisms that use an outside energy source like the Sun to make energy-rich molecules; consumer - organisms that cannot make their own energy-rich molecules
What is an abiotic factor? What is a biotic factor?
abiotic- nonliving, physical features of the environment; biotic- features that are alive (or once were)
What is the carbon cycle?
describes how carbon molecules move between the living and nonliving world
What is succession?
refers to the normal, gradual changes that occur in the types of species that live in an area
What is a population?
made up of all organisms of the same species that live in an area at the same time
What is a limiting factor?
anything that restricts the number of individuals in a population
What is the definition of atmosphere and soil?
atmosphere- the air that surrounds Earth; soil- a mixture of mineral and rock particles, the remains of dead organisms, water and air
What is a food web?
a model that shows all the possible feeding relationships among the organisms in a community
What is a pioneer species?
the first organisms to inhabit a new or disturbed area
What is a community?
all the populations of all species living in an ecosystem
What is a carrying capacity?
the largest number of individuals of one species that an ecosystem can support over time
What is climate?
refers to an area's average weather conditions over time, including temperature, rainfall and wind
What is chemosynthesis?
the production of energy-rich nutrient molecules from chemicals
What is a climax community?
a community of plants that is relatively stable and undisturbed and has reached a stage of succession
What are the 3 parts of the Earth that make up the biosphere?
top of Earth's crust, all water that covers the Earth and the atmosphere
What is symbiosis?
a close relationship between species
Explain the water cycle using these terms: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration and runoff
Water evaporates from bodies of water into the sky, condenses to form clouds, returns to the Earth in the form of precipitation, runs off into bodies of water, and returns to the atmosphere either by evaporation or transpiration from plants.
What is an energy pyramid?
shows the amount of energy available at each feeding level in an ecosystem
What is a biome?
large geographic areas that have similar climates and ecosystems
What is a habitat? How is that different from a niche?
the place in which an organism lives that provides the types of food, shelter, moisture and temperature needed for survival; niche is its role in its environment
What is a quick example of mutualism, commensalism and parasitism?
Mutualism - bees/flowers; sea anemone/clownfish; Commensalism - barnacles/whales; remora fish/sharks; Parasitism - tapeworms/animals; ants/cordyceps fungus
What is the Nitrogen Cycle and what is Nitrogen fixation?
the transfer of Nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms and back to the atmosphere; the process in which some types of bacteria in the soil change N gas into a form of N that plants can use
Why is there a limit to the number of links in a food chain?
Because energy diminishes as it moves up a food chain, and there will always be a top predator
Which two biomes are the driest?
tundra and desert