Classifying Organisms
What is Taxonomy?
Taxonomy is a branch of science that focuses on classification.
What does an egg and sperm create?
A zygote.
What are 3 biotic factors and 3 abiotic factors?
Biotic → predators, prey, pollinators, etc
Abiotic → temperature, water, gasses, etc
What is a food web?
A food web is a series of connected food chains.
What is a J-Curve?
A J-Curve (exponential growth curve) is when the number of organisms added in each generation increases as the population gets larger.
Out of the genus and species, which one is capitalized and which is not?
Genus is always capitalized, species is never.
What's the difference between growth and development?
Growth is the increase in size and mass of the organism. Development is the transformation of the organs as it goes through growth.
What is the definition of ecology?
Ecology is the study of the interactions of organisms and their environment.
What is an ecological niche?
An ecological niche is a range of roles performed and resources an organism uses.
What is an S-Curve?
An S-Curve (logistic growth curve) is where a population will begin to increase exponentially, but due to limited resources will slow down and stabilize at carrying capacity.
What is the proper way to identify an organism?
Binomial Nomenclature.
What is a negative feedback loop?
A negative feedback loop is when the presence of a stimulus causes a reaction to reduce the effect.
What do the prefixes A- and Bi- and suffix -otic mean?
A- = not, without, lacking
Bi- = life
-otic = pertaining to
What is the difference between a Fundamental niche and a Realized niche.
A fundamental niche is the ENTIRE set of conditions that an organism/population/species can survive and reproduce. A realized niche is the set of conditions ACTUALLY USED by an organism/population/species.
What is eutrophication and what are the causes and effects of it?
Eutrophication is when a body of water becomes overly enriched with nutrients from runoff. Causes → usually due to human activity. Effects → leads to an increase in plant life, nitrogen and phosphorus (usually the excess nutrient), increases amount of algae, leads to death of animal life due to lack of oxygen.
What are the categories, in order, to classify an organism?
Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.
What is the progression of cell organization from smallest to largest?
Organelle → Cell → Tissue → Organ → Organ System → Organism
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is all of the biotic and abiotic factors in a given area.
What is Mutualism, Commensalism, and Parasitism?
Mutualism occurs between 2 or more species where both species benefit from the interaction.
Commensalism is when one species benefits while one species neither benefits or is harmed.
Parasitism is when one species lives on or inside the host and benefits and one species is harmed.
What is the definition of carrying capacity?
Carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals in a population that can be supported by a particular habitat over a sustained period of time.
Who came up with the system of taxonomy?
Carl Linnaeus.
What is evolution and why do organisms do it?
Evolution is the ability for organisms to change over time. Organisms do this so they can better adapt to their environment and increase survival.
What is the difference between community and ecosystem?
Ecosystem is biotic AND abiotic factors in a given area, while community is all LIVING factors in an area.
What happens as you go through the levels of a food chain?
The Law of 10s (10% of energy can go to the next level, 100% → 10% → 1% → 0.1% → 0.01%) and Biomagnification (toxins are concentrated as a result of ingesting other plants or animals so toxins are widely distributed)
What is Ecological Succession, Primary Succession, and Secondary Succession?
Ecological Succession → the process of change in species composition in a community over time
Primary Succession → starts from scratch and occurs in places previously uninhabited by life.
Secondary Succession → occurs in places that were previously inhabited