Mystery I
Community Interactions
Community Structure
Succession
Mystery II
100
A group of populations of different species living close enough to interact
What is Community?
100
A +/- interaction in which the predator kills and eats the prey
What is Predation?
100
In this food web, the birds could be categorized into these two trophic levels.
Primary consumer and secondary consumer
100
The process of predictable changes that occur in an ecosystem that has been disturbed.
What is Ecological Succession?
100
The function or role of an organism within its habitat.
What is Ecological Niche?
200
Interactions between different species in a community.
What are interspecific interactions?
200
A +/- interaction that occurs when individuals of different species compete for a resource that limits their growth and survival
What is (Interspecific) Competition?
200
When a toxin or other pollutant is consumed by an animal and it moves up the food chain. Organisms near the top of the food chain have the highest toxin levels in their bodies.
What is biomagnification?
200
An event, such as a storm, fire, flood, or drought that changes a community by removing organisms form it or altering resource availability.
What is Disturbance?
200
This principle says that two species can't coexist if they occupy exactly the same niche (competing for identical resources)
What is Competitive Exclusion?
300
How interactions between species affect community structure and organization
What is Community Ecology?
300
In an energy pyramid, approximately how much energy is sent to the next trophic level?
What is 10%?
300
This species is at the top of a food web. It has no natural predators.
What are apex predators?
300
When ecological succession begins in a virtually lifeless area where soil has not yet formed
What is Primary Succession?
300
The differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a community
What is Resource Partitioning?
400
Indicates any interspecific interaction in which both species benefit
What is a +/+ interaction or mutualism?
400
Individuals of two or more species live and interact with each other directly and at least 1 benefits.
What is Symbiosis?
400
Describe bioaccumulation in your own words.
Many answer possible.
Possible answer: The buildup of toxins in the body of an organism over time
400
When an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil intact.
What is Secondary Succession?
400
The total mass of all individuals in a population
What is Biomass?
500
Describe a trophic cascade in your own words.
Many answers possible.
Possible answer: When a foundational or apex species is put into or taken out of an ecosystem, and the entire ecosystem either rebuilds or collapses.
500
An interaction between species that benefits one of the species but neither harms nor helps the other (+/0).
What is Commensalism?
500
These species aren't necessarily abundant in a community. They exert strong control on community structure not by numerical weight but by their niches
What are Keystone Species?
500
Describe the series of changes that would take place in a forest ecosystem after a disturbance. (at least 3 steps).
Answer should include pioneer species like grasses and weeds, then shrubs and bushes, then trees. Must include the words "pioneer species" and "climax community"
500
How does the Law of Conservation of Energy apply to an ecological community?
Many answers possible.
Possible answer: Energy from the sun is collected by plants and transformed into chemical energy (glucose). It isn't created or destroyed.