Levels of Organization
What is the smallest level of ecological organization?
Individual or Organism
What type of organism makes its own food?
Producer or autotroph
What is a close relationship between two species called?
Symbiosis
What factors can cause a population to increase or decrease?
Example: Birth rate, death rate, immigration, emigration, more/less food + other resources, disease
Name one renewable and one nonrenewable energy resource.
Example: Solar / Coal
What is a group of organisms of the same species living in one area called?
Population
Only about what percent of energy moves from one trophic level to the next?
10%
What type of symbiosis benefits one organism and harms the other?
Parasitism
What limits population size when resources are scarce? (There is a specific term for this!)
Limiting factors
What human activity causes acid rain?
Burning fossil fuels releasing sulfur/nitrogen oxides
What is all the different populations that live together in an area?
Community
What is the original source of almost all energy in ecosystems?
the Sun
What term describes two species that both benefit from their relationship?
Mutualism
What term describes the maximum number an environment can support?
Carrying capacity
What is the loss of forests called?
Deforestation
What level includes all biotic and abiotic parts of an environment?
Ecosystem
Arrange these in a food chain: grass, hawk, mouse, snake.
Grass → Mouse → Snake → Hawk
What is it called when one organism hunts and eats another?
Predation
What type of growth curve shows population growth under ideal conditions?
Exponential (J-curve) or Logistic
The regrowth of an ecosystem following a natural disaster; soil already exists.
Secondary succession
List the levels of organization from smallest to largest.
Organism → Population → Community → Ecosystem → Biome → Biosphere
What is another term for decomposer? (Think of its "fancier" name!)
Saprotroph
Give an example of competition within a single species.
Example: Two deer competing for mates or food
(Any resource can be listed, but it has to be 2 members from the SAME species. Note: Competition can happen between 2 different species, the question just wants us to specify within a single species.)
This occurs when a species' population size exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment, meaning there are more individuals than the area can sustain.
Overpopulation
What is biodiversity, and why is it important?
Variety of life; increases stability and resilience