Terms
Ecology facts
Rocky Mountain Ecology
Biotic & Abiotic Factors
Nutrients
People in Ecology
POTPURRI
100
The science that studies the interactions between organisms and their environment.
What is Ecology?
100
How have we visually represented how energy flows from producers to consumers in an ecosystem
Models and food webs
100
Red rocks is a famous example of this type of rock, made of compacted layers of sand.
What is sandstone?
100
the definition of abiotic factor.
A non-living factor affecting species abundance and dispersal
100
this drives wildebeest migration in the Serengeti
What is rainfall and the search for food
100
A scientist who studies ecosystems
What is an ecologist?
100
The definition of potpurri
What are scented dried plant bits to spruce up a space, or, another word for miscellaneous
200
This consists of all the organisms in a particular region, along with nonliving components.
What is an ecosystem?
200
This is an organism with a particularly large regulating effect on its ecosystem
What is a keystone species?
200
The dominant deciduous (non-evergreen) tree in the Rocky Mountains, famous for its "trembling" leaves
double points for species
quadruple points for scientific name
What is the aspen
Quaking Aspen
Populus tremuloides
200
This factor, which can be biotic or abiotic, causes a species to reach its carrying capacity
what is a limiting factor?
200
Plants gain most of their non-water mass from taking in this gas
CO2
200
What large herbivore did Dr. Simon Mduma famously study?
What is wildebeest
200
3 other sciences that ecology be linked to
What is Genetics, physiology, behavior, paleontology, biology, geology, meteorology, hydrology, anthropology, climatology
300
A major groupings of plant and animal communities defined by a dominant vegetation type.
Hint: Think Minecraft
Biome
300
These types of animals help in the reproduction of flowering plants
pollinators
300
Despite having shorter ears, this small Rockies mammal is actually more closely related to rabbits than to rodents.
What is a pika?
300
While it may just look like crust on a rock, these colorful biotic factors are actually a symbiosis of fungi and algae.
What is lichen?
300
A tiger affects the dispersal of gazelle by consuming newborn young.
This is an example of this relationship
Predation
300
If you find yourself speeding in RMNP, you may have a stern conversation with one of these wilderness law enforcers
What is a park ranger?
300
The difference between ecology and environmentalism?
What is advocacy focused on conservation and preservation of life on Earth whereas ecology provides scientific understanding of living things and their environments.
400
the definition of carrying capacity
What is the max population of a species a defined area can support
400
what do you call an ecosystem that spends part of the year under water?
wetland
400
This small North American ungulate (hoofed mammal) once used its incredible speed to evade the now extinct North American cheetah
What is the pronghorn?
400
The difference between an introduced species and an invasive species
introduced don't necessarily harm the ecosystem, but invasive species do
400
These organisms get their nutrients from decaying matter
What are decomposers?
400
Who wrote Silent Spring, a book that led to the ban of DDT in the US?
Rachel Carson
400
These coastal trees' roots serve as shelter for young fish, and form a small biome of their own.
what is a mangrove?
500
the difference between climate and weather
What is
Climate: The prevailing long-term weather conditions found in an area.
Weather: Specific short-term atmospheric conditions of temperature, precipitation, sunlight, and wind.
500
the heaviest single organism on Earth
Double points for where it is located
What is Pando, the quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Utah is 47,000 tree clones that all share a root system, making them a single living being
500
Because they are conifers, juniper berries are not actually berries, but a highly modified form of this reproductive structure
What are cones?
500
this abiotic factor determines broad species distribution
What is CLIMATE?
Weather, because it is short term, is more likely to impact an individual organism rather than the entire population.
500
An ascaris nematode feeds on nutrients in the intestines of a pig.
This is an example of this relationship
Parasitism
500
This politically fraught president of the early 70's signed into law the Endangered Species Act
Who was Richard Nixon?
500
