Ecology Basics
This science studies interactions among organisms and their environment.
Ecology
These are living factors in an ecosystem, such as plants and animals.
Biotic factors
This model shows one path that energy can travel through an ecosystem.
All energy in ecosystems originally comes from this source.
Sun
What are herbivores?
Consumers that eat only plants
This is the largest level of organization that includes all life on Earth.
biosphere
Soil, water, and temperature are examples of these factors.
Abiotic Factors
This model shows many connected paths of energy flow.
Food Web
These organisms make their own food using sunlight.
Producers
Vultures and earthworms are examples of this type of consumer.
detritivores
Organisms and their environment depend on one another in this concept.
Interdependence
A long drought causes plant populations to decline, which then leads to fewer herbivores and carnivores. The drought is this type of factor, while the population changes are biotic effects.
abiotic factor
In food chains and webs, arrows show the direction that this moves.
Energy
Only this percentage of energy is passed to the next level of an energy pyramid.
10%
A bear eats berries, nuts, roots, grasses, insects, fish, small mammals. What type of consumer is it?
Omnivore
This term describes a group of individuals that can breed and produce fertile offspring.
Species
This abiotic factor most directly limits primary productivity in deserts, even though sunlight is abundant.
Availability of water
Grass → rabbit → snake → eagle is an example of this.
Food chain
Energy that is not passed on is lost as this.
Heat
What is the secondary consumer in this food chain?
Sun>Grass>Rabbit>Snake>Hawk
Snake
Give 3 examples of a population of living things
A herd of sheep
A flock of geese
A colony of ants
A culture of bacteria
A disruption in nutrient cycling and decomposition may occur if these biotic factors are removed from the ecosystem.
Fungi and bacteria
Explain why removing one species from a food web can cause changes throughout the entire ecosystem.
Answers may vary
This explains why organisms at the top of an energy pyramid have smaller populations.
Less energy available at higher trophic levels
If an animal has only sharp jagged teeth, they are most likely what type of consumer?