Ecosystem
Give a specific example of a population.
Examples may include:
A pack of dogs;
A gaggle of geese;
A flock of sheep;
A herd of horses
Define autotroph and heterotroph.
An autotroph is an organism that produces its own food (usually from sunlight).
A heterotroph is an organism that relies on other organisms for food (it must physically ingest food).
Name the pattern of dispersion:
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What is random dispersion
The living portion of the water cycle in which water is returned to the atmosphere from plants.
What is transpiration.
A specific role that a species plays within an ecosystem, including how they affect other organisms.
What is a niche.
This term is used to describe all of the populations within an ecosystem.
What is a community
What type of organism would most likely be found in place of the question marks?
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Decomposers.
The birth rate – death rate.
What is the growth rate (r).
Due to the burning of fossil fuels, this gas is released into the atmosphere.
What is carbon dioxide (CO2)
A symbiotic relationship in which one species is helped, and the other species is neither helped nor harmed.
What is commensalism.
The biosphere is defined as this.
The portion of the Earth that can sustain life!
Come up with a food chain that consists of four trophic levels.
Then, describe each level, beginning with “producer”.
Any 4 animals plus the following terms:
Producer
Primary consumer
Secondary consumer
Tertiary Consume
Distinguish between population size and population density.
Population size is the number of individuals in the population.
Population density in the number of individuals within a given area.
The nitrogen cycle would not be complete if it were not for these two general types of organisms.
What is plants and bacteria.
A species that has been introduced to a new ecosystem, most likely by humans, and can cause disruption in the ecological balance.
What is an invasive species.
Define “ecosystem”.
An ecological system consisting of the community and physical factors.
Also acceptable if group includes, all the abiotic and biotic factors of a community
Define AND describe an energy pyramid.
An energy pyramid is a pyramid that reflects the amount of energy in the trophic levels.
It depicts the “10 percent law”, which states that 10% of energy from one trophic level is passed on to the next.
What type of growth does this graph display and what is the carrying capacity of this population?
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The graph displays logistic growth. The carrying capacity of the population is approximately 60 members.
Name one way that carbon enters living things in the carbon cycle, and one way that carbon returns to the water or air in the carbon cycle.
Possible ways carbon enters living things: photosynthesis, decomposition (you could even say eating).
Possible ways carbon enters the air or water: respiration, combustion, erosion
The symbiotic relationship shared among bees and flowers.
What is mutualism.
Name and describe one process that forms ecosystems.
Three possible answers:
JUST succession
or
Primary Succession
(first growth)
-or-
Secondary Succession
(re-growth)
What is biomass and at which trophic level would you find the most biomass
...and...
Why?!?!
Biomass is the dry weight of organic matter (living tissue) in an ecosystem.
Most of the biomass is found within the 1st trophic level (the producers), because you need a lot of them to feed higher level carnivores!
-Describe the typical predator prey relationship depicted in the table.
-Determine the growth rate for the hares in 1954.
-Determine the carrying capacity for the lynxes.
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As the hare population increases, the lynx population increases- however, the increase in lynxes then leads to the decrease of hares- which then leads to a decline in lynxes, as well.
The hare population growth in 1954 was +180.
The carrying capacity for the lynxes is 30.
What is the purpose of decomposition? Please include specific science terms & chemical names.
Decomposition returns nutrients like carbon back into the soil & atmosphere, completing the circle of life.
Back and forth evolutionary adjustments that can be used to explain the amazing symbiotic relationships we see today is known as this.
What is coevolution.