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Ecology Review

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  • What is the greenhouse effect?
    Gases in the atmosphere hold in the sun's energy to heat the Earth, making it warm enough to be habitable.
  • How is the scale (numbers) of a graph determined?
    Based on the data given, a scale is determined by looking at the highest values so that the graph is spread out when points are plotted
  • What is an invasive species?
    A non-native organism introduced into a new habitat/ecosystem.
  • What is biomagnification?
    Concentration of toxins in organisms higher in the food chain occurs because of the accumulation from the consumption of organisms further down the food chain.
  • How is energy transferred in an ecosystem?
    From producer to consumer and up the ecological pyramid (one way)
  • Where is the X axis located on a graph?
    horizontal axis
  • List five types of heterotrophs.
    Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore, Detritivore, Decomposer, Scavenger
  • What is an autotroph?
    An organism that makes its own food.
  • Explain two reasons the water cycle is important.
    Answers Vary
  • What are some of the major causes of climate change?
    Burning fossil fuels, Deforestation, Water Pollution
  • What is an omnivore?
    An organism that eats both plants and animals.
  • What is carrying capacity?
    Average population size for a species in a particular habitat or ecosystem
  • Provide evidence for humans negatively impacting the environment.
    Answers Vary
  • What are some ways in which carbon moves through the Earth (not in the atmosphere)?
    Animals eat plants, Decomposition, Fossil Fuels
  • What is a reservoir?
    A place where cycling matter is stored.
  • How does carbon return to the atmosphere?
    Cellular Respiration from Plants and Animals, Burning of Fossil Fuels, Decomposition of Plants and Animals, Volcanic Activity
  • What is a food web?
    A system of interconnected food chains.
  • What is a decomposer?
    An organism that breaks down and absorbs organic matter.
  • What is the difference between habitat and niche?
    A niche includes not only where an organism lives, but also its function in an ecosystem.
  • Why is biodiversity important?
    Living organisms have different purposes and interdependent relationships exist among living and nonliving things.
  • How do humans get nitrogen?
    Eating plants
  • List two density independent factors that can affect the carrying capacity in an ecosystem.
    weather, climate, natural disasters, etc.
  • What is a trophic level?
    steps in a food web or chain
  • What is nitrogen fixation?
    When bacteria take nitrogen from the atmosphere and turn it in to a form that can be used by plants.
  • What is the main source of energy for all organisms?
    Solar Energy
  • What is interdependence?
    All organisms are connected in an ecosystem so that if one organisms experiences change, all other organisms will be impacted.
  • What is transpiration?
    Evaporation of water from the leaves of plants.
  • What are the four Main Carbon Reservoirs?
    Atmosphere (carbon dioxide), ocean (carbon dioxide), on land (organisms), underground (fossil fuels)
  • List three positive ways humans impact the environment.
    Answers Vary
  • How is an ecosystem different from a community?
    An ecosystem includes abiotic components of the environment, whereas communities include only living factors.
  • Explain the movement of water through the biosphere.
    Answer must include condensation, precipitation, rock deep percolation, groundwater, surface water, transpiration, and evaporation
  • What is denitrification?
    Bacteria turn nitrogen in the soil that is used by plants into gas that is released into the atmosphere.
  • How do invasive species affect the biodiversity in an ecosystem?
    Invasive species could either positively, or negative impact ecosystem biodiversity, but typically decrease the amount of biodiversity in an area.
  • Where is the Y axis located on a graph?
    vertical axis
  • Which two types of factors affect carrying capacity?
    density dependent factors and density independent
  • liquid to gas
    evaporation
  • What is Ecology?
    The study of organisms and their interactions with the abiotic and biotic factors of their environments.
  • What is a carnivore?
    A meat eater.
  • What is a herbivore?
    A plant eater.
  • What is the difference between abiotic and biotic factors?
    Abiotic factors are nonliving, whereas biotic factors are living components of the environment.
  • What is another name for the water cycle?
    hydrologic
  • What is biodiversity?
    The different lifeforms in a habitat or ecosystem
  • Which organisms make up the base of an ecological pyramid?
    primary producers
  • Where does most of the energy go when it is transferred in an ecosystem?
    It is lost as heat into the atmosphere.
  • What is a heterotroph?
    An organism that must consume other organisms to get its energy.
  • What types of organisms are typically at the top of an ecological pyramid?
    carnivores/omnivores
  • List the levels of organization studied in Ecology from largest (most complex) to smallest (least complex)
    Biosphere, Biome, Ecosystem, Community, Population, Organism
  • In which way is carbon REMOVED from the atmosphere?
    Photosynthesis
  • Which greenhouse gas is released when fossil fuels are burned, and has been negatively contributing to the greenhouse effect?
    carbon dioxide
  • Which organisms make up the second level in an ecological pyramid?
    primary consumers- herbivores
  • Make a claim about human impact on the enviroment.
    Answers Vary
  • What are two ways autotrophs make their own food?
    photosynthesis and chemosynthesis
  • What is a detritivore?
    An organism that feeds on the remains of plants and animals.
  • What do the arrows point towards in a food web or chain?
    consumers
  • Which three factors affect biodiversity?
    climate, area, and niche
  • What is the area around Earth called in which life can exist?
    Biosphere
  • List two density dependent factors that can affect carrying capacity for an ecosystem.
    disease, competition, predation, etc.
  • gas to liquid
    condensation
  • What is biomass?
    living tissue available for energy transfer
  • How is the phosphorus cycle different from other biogeochemical cycles?
    Phosphorus doesn't cycle through the atmosphere.
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