Term
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Definition
| Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment. |
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Term
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Definition
| A poplation is a group of individuals of the dame species that live in the same area at the same time. |
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Term
| What are the four main levels that ecology researchers work on? |
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Definition
1) organisms
2) populations
3) communities
4) ecosystems |
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Term
| What kind of adaptations do organismal ecologists study? |
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Definition
| the morphological, physiological, and behavioural adaptations that allow individuals to live successfully in a particular area |
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Term
| Give an example of behaviour triggering external stimuli |
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Definition
| answers include: changes in temperature or moisture, an escape response form prey or a rival challenging for a mate |
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Term
| What is the main focus of ecology researchers concerned with population ecology? |
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Definition
| They focus on how the numbers of individuals in a population change over time. |
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Term
| What is a current application of population ecology research? |
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Definition
| mathematical models for population growth are being used to evaluate the fate of endangered species. |
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Term
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Definition
| a community consists of the species that interact with each other within a particular area |
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Term
| What is the main focus of researchers who study community ecology? |
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Definition
| Researchers who study community ecology study the nature of the interactions between species and the consequences of the interactions. |
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Term
| What is ecosystem ecology? |
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Definition
| It is an extension of community ecology. It focuses on all the organisms, as well as the non-living components in a particular area. |
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Term
| What is conservation biology? |
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Definition
| Conservation biology is the effort to study, preserve and restore threatened populations,communities and ecosystems. |
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Term
| What are the key physical factors that shape the environment in an aquatic ecosystem? |
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Definition
| water depth and rate of water movement |
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Term
| In what ways do water depth and rate of water movement affect organisms living in an aquatic ecosystem? |
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Definition
water depth dictates how much light reaches organisms that live in a certain region.
Rate of water movement presents a physical challenge |
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Term
| Name the 3 freshwater environments |
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Definition
| lakes and ponds, wetlands and streams. |
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Term
| Which type of aquatic environment may be either freshwater or marine? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is a marine environment? |
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Definition
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Term
| How were lakes formed in northern climates? How were lakes formed in tropical climates? |
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Definition
Northern: lakes are formed in depressions made by the movement of glaciers
Tropics: formed from old river channels |
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Term
| What are the five zones the describe the structure of lakes and ponds? |
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Definition
1) littoral
2) limnetic
3) benthic
4) photic
5) aphotic |
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Term
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Definition
| A littoral zone is a zone in a pond or lake that consists of the shallow waters along the shore, where flowering plants are rooted |
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Term
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Definition
| A limnetic zone is a zone in a pond or lake that is offshore but is shallow enough to support photosynthesis |
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Term
| What is a benthic zone? (ponds/lakes) |
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Definition
| A benthic zone is a zone in a pond or lake that makes up the substrate |
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Term
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Definition
| regions of the littoral, limnetic and benthic zones that receive sunlight |
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Term
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Definition
| An aphotic zone is comprised of the portions of a pond or lake that do not receive sunlight. |
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Term
| What drives water movements in lakes and ponds? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is plankton comprised of? |
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Definition
| Algae, cyanobacteria and other microscopic organisms. |
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Term
| What zones are plankton most common in? |
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Definition
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Term
| What zones are animals that eat detritus more commonly in? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| wetlands are shallow water habitats where soil is saturated with water for at least part of the year |
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Term
| How are wetlands distinct from ponds and lakes? |
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Definition
they have only shallow water
they have emergent vegetation |
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Term
| What is emergent vegetation? |
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Definition
| emergent vegetation is when plants grow above the surface of the water, such as in wetlands |
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Term
| Describe the waterflow in freshwater marshes and swamps |
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Definition
| slow but steady flow of water |
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Term
| What affect does very low water flow have on the acidity of a shallow body of water? and why? |
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Definition
| very low water flow can cause a shallow body of water to become very acidic because 673450136458917238594713289047210894721390847120394719 |
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Term
| What affect does low pH have on plant growth? |
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Definition
| At a low pH nitrogen becomes unavailable to plants. |
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Term
| What are the factors contributing to the lack of productivity in bogs? |
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Definition
1) acidity
2) anoxic conditions
3) lack of available nitrogen |
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Term
| What type of plant life is typically found in marshes? |
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Definition
Abundant in grasses
Lacks tress |
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Term
| What type of plant life is typically found in |
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Definition
| Abundant in trees and shrubs |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: Most bogs, marshes and swamps share many of the same types species |
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Definition
| FALSE: because their physical environments are so different, there is little overlap in the types of species found in bogs marshes and swamps |
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Term
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Definition
| a stream is a body of water that moves constantly in one direction |
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Term
| What is the difference between a river and a creek |
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Definition
| a river is a large stream and a creek is a small stream |
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Term
| What are the major physical variables in streams? |
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Definition
| speed of current and availability of nutrients and oxygen |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: sunlight is not a limiting factor for organisms in streams |
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Definition
| TRUE: because most streams are shallow enough that sunlight reaches the bottom, sunlight is typically abundant |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: warm water holds more oxygen than cold water |
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Definition
| FALSE: cold water holds more oxygen than warm |
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Term
| What allows some fish, insects, larvae, molluscs and other animals to live in fast moving streams? |
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Definition
| They have adaptations that allow them to maintain their positions in the fast moving portions of streams. |
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Term
| What position in a stream is one more likely to find algae and plants? |
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Definition
| Algae and plants are found in the wider, slower portions of streams. |
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Term
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Definition
| An estuary is where rivers meet the ocean |
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Term
| Describe the water depth in an estuary |
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Definition
| most estuaries are shallow enough for sunlight to reach the substrate. However it may fluctuate dramatically |
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Term
| Why is the fluctuation of water flow in estuaries important? |
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Definition
| It is important because it alters salinity, which in turn affects the type of organisms that are present |
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Term
| What factors allow estuaries to be among the most productive environments on earth? |
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Definition
- shallow and sunlit water
- nutrients are constantly replenished by incoming river water |
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Term
| Why are estuaries ideal environments for young fish? |
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Definition
| because they can feed on abundant vegetation and plankton, while hiding from predators |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: Due to the different chemical composition in the oceans, the types of organisms are markedly different |
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Definition
| FALSE: the oceans are actually very uniform in their chemical composition, it is the physical characteristics of the oceans that cause variation in species found in certain areas |
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Term
| What are the six zones found in an ocean? |
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Definition
1) intertidal
2) neritic
3)oceanic
4)benthic
5) photic
6) aphotic |
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Term
| What is an intertidal zone? |
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Definition
| An intertidal zone is a zone in an ocean that consists of a rocky, sandy or muddy beach that is exposed to the air at low tide but submerged in water at high tide |
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Term
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Definition
| A neritic zone is a zone in an ocean that extends from the intertidal zone to depths of about 200m. Its edge is defined by the end of the continental shelf |
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Term
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Definition
| An oceanic zone is the 'open ocean'- the deepwater region beyond the continental shelf. |
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Term
| What is a benthic zone? (oceans) |
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Definition
| In oceans the benthic zone is the bottom of the ocean |
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Term
| What is the major cause of water movement in the intertidal zones of oceans? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the major cause of water movement in the neritic zones of oceans? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the major cause of water movement throughout all the oceans? |
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Definition
| large-scale water currents and the earths rotation |
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Term
| What are requirements of organisms living in an intertidal zone? |
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Definition
| They must be able to stand physical pounding from crashing waves and desiccation at low tide |
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Term
| Where is productivity highest in oceans? |
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Definition
| In the intertidal zone and the outer edge of the neritic zone. |
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Term
| Where are most coral reefs found? |
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Definition
| In the shallow areas of the neritic zones in the tropics |
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Term
| Describe the nutrient availability in the open ocean and the causes. |
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Definition
| There are very little nutrients because when the photosynthetic plankton die their bodies drift downwards, out of the photic zone and are lost. |
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Term
| What type of '-vore' (as in eating habits) typically live in the aphotic zones of oceans? |
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Definition
| Detritivores. Most organisms living in the aphotic zones of oceans feed on the rain of dead bodies from the photic zones |
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Term
| What are the spring and fall turnovers? |
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Definition
| A mixing of water in lakes that happens every year. The water form the bottom of the lake mixes with the water form the top of the lake. it causes nutrients and oxygenation to mix. |
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Term
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Definition
| the region in a thermally stratified body of water which separates warmer surface water from cold deep water and in which temperature decreases rapidly with depth |
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