Term
| What is the amount of energy available at each trophic level in an ecosystem? |
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Definition
| Plants recieve 1% of the sun's energy. From then, each trophic level gets 10% of the energy that the trophic level before it had. |
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Term
| What is the difference between a food chain and a food web? |
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Definition
Food Chain: Linear depiction of energy flow. You would not be able to tell if organisms in it were omnivores.
Food Web: Shows multiple interactions among different types of organisms.
Food webs are better and more realistic because organisms eat more than one type of food and can be eaten by more than one type of predator. |
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Term
| What is a numbers pyramid? |
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Definition
| A pyramid where the area of each of the boxes is proportional to the number of individual species in that community. They will look different depending on what they are for and the size of the producers. Ex. Blades of grass vs. forest trees. Numbers are units. |
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Term
| What is a biomass pyramid? |
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Definition
| A pyramid where the levels represent the actual mass (weight) of the living matter in the organisms in each trophic level. The size of the boxes can be distorted if one level has a peculiar reproductive rate for one year. Kilograms are units. |
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Term
| What is an energy pyramid? |
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Definition
| A pyramid that displays the total amount of energy captured and stored in the biomass of each trophic level over one year. Calories are units. |
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Term
What is competition?
What are two kinds of competition and examples of each? |
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Definition
Use of defense by one individual that reduces the availability to other individuals.
The two types of competition are intraspective and interspective.
Intraspective: Competition within a species. More intense.
Ex. Blue jays at a bird feeder.
Interspective: Between two different species.
Ex. A squirrel and a blue jay at a bird feeder. |
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Term
What is predation?
What are the two different categories within predation and examples of each? |
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Definition
One organism hunts and kills another. Involves a predator and prey.
The two categories within predation are predator and prey.
Predator: Hunter.
Ex. Coyote.
Prey: Hunted.
Ex. Chicken. |
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Term
What is symbiosis?
What are three types of symbiosis and examples of each? |
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Definition
Two organisms that live together in close association.
The three types of symbiosis are parasitism, commensalism and mutualism.
Parasitism: One organism benefits (parasite) at the expense of another (host).
Ex. Tick on a dog.
Commensalism: One organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed.
Ex. Cow and egret.
Mutualism: Both organisms benefit.
Ex. Clownfish and sea anemone. |
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Term
| What is the difference between a habitat and a niche? |
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Definition
Habitat: Where an organism lives; its natural home or environment.
Niche: How an organism lives; its function, job or role in its community. |
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Term
| What is the criteria used to classify a relationship as symbiotic? |
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Definition
| The organisms must be dissimilar, the relationship must be long-term and one organism usually lives in or on the other organism. |
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Term
| What are the resources for which organisms compete? |
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Definition
| Organisms compete for sunlight, territory, mates, water, food, habitats, oxygen and dominance. |
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Term
What is the difference between abiotic and biotic factors?
What are examples of each for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems? |
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Definition
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Term
| What are the levels of ecological organization? |
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Definition
Organism --->
Population (+ same species) --->
Community (+ all living things that interact) --->
Ecosystem (+ non-living things, abiotic factors) --->
Biome (+ group of similar ecosystems) --->
Biosphere (+ all ecosystems on earth) |
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Term
| What is biomagnification? |
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Definition
| Biomagnification is the process by which contaminants are found at progressively higher concentration as they pass from one trophic level to the next in an ecosystem. As you move higher and higher up the food chain, the concentration of toxins is much higher. |
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Term
| What are the pros and cons of using DDT as an insectide? |
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Definition
Pros: DDY reduced mosquito populations, controlled malaria in areas where troops were fighting, prevented the spread of lice, terminated the diseases that the lice carried and was cheap.
Cons: DDT got rid of insects that we need, had lasting effects on the environment, reduced some species populations and was fat solube (stays in organisms). |
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Term
What were three bird species that were negatively impacted by spraying DDT?
What was the specific effect on their species? |
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Definition
| Three bird species that were negatively effected by spraying DDT were eagles, osprey and brown pelicans. The DDT caused their eggs to have very weak and thing shells. If the shells are too thin, mothers would try to sit down on the eggs to incubate and the eggs would crack. |
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Term
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Definition
| Organic farming is when farmers plant and harvest crops without the use of herbicides, insecticides or fungicides. |
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Term
| What are the direct and indirect causes of mercury poisoning? |
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Definition
Direct: Eating contaminated seafood.
Indirect: Dental filling material goes down drains and into oceans and rivers. Waste combustion, or improper mercury disposal, of lightbulbs and batteries will get incinerated, emitted back into the air and then dropped back into the water.
We do not know what mercury's toxicity level is. |
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Term
| What are the benefits and consequences of eating fish while pregnant? |
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Definition
Benefits: Seafood possesses omega-3 fatty acids, which are key ingredients for the nervous system, brain and heart.
Consequences: Some seafood possesses mercury, which can be poisonous. It can harm a developing fetus' nervous system, cause learning disabilities and cause short-term memory loss. |
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Term
| What are three conditions that distinguish vernal pools from other aquatic ecosystems? |
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Definition
- Low oxygen levels.
- No fish.
- Ephemeral (temporary).
- Dead leaves (detritus) are the main producers.
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Term
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Definition
Facultative Species: Use both vernal pools and other wetland habitats.
Ex. Everything that is not on the obligate list.
Obligate Species: Completely dependent on vernal pools and are only found there.
Ex. Fingernail clams, fairy shrimp (burrow), wood frogs and mole salamanders (blue-spotted and spotted; only reproduce in vernal pools). |
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Term
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Definition
| An organism that has the ability to create its own food through photosynthesis. |
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Term
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Definition
| The entire planet and all of its living and nonliving parts. |
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Term
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Definition
| A collection of interacting populations. |
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Term
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Definition
| An organism that feeds on dead organic matter. |
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Term
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Definition
| Organic matter produced by the decomposition of other organisms. |
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Term
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Definition
| Interactions between biotic populations and abiotic factors in a community. |
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Term
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Definition
| An annual plant with an extremely short life span. |
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Term
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Definition
| A plant that grows on another plant but is not parasitic. |
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Term
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Definition
| An organism that is harmed by a parasite living on/inside of it. |
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Term
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Definition
| An organism that benefits from living on/inside of another organism while hurting the other organism. |
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Term
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Definition
| An autotroph that makes its own food through photosynthesis. |
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Term
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Definition
| A substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants and animals. |
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Term
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Definition
| A group of organisms of the same species that interbreed and live in the same place. |
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Term
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Definition
| Plant-like protists in aquatic ecosystems. The main energy source for animals living in water. |
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Term
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Definition
| An animal that feeds on alreadu dead animals or plants. |
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Term
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Definition
| An organism that transmits a parasite from one organism to another. |
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Term
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Definition
| Animal-like protists in aquatic ecosystems (microscopic primary consumers). |
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