Review Ecology Chapters 3,4,5, & 6

 What is Ecology?  What is an ecosystem?  The study of interactions between organisms and their environment. The populations of living things and their physical surroundings (includes biotic and abiotic factors)

 What is a population?  What is a community?  What does biotic mean?  What does abiotic mean?  A group of living things of the same species living in the same place.  Several populations interacting.  Living  Non-living

 Group the following from largest group to smallest group: Community Individual Ecosystem Biosphere Population 1. Biosphere (largest) 2. Ecosystem 3. Community 4. Population 5. Individual (smallest)

 What is a producer? give an example  What is a consumer? give an example  An organism that makes its own food (autotrophs) Ex: plants  An organism that depends on other organisms for food. Ex: An antelope eats grass

 What is an organism that breaks down dead organisms?  What is an organism that feeds on the remains of dead animals?  What is an organism that hunts and kills other animals?  Decomposer  Scavenger  Predator

 What is mutualism?  What is commensalism?  What is parasitism?  A relationship in which both organisms benefit  A relationship in which one organisms benefits and the other is not affected  A relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed.

 What is an organism’s job?  What is the place where an organism lives?  What are limiting factors?  What is carrying capacity?  Its niche  Its habitat  A factor that restricts life, reproduction, or distribution of a population.  The number of organisms that an environment can support.

 What is primary succession?  What is secondary succession?  What plants usually appear first?  Last?  The creation of a new community by pioneer species and then continued growth and development. (starts w/out soil)  When a natural disaster causes old species to die and new species move in. (starts w/ soil)  Grasses and herbs  Hardwood trees

Name the type of growth shown in the following graphs:  Exponential  Linear  Logistic

 Only 10% of the energy stored in an organism can be passed on to the next trophic level. What happened to the rest?  Some is used in life processes  Some is lost as heat

 What is the contamination of the environment by waste materials?  Resources that are available in limited amounts and not easily replaced?  The process by which heat is retained in the atmosphere?  Pollution  Non-renewable  The greenhouse effect

 Increase in temp (greenhouse effect) due to too much Carbon Dioxide  The layer of gas in the atmosphere that blocks UV radiation.  Global Warming  Ozone layer

 Chemicals that contribute to the thinning of the ozone layer (ozone depletion)  Exposure to UV radiation can cause…  CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons)  Skin Cancer  Eye damage  Decreased resistance to disease

 How does the size of the population of humans affect the world’s natural resources?  Pollution  Depletion of nonrenewable resources  Loss of habitat for other organisms

 What are introduced species?  Species that are not native to an area, but have been introduced into an area by man.  May cause problems with the local community/ disrupt the food web

 What is acid rain?  What causes it?  How does it affect the environment?  Rainwater or snow that has a lower pH than normal rainwater.  Air pollution (carbon dioxide) combining with water in the atmosphere to form acids such as carbonic acid.  Damages plants, kills fish, contaminates water

 Describe the steps of the water cycle. 1. Evaporation 2. Transpiration 3. Condensation 4. Precipitation 5. Runoff 6. Seepage 1. Water turns into a gas 2. Water evaporates from the leaves of plants 3. Water vapor turns back into a liquid – forms clouds 4. Water falls to Earth as rain, snow, sleet, or hail 5. Water runs along the surface of the earth 6. Water is absorbed into the ground