Download Reviewing for Ecology Test

Reviewing for Ecology Test:
Text Reference: Ch 2, 3,4,
Ch. 2: Principles of Ecology
 What is ecology?
 What are the levels of organization in the biosphere: O > P > C > E >
B
 Food webs: primary, secondary, etc. consumers; decomposers;
autotrophs
 Understand energy and biomass and numbers pyramids
 Know the basics of the carbon and nitrogen cycles
Ch. 3: Communities and Biomes
 What are limiting factors?
 General characteristics of the terrestrial and aquatic biomes; Be
able to read Fig. 3.9 on p. 75
 What is the difference between primary and secondary succession?
Ch. 4: Population Dynamics
 Difference between exponential growth of a population and one that
has limiting factors (S vs J graphs)
 What is carrying capacity? What can cause the carrying capacity
to change?
 Short vs long life history pattern
 Predator and prey relationships
 Effects of crowding on a population (p. 99)
 What is demography?
 Have humans reached there carrying capacity?
 What has allowed human populations to increase so rapidly?
 Be able to read an age structure diagram. What shapes shows a
rapidly growing and a stable population?
 Birth rate and death rate largely determine the population growth
rate.
Ch. 5: Biological Diversity and Conservation
 What is biodiversity? Why is it important?
 What is extinction? What is worse: threatened or endangered
species designation?
 Know something about each of the threats to biodiversity:
habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, pollution, acid rain, exotic
species, ozone depletion, global warming
 What is “conservation”? How do we attempt to conserve
species?
Vocabulary:
Ch 2
Ecology
Community
Population
Biosphere
Ecosystem
Abiotic/biotic
Commensalism
Parasitism
Mutualism
Habitat
Niche
autotroph
Ch 3
Limiting factor
Primary
Succession
Secondary
succession
Climax
community
Pioneer species
Ch 4
Exponential
growth
Carrying
capacity
Densitydependent
Densityindependent
Birth rate
Death rate
Emigration
immigration
Age structure
Ch 5
Biodiversity
Endangered
species
Threatened
species
Acid precipitation
Ozone depletion
Exotic species
Habitat
fragmentation