Download I. VOCABULARY: II. SPECIES RELATIONSHIPS:

Name:_____________________________________________________Period:____Date:_______________
I. VOCABULARY:
ƒ
_____________________- The scientific study of interaction between organism and their environments.
o Environments:
ƒ ________________________–all the living organism that inhabit an environment
ƒ ________________________– the nonliving parts of the environment
• Ex: air currents, temperature, moisture, light, and soil
ƒ
______________________– is a group of organisms of one species that interbreed and live in the same
place at the same time
o Organisms compete for food, water, mates.
ƒ Determines how large each population can become
ƒ
_____________________- The interacting system of a biological community and its nonliving
environment.
ƒ
________________________– is a collection of interacting populations
o A change in one population in a community will cause changes in the other populations
ƒ
__________________________- Place where an organism lives;
o Even in the same ecosystem, different organisms differ in their habitats.
II. SPECIES RELATIONSHIPS:
ƒ
____________________- Organisms that produce their own food are called _________________.
o Ex: Plants
o all of the species of the ecosystem depend on autotrophs for nutrients and energy.
ƒ
___________________________- They obtain food by eating other organisms.
o All the organisms that cannot make their own food (and need autotrophs) are
called____________________________.
o There are different levels of consumers:
ƒ Those that feed directly from producers, i.e. organisms that eat plant or plant products
are called___________________________.
9 How do you think we can classify consumers? ……Based on what they EAT!!
1. __________________________- consumer that eats only plants
Ex: grasshoppers, mice, rabbits, deer, beavers, moose, cows, sheep
2. ________________________________- consumer that eats only other animals.
Ex: Foxes, frogs, snakes, hawks, and spiders.
3. ________________________________– consumer that eats the remains of dead animals.
Ex: vultures, buzzards, crows, ants, beetles
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4. __________________________- eats both plants (acting as primary consumers) and meat (acting as
secondary or tertiary consumers).
Ex: Bears --They eat insects, fish, moose, elk, deer, sheep as well as honey, grass
5. ________________________- organisms that break down the remains of other organisms.
o Found at the bottom of the food web.
Ex: Bacteria, yeast, fungi, worms and many insects
III. RELATIONSHIPS FOR SURVIVAL:
ƒ
________________________– permanent, close association between two or more organisms of
different species
o 3 types:
1. ________________________– one species benefits and the other species is neither
harmed nor helped
Ex: an orchid growing on the branch of a larger plant
2. _______________________– relationship that is beneficial to both species
Ex: acacia trees (provides food/shelter for ants) and ants (protect tree by attacking any
herbivore)
3. _______________________– one species benefits at the expense of the other species
Ex: ticks, tapeworms live on or in the organism
IV. MATTER & ENERGY IN ECOSYSTEMS:
ƒ
_______________________- Show one prey-predator relationship and how each living thing gets its food.
o Some animals eat plants and some animals eat other animals.
o Ex: Trees/shrubs Æ giraffes Æ lions
o Each link in this chain is food for the next link.
o Always starts with plant life and ends with an animal.
o ____________________________-link represented by each organism in a food chain;
ƒ Represents a feeding step in the transfer of ____________and matter in an ecosystem.
Ö All energy in an ecosystem originates with the___________.
ƒ
Plants transform solar energy into chemical
energy (food) via photosynthesis
ƒ
This is consumed by plant-eating animals, which
are in turn consumed as food.
Ö The total energy transfer from one trophic level to the
next is only about _______, the other 90% is lost as
___________
ƒ
Heat is lost by:
1. Organisms fail to capture and eat
________food available at the trophic
level below them
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2. Not all food that is captured and eaten __________________________
3. Digested food is _______________by the organism as a source of energy.
ƒ
______________________- model used to express feeding relationship among the members of a
community.
o A group of interlinked ____________________
o Illustrates:
1. Who eats who?
2. ______________ = energy flow through the community
3. Functional feeding groups
4. Important ecological interactions
V. Differences between a food web & food chain:
1. ____________________ONLY show one prey-predator relationship. The source of food is also often
____________________with many animals adapting to changes in the season by eating different types
of food.
2. ____________________show a better picture of interrelationships between plants and animals.
VI. How Pollution Can Affect Organism:
ƒ
__________________________= The process of increasing a chemical concentration through the food
chain (Examples: DDT and PCB)
o Animals that eat other animals have HIGHER levels of contaminants than animals that eat plants.
o Some contaminants are persistent - once they are in the animal's body, they stay there for a long time.
o So when smaller animals are eaten by bigger animals, all the contaminants stored in their tissues are
then ____________________to the bigger animal.
o The result of biomagnification is that animals ____________________________________
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o The top predators at the end of along food chain,
such as lake trout, large salmon and fish-eating
gulls, may accumulate concentrations of a toxic
chemical high enough to cause serious deformities
or death even though the concentration of the
chemical in the open water is extremely low.
o The concentration of some chemicals in the fatty
tissues of top predators can be millions of times
higher than the concentration in the open water.
VII. A Change in Communities OVER Time: SUCCESSION
ƒ
___________________= orderly, natural changes that take place in the communities of an ecosystem
o The community of organisms inhabiting an area ________________changes.
o __________________________________ since it can take decade or centuries for one type of
community to completely succeed another.
Figure 1: Succession of plant species on abandoned fields in North Carolina. Pioneer species
consist of a variety of annual plants. This successional stage is then followed by communities of
perennials and grasses, shrubs, softwood trees and shrubs, and finally hardwood trees and shrubs.
This succession takes about 120 years to go from the pioneer stage to the climax community.
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___________________________________= establishment of a community in an area of exposed rock that
does not have any topsoil.
o Ex: ______________flowing from a volcano destroys everything in its path, but when it cools it
forms new land
o Ex: ________________gradually deposit silt along their banks, creating new soil in which plants
can take root.
o After some time, primary succession slows down, and the community becomes fairly_________.
ƒ
ƒ
A stable, mature community that undergoes little of NO succession is called
a________________________________.
_________________________________= the sequence of community changes that takes place when a
community is disrupted by natural disasters or human actions
ƒ
Ex: Hurricanes, forest fires, farmers abandoning fields
VIII. Biomes
ƒ
____________________= a large group of ecosystems that share the same type of climax community
ƒ
Two factors that will determine which biome will be dominant on land:
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
ƒ
World Biomes:
1. ___________________________
ƒ Occurs between the taiga and the permanently frozen polar regions
ƒ annual precipitation is usually less than 250 mm, and water is not available for living
organisms most of the time.
ƒ During summer months (mostly July and August), the upper layer of the soil thaws, but half a
meter underground the soil remains frozen = permafrost.
ƒ As a result of the permafrost, short summers and very long cold winters, NO trees occur in
the tundra.
ƒ Bogs, ponds and herbaceous plants (and billions of mosquitoes) characterize the landscape,
and even the few woody plants (Dwarf Birch, Arctic Willow) are dwarf.
2. _____________________________
ƒ Occupies a wide belt between the tundra and the temperate forests on the American and
Eurasian continents.
ƒ Characterized by short cool summers (but longer than in the tundra) and long, dry, cold
winters.
ƒ Precipitation is only 300-500 mm annually, and most of it is in the form of snow.
ƒ The forest trees are typically different species of firs, spruces and larches mixed with birch
toward the south.
ƒ The soil is grayish with a shallow humus layer, poor in nutrients and acidic with a
permanently frozen layer at various depth.
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3. _____________________________ (where we live!)
ƒ Or broadleaved deciduous forests receive 600-2500 mm precipitation annually, which is
more or less evenly distributed throughout the year.
ƒ The winters are much milder and shorter than those in the taiga with only one or two month
below freezing.
ƒ Characterized by many species of oak, ash, beech, maple and elm, this biome is also rich in
understory shrubs and herbaceous plants that are particularly dominant in the spring.
ƒ The vegetation exhibits seasonal changes with growth mostly occurring during spring and
summer.
ƒ The soil has a well developed and thick humus layer which is usually brown; however, due
to the large amount of precipitation, the soil is typically acidic.
4. ____________________________________
ƒ Occur close to the Equator, where temperature fluctuates only little, and the precipitation is
more or less evenly distributed throughout a year.
ƒ The annual rainfall is between 2000-5000 mm (up to 17 feet!), and as a consequence, the
humidity is very high.
ƒ Due to the excess rainfall and rapid decomposition, the soils are very devoid of nutrients.
Most of the organic matter is in the form of litter (dead material) or in living organisms.
ƒ The lowland rainforests (or jungle) are located near the sea level, whereas at higher
elevations, montane rainforests or cloud forests develop.
ƒ The vegetation is lush with many layers in the canopy that support an incredible diversity of
life.
5. ____________________________________
ƒ Usually occur between the broadleaved forest and desert biomes.
ƒ They receive 250-600 mm rainfall during mostly the summer months.
ƒ The winters are cold and dry.
ƒ Due to slow decomposition, the soil accumulates huge amounts of humus, whose black layer
may be more than a meter thick (hence the name of the soil: black earth, black land,
chernozem).
ƒ The little precipitation does not support trees, but grasses and herbs are present in great
abundance.
ƒ Depending on the amount of rainfall, there are varieties of grasslands such as tallgrass,
mixedgrass or shortgrass prairies and steppes. In the latter, drought tolerant grasses (such as
feathergrass and buffalograss) and annual plants predominate. Grasslands in North America
are called prairie, in Eurasia they are called steppe (in Hungary it is the puszta), and in South
America pampa.
ƒ support a large number of herbivores from antelopes, horses and bisons to mice,
groundsquirrels and gophers.
6. _____________________________
ƒ There is less than 250 mm annual precipitation. The precipitation is unpredictable; there are
long periods of drought lasting for eight to ten years.
ƒ Warm deserts experience very mild winters with few freezing days (Sonoran, Chihuahuan,
Saharan deserts), whereas cold deserts have an extended period of winter with termperatures
well below freezing (Taklimakan, Gobi).
ƒ Plant cover is sparse, and characterized by drought tolerant brushes, succulent and annual
plants.
ƒ Deserts are particularly rich in reptiles (snakes and lizards) and rodents (gerbils, jerboas and
kangaroo rats), and most of the animals are nocturnal (active at night).
ƒ The soil is very poor in nutrients, and the humus layer is absent or only weakly developed.
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Food Web Worksheet
Identify the:
1. Producers (2)
2. Primary Consumers (4)
3. Secondary Consumers (4)
4. Herbivores (3)
5. Carnivores (4)
6. Omnivores (1)
7. What elements are missing from this
food web? ______________________
8. All energy in an ecosystem originates with the _______________.
9. The total energy transfer form one tropic level to the next is only about _______%, the
other ______% is lost in the form of heat.
10. A tick feeds on the blood of a rabbit. What type of symbiosis is this? ________________
11. A squirrel eats the berries and spread the berry-plants seeds in its feces. What type of
symbiosis is this? ______________________________
12. Barnacles adhering to the skin of a whale. What type of symbiosis is this?
_________________
13. Look at the food web above. What would happen if a disease killed the entire grasshopper
population?
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Directions:
FARM AREA FOOD WEB & CHAIN:
1) Construct a food web using the animals listed below in the box. This ecosystem represents a farm
area. The corn is the main source of food for many of the herbivores in the area. You do not have to
draw pictures; you can just use the animal names and draw arrows between them.
o CORN
o SNAKE (eats: mouse, squirrel)
o CATERPILLAR (eats: corn)
o DEER (eats: corn)
o CROW(eats: corn, snake, mouse, caterpillar)
o MOUSE (eats: corn, caterpillar)
o COUGAR (eats: deer, mouse, snake, squirrel)
o SQUIRREL (eats: corn)
o DECOMPOSERS (microorganisms)
2) What niche do the caterpillar, squirrel & deer have in this ecosystem? ____________________
3) What niche does the cougar have in this ecosystem? __________________________
4) Construct a food chain using 3 organisms from above (remember you must start with a producer!).
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Ecology Review Worksheet
Name:___________________________________________Period:____Date:_______
Vocabulary Matching:
___1. Feeds on dead organisms
___2. Study of how living things relate to each other and to their
environment
___3. Step in the passage of energy and matter through an ecosystem
___4. Relationship between organisms in which one benefits and the other is
neither harmed nor benefited
___5. Relationship between organisms in which one organism benefits and
the other is harmed
___6. Breaks down dead organisms
___7. Simple model for showing how matter and energy move through an
ecosystem
___8. Place where an organisms spends its life
___9. The role an organism has in an ecosystem (carnivore, omnivore, etc)
___10. Manufactures food using energy from the sun; makes their own food
___11. Obtains energy and nutrients from autotrophs
___12. Network of interconnected food chains
A. food web
B. mutualism
C. succession
D. niche
E. heterotroph
F. commensalism
G. autotroph
H. scavenger
I. community
J. trophic level
K. decomposer
L. ecology
M. food chain
N. parasitism
O. habitat
___13. Group formed by several populations
___14. Relationship between organisms in which BOTH organisms benefit
___15. Orderly, natural changes that take place in the communities of an ecosystem
Short Answer: Provide the correct answers.
1) All energy originates with the ______________.
2) A stable, mature community that undergoes little or NO succession is called a
____________________________________________.
3) A forest fire destroys 10,000 acres of a forest and new grasses are starting to grow. This is an
example of___________________________.
4) ___________________ is the establishment of a community in an area of exposed rock that does
not have any topsoil.
5) The process of increasing a chemical concentration through the food chain is called
___________________________________.
6) A large group of ecosystems that shares the same type of climax community is called a
___________________.
7) The total energy transfer from one tropic level to another is about _______%.
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8) List two biotic factors in an environment.
a. ____________________________________
b. ____________________________________
9) List two abiotic factors in an environment.
a. ____________________________________
b. ____________________________________
10) What two factors determine where each biome is located on the earth?
a. ____________________________________
b. ____________________________________
11) The clownfish has shelter in the sea anemone and the sea anemone get food that the fish brings.
What type of symbiosis is taking place between a clownfish and sea anemone? Why?
12) A tree provides a habitat for lichens, allowing it to receive ample sunlight. What type of symbiosis is
taking place between a tree and lichen? Why?
13) A dog is infected with heart worms that weaken the heart muscles. What type of symbiosis is taking
place between a dog and heart worm? Why?
14) Look at the following food chain: Plant Æ insect Æsmall bird Æ hawk
a. How does energy flow in the food chain?
Biome Identification: Desert, Taiga, Tundra, Rainforest, Temperate Forest, Grassland
_______________________1. The biome where we live (Pennsylvania)
_______________________2. Has a lot of reptiles and rodents
_______________________3. Receives about 17 feet of rain per year!
_______________________4. Little precipitation; does not support trees, but grasses and herbs are
abundant
_______________________5. Vegetation exhibits 4 seasonal changes
_______________________6. Lies below the tundra and has different species of fir and spruce trees
(pine trees)
_______________________7. Permafrost is present
_______________________8. Plant cover is sparse, and characterized by drought tolerant brushes
and cacti
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Unit Learning Map (10 days):
Ecology
Mrs. Hostetter
Class: Biology B: PA standard: 3.3.10: Explain the structural an functional similarities
and differences found among living things
Optional
Instructional Tools:
Unit Essential Question(s):
Biome Project
How are organisms
affected by the abiotic &
biotic factors in the
environment?
Concept
Concept
Concept
Food Webs
Succession
Biomes
Lesson Essential Questions:
Lesson Essential Questions:
Lesson Essential Questions:
What stages are
involved in an
ecosystem
changing over
time?
What
characteristics
identify each
biome on the
Earth?
How does energy
flow through the
ecosystem?
Vocabulary:
Ecology
Biotic factors
Abiotic factors
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Habitat
Producer
Consumer
Herbivores
Carnivores
Scavengers
Decomposers
Niche
Food chain
Food web
Tropic levels
Symbiosis
Commensalism
Mutualism
Parasitism
Biomagnification
Vocabulary:
Succession
Primary succession
Secondary succession
Climax community
Vocabulary:
Concept
Lesson Essential Questions:
Vocabulary:
Biomes
Tundra
Taiga
Temperate Forest
Tropical Rainforest
Grassland
Desert
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Ecology Vocabulary:
1) Ecology = the scientific study of interaction between organism and their environments
2) Biotic factors = all the living organism that inhabit an environment
3) Abiotic factors = the nonliving parts of the environment
4) Population = a group of organisms of one species that interbreed and live in the same
place at the same time
5) Ecosystem = the interacting system of a biological community and its nonliving environment
6) Community = is a collection of interacting populations
7) Habitat = place where an organism lives
8) Producer = organisms that produce their own food are called autotrophs
9) Consumer = they obtain food by eating other organisms
10) Herbivores = consumer that eats only plants
11) Carnivores = consumer that eats only other animals
12) Scavengers = consumer that eats the remains of dead animals
13) Omnivores = eats both plants (acting as primary consumers) and meat (acting as secondary or tertiary
consumers)
14) Decomposers = organisms that break down the remains of other organisms
15) Niche = a role that an organism has in the environment (omnivore, carnivore, herbivore, etc.)
16) Food chain = shows only one prey-predator relationship and how each living thing gets its food
17) Food web = shows a better picture of interrelationships between plants and animals
18) Tropic levels = link represented by each organism in a food chain
19) Symbiosis = permanent, close association between two or more organisms of different species
20) Commensalism = one species benefits and the other species is neither harmed nor helped
21) Mutualism = relationship that is beneficial to both species
22) Parasitism = one species benefits at the expense of the other species
23) Biomagnification = the process of increasing a chemical concentration through the food chain
24) Succession = orderly, natural changes that take place in the communities of an ecosystem
ƒ
Primary succession = establishment of a community in an area of exposed rock that does not have any
topsoil.
25) Secondary succession = the sequence of community changes that takes place when a community is
disrupted by natural disasters or human actions
26) Climax community = a stable, mature community that undergoes little of NO succession is called
27) Biomes = a large group of ecosystems that share the same type of climax community
ƒ
Two factors that will determine which biome will be dominant on land: Temperature and precipitation
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28) Tundra =
- Occurs between the taiga and the permanently frozen polar regions
- Annual precipitation is usually less than 250 mm, and water is not available for living organisms most of the time.
- During summer months (mostly July and August), the upper layer of the soil thaws, but half a meter underground
the soil remains frozen = permafrost.
- As a result of the permafrost, short summers and very long cold winters, NO trees occur in the tundra.
- Bogs, ponds and herbaceous plants (and billions of mosquitoes) characterize the landscape, and even the few
woody plants (Dwarf Birch, Arctic Willow) are dwarf.
29) Taiga =
- -Occupies a wide belt between the tundra and the temperate forests on the American and Eurasian continents.
- -Characterized by short cool summers (but longer than in the tundra) and long, dry, cold winters.
- -Precipitation is only 300-500 mm annually, and most of it is in the form of snow.
- -The forest trees are typically different species of firs, spruces and larches mixed with birch toward the south.
30) Temperate Forest (where we live!) =
-Or broadleaved deciduous forests receive 600-2500 mm precipitation annually, which is more or less evenly
distributed throughout the year.
-The winters are much milder and shorter than those in the taiga with only one or two month below freezing.
-Characterized by many species of oak, ash, beech, maple and elm, this biome is also rich in understory shrubs
and herbaceous plants that are particularly dominant in the spring.
-The vegetation exhibits seasonal changes with growth mostly occurring during spring and summer.
31) Tropical Rain Forest =
-Occur close to the Equator, where temperature fluctuates only little, and the precipitation is more or less evenly
distributed throughout a year.
-The annual rainfall is between 2000-5000 mm (up to 17 feet!), and as a consequence, the humidity is very high.
-Due to the excess rainfall and rapid decomposition, the soils are very devoid of nutrients. Most of the organic
matter is in the form of litter (dead material) or in living organisms.
-The vegetation is lush with many layers in the canopy that support an incredible diversity of life.
32) Grassland =
-Usually occur between the broadleaved forest and desert biomes.
-They receive 250-600 mm rainfall during mostly the summer months.
-The winters are cold and dry.
-Due to slow decomposition, the soil accumulates huge amounts of humus, whose black layer may be more than a
meter thick (hence the name of the soil: black earth, black land, chernozem).
-The little precipitation does not support trees, but grasses and herbs are present in great abundance.
-Depending on the amount of rainfall, there are varieties of grasslands such as
tallgrass, mixedgrass or shortgrass prairies and steppes. In the latter, drought tolerant grasses (such as feathergrass
and buffalograss) and annual plants predominate. Grasslands in North America are called prairie, in Eurasia they
are called steppe (in Hungary it is the puszta), and in South America pampa.
-support a large number of herbivores from antelopes, horses and bisons to mice,
groundsquirrels and gophers.
33) Desert =
-There is less than 250 mm annual precipitation. The precipitation is unpredictable; there are long periods of
drought lasting for eight to ten years.
-Warm deserts experience very mild winters with few freezing days (Sonoran,
Chihuahuan, Saharan deserts), whereas cold deserts have an extended period of winter with temperatures well
below freezing (Taklimakan, Gobi).
-Plant cover is sparse, and characterized by drought tolerant brushes, succulent and annual plants.
-Deserts are particularly rich in reptiles (snakes and lizards) and rodents (gerbils, jerboas and kangaroo rats), and
most of the animals are nocturnal (active at night).
-The soil is very poor in nutrients, and the humus layer is absent or only weakly developed
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