Download Part I. Aim # 48- Levels of Interaction within an

Name: ________________________________
Date: ___________________
Period: ________
Living Environment Unit 8 Ecology Study Guide
Due Date: _______________ Test Date: ___________
Unit 8 Important Topics:
Aim # 47: Levels of Interaction within an Environment
Aim # 48: Nutritional Roles
Aim # 49: Food Chains and Food Webs
Aim # 50: Tropic Levels and Energy
Aim # 51: Community Interactions
Aim # 52: Limits on Population Size
Aim # 53: Recycling of Materials
Aim # 54: Succession
Part I. Aim # 47- Levels of Interaction within an Environment
1. Define Ecology: ______________________________________________________________________________________
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2. How are abiotic and biotic factors similar and different from one another? Be sure to include:
a. The definition
b. Three examples
c. Do organisms depend on this type of factor in the environment? Explain why or why not.
d. Two similarities.
3.
Write “ABIOTIC” in the space provided if the specimen is NON-LIVING.
Write “BIOTIC” in the space provided if the specimen is LIVING.
a. ________________________ sunlight
b.
________________________ plants
c.
________________________ air
d.
________________________ decomposers
e.
________________________ bananas
f.
________________________ herbivores
**Vocabulary Words**:
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Biosphere- part of the Earth in which life exists including land, water, or air
Biome – a group of ecosystems that have similar climates and organisms
Ecosystem- all the living (biotic factors) and nonliving (abiotic factors) things that live in an area
Community- a group of different populations that live together in a certain area
Population- a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area
Individual Organism- any single living thing
4. Match the following numbers in the diagram below with the appropriate Vocabulary Words on the right
6
# ___________= Biome
5
# ___________= individual organism
# ___________= ecosystem
4
# ___________= population
# ___________= biosphere
# ___________= community
2
1
5.
3
Place the levels of interaction above in order from most broad (complex) to most specific (simplest).
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6.
Explain the difference between an ecosystem, community, and population.
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Part II: Aim # 48 Nutritional Roles, Food Chains and Food Webs
**Vocabulary Words**:
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Habitat- the place where an organism lives
Ecological Niche- the role that each species plays in an ecosystem
Autotroph/producer- organism that is able to capture energy from sunlight and use to make its own food
Heterotroph/consumer- organism that obtains food by relying on other organisms
Herbivore- obtains energy by eating only plants
Carnivore- obtains energy by only eating animals
Omnivores- obtains energy by eating both plants and animals
Decomposer-organism that breaks down dead organisms and obtains energy from them
Scavenger- animal that consumes the carcasses of other animals.
7.
How are a niche and a habitat different from one another? ____________________________________________________
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8.
Only one species can occupy a particular niche at a time. What is the result if more than one species tries to occupy the same
niche? ___________________________________________________________________________________________
9.
What do autotrophs/producers do during photosynthesis?
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10. Why do autotrophs/producers not have to eat other organisms to get energy?
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11. How do heterotrophs get their energy?
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12. How are herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores different from one another?
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13. Are decomposers autotrophs or heterotrophs? _____________________ Give two examples: ________________________
Explain why decomposers are so important:
Part III. Aim # 49- Food Chains and Food Webs
**Vocabulary Words**:
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Food Chain- a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten.
Food Web- a network of all food chains in an ecosystem
Trophic level- each step in a food chain/food web/ or energy pyramid
Energy pyramid- a diagram that illustrates the transfer of energy through a food chain or food web.
14. Use the following food web to answer the following questions:
a.
Name a producer/autotroph: ________________________
b.
Name a herbivore: ______________________________
c.
Name an omnivore: ______________________________
d.
Name a carnivore: ________________________________
e.
Name a primary consumer: _________________________
f.
Name a secondary consumer: _______________________
g.
What important abiotic factor is missing? ____________
15. If the red tailed hawk population decreased would the number of seeds available increase or decrease?
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16. How would the effect above now affect the grouse population? Support your answer.
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17. If grasses were removed from the population, who would have a better chance of survival, butterflies or marmots?
Explain your answer:
Part IV: Aim # 50- Trophic Levels and Energy
18. Use the food web from Questions 14-17. Choose a food chain from the food web that has four populations in it. The food
chain must start with an autotroph and end with a top predator. Fill out the food chain below.
_________________________
_________________________
_______________________
______________________
19. Using the same food chain, fill out the energy pyramid below. Include the percentage of energy available at each level.
Energy Available: ___________%
Energy Available: ___________%
Energy Available: ___________%
Energy Available: ___________%
20. From the food chain and energy pyramid above identify the populations of the following trophic levels:
a.
Primary producer = ______________________________________________________
b.
Primary Consumer = _____________________________________________________
c.
Secondary Consumer = _____________________________________________________
d.
Tertiary Consumer = _____________________________________________________
21. Use the food web from Questions 14-17. If the berries and flowers receives 100% of the energy created by photosynthesis,
how much of that energy is passed to the butterfly. Explain why this energy is greater or less.
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22. How much energy is passed on to the deer in that same food chain? _______________________________
23. What happens to the energy if it is not passed onto the organisms in the food chain?
Explain why so much of it is lost:
24. According to the food web, which organisms are there the least of (numbers of organisms in the population)?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
25. According to the food web, which organisms are there the most of (numbers of organisms in the population)?
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Part V: Aim # 51- Niches and Community Interactions
**Vocabulary Words**
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Competition- the struggle between organisms for the same limited resources in a particular area.
Resource- any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients, light, food, or space.
Competitive Exclusive Principle- states that no two species can occupy the same niche in exactly the same habitat at the same
time.
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Predator- kills and eats other organisms.
Prey- killed for food
Symbiosis- occurs when two species live closely together in one of three ways.
Mutualism- both species benefit from the relationship
Parasitism- one species benefits by living in or on the other species and the other is harmed.
Commensalism- one species benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed.
22. Competition results when organisms fight for the same _____________________________________.
23. Direct competition often results in ____________ species dying out.
24. _____________________ kill and eat other organisms.
25. _____________________ are killed for food.
26. In an ecosystem, which is more abundant: predators or prey? ________________ Explain why this is important
#27-32 Matching: Match the appropriate vocabulary words to the appropriate description.
27.
A tapeworm living in a person’s intestines (harming the person)
28.
When a foot fungus grows on a human, the human is considered a
Type of relationship/Term
A. Mutualism
B. Commensalism
C. Parasitism
D. Parasite
E. Host
29.
Deer ticks are responsible for spreading Lyme disease. This organism,
which feeds on the blood of warm-blooded organisms like mice, deer, and humans, is best
described as a
30.
Microorganisms living in the intestines of termites break down cellulose, providing food for both the
termites and the microorganisms. This nutritional relationship is known as
31.
A bee eating a flower’s nectar and picking up the flowers pollen (helps the flower reproduce)
32.
A barnacle living on a whale’s skin (causing no harm)
Part VI. Aim # 52- Limits of Population Size
26. What does finite mean? ____________________________________________________________________________________
27. What does infinite mean? ___________________________________________________________________________________
28. Is it possible for resources to be infinite for a long period of time? _______________
29. As resources become finite what happens to competition within a community?
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30. Describe one abiotic factor and how the amount available can limit the size of a population.
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31. Describe one biotic factor and how the amount available can limit the size of a population.
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32. Define carrying capacity: ____________________________________________________________________________
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33. Which conditions would cause a population to go above carrying capacity?______________________________________
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34. Which conditions would cause a population to go below carrying capacity?______________________________________
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35. Explain how competition, disease and predators keep the size of a population from growing and keep a population of species “in
check”
Part VII: Aim # 53- Recycling Materials in Ecosystems
36. In any stable ecosystem, name 3 materials that get recycled between organisms:
37. What is NOT recycled between organisms of an ecosystem:
38. Carbon-Oxygen Cycle: According to the diagram below….
a.
What gas is given off in arrow A? ___________ What life process is responsible for its release? ________________
b.
What gas is absorbed by the process above?
c.
What gas is given off in arrow B? ___________ What life process is responsible for its release? ________________
d.
What gas is absorbed by the process above?
e.
Explain what would happen if the fish and small water animals were removed in this ecosystem:
39. Nitrogen Cycle: Nitrogen is needed by all organisms to build proteins and DNA.
Organisms cannot directly use the nitrogen in the air to synthesize proteins in DNA. Which organisms break down the
dead organisms and so nitrogen can be restored into the soil?
40. Use the terms in the diagram below to explain how carbon, oxygen and nitrogen are recycled through the
ecosystem with the help of the interactions between the abiotic and biotic factors in the ecosystem. Use ALL of the
words and terms in the diagram in your explanation
Part VIII: Aim # 54- Ecological Succession
** Vocabulary Words **
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Ecological Succession- the process by which an existing community is replaced by another community.
Pioneer Species- the first species to inhabit an area
Natural disturbance- ex) hurricane, volcano eruption, tornado, flooding, etc.
Human caused disturbance- ex) forest clearing (burning down forests for use of the land)
Climax Community- a relatively diverse and stable ecosystem that is the end result of succession.
Biodiversity- the variety of species in an area.
33. Why is the picture above an example of ecological succession?
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34. Which community above would represent the climax community:____________________ Why?
35. If a fire burned down the forest, which would be the first organisms to appear after recovery? ____________________.
What are these types of organisms called? (1 st inhabitants)
36. According to the diagram on the previous page, explain the relationship between time and biodiversity.
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Why does an increase in biodiversity increase the stability of an ecosystem?
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37. Name THREE things that an ecosystem must have to be STABLE and SELF-SUSTAINING
a.
b.
c.
38. Name THREE things that can DISRUPT the stability of an ecosystem
a.
b.
c.