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Ecology
Define Ecology
Define Ecology
• study of the interactions that take place
among organisms and their environment
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Biosphere
• Biotic
• Abiotic
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Biosphere - part of Earth that supports
life, including the top portion of Earth's
crust, the atmosphere, and all the water on
Earth's surface
• Biotic - living
• Abiotic – non-living
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Biome
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Biome - large geographic areas with similar climates
and ecosystems
• Includes:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
TUNDRA
TAIGA
DESERT
TROPICAL RAINFOREST
TEMPERATE RAINFOREST
DECIDUOUS FOREST
DESERT
GRASSLAND
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Organism
• Population
• Community
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Organism – one of any living thing
• Population - all the organisms that belong
to the same species living in a community
• Community - all the populations of
different species that live in an ecosystem
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Ecosystem
• Habitat
• Niche
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Ecosystem - all the living organisms that live in
an area and the nonliving features of their
environment
• Habitat - place where an organism lives and
that provides the types of food, shelter, moisture,
and temperature needed for survival
• Niche - in an ecosystem, refers to the unique
ways an organism survives, obtains food and
shelter, and avoids danger
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Limiting factor
• Carrying capacity
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Limiting factor - anything that can restrict
the size of a population, including living
and nonliving features of an ecosystem,
such as predators or drought
• Carrying capacity - largest number of
individuals of a particular species that an
ecosystem can support over time
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Producer
• Consumer
• Decomposer
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Producer - organism, such as a green
plant or alga, that uses an outside source
of energy like the Sun to create energyrich food molecules
• Consumer - organism that cannot create
energy-rich molecules but obtains its food
by eating other organisms
• Decomposer – consume wastes and
dead organisms
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Predator
• Prey
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Predator – an animal that hunts and kills
other animals for food. A predator is a
consumer [carnivore or omnivore]
• Prey – an animal that is hunted and
caught for food. Prey is a consumer; it
may be a herbivore, omnivore, or
carnivore.
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Carnivore
• Herbivore
• Omnivore
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Carnivore – eat omnivores or other
carnivores [other consumers]
• Herbivore – eat producers
• Omnivore – eat producers and
consumers
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Adaptations of consumers:
– Carnivore - meat-eating animal with sharp
canine teeth specialized to rip and tear flesh
– Herbivore - plant-eating mammal with incisors
specialized to cut vegetation and large, flat
molars to grind it
– Omnivore - plant- and meat-eating animal
with incisors specialized to cut vegetables,
premolars to chew meat, and molars to grind
food
Review food chains, herbivores,
carnivores, omnivores,
decomposers
http://www.planetpals.com/foodch
ain.html
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Energy flow through an ecosystem
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Energy flow through an ecosystem - the
movement of energy through an
ecosystem through food webs. The
transfer of energy from one organism to
another.
Review the flow of energy
through plants and animals here:
http://www.ftexploring.com/me/me
2.html
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Food chain
• Food web
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Food chain - chain of organisms along
which energy , in the form of food passes.
An organism feeds on the link before it
and is in turn prey for the link after it.
• Food web - Complex network of many
interconnected food chains and feeding
relationships; a group of interconnecting
food chains
Review food chains here:
http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodch
ains.htm
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Energy pyramid
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Energy pyramid – a way of showing
energy flow. As the amount of available
energy decreases, the pyramid gets
smaller. Each layer on a pyramid is called
a trophic level.
Describe each of the following
terms:
Review energy pyramids here:
http://www.ftexploring.com/me/pyr
amid.html
Describe each of the following
terms:
•
•
•
•
Mutualism
Commensalism
Symbiosis
Parasitism
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Mutualism - a type of symbiotic relationship in
which both organisms benefit
• Commensalism - a type of symbiotic
relationship in which one organism benefits and
the other organism is not affected
• Symbiosis - any close relationship between
species, including mutualism, commensalism,
and parasitism
• Parasitism -a type of symbiotic relationship in
which one organism benefits and the other
organism is harmed
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Succession
• Primary succession
• Secondary succession
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Succession - natural, gradual changes in
the types of species that live in an area;
can be primary or secondary
• Primary succession – takes where no
soil exists
• Secondary succession – takes place
where soil is already present
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Pioneer species
• Climax community
Describe each of the following
terms:
• Pioneer species - a group of hardy
organisms, such as lichens, found in the
primary stage of succession and that
begin an area's soil-building process
• Climax community - stable, end stage of
ecological succession in which the plants
and animals of a community use
resources efficiently and balance is
maintained by disturbances such as fire.
Review succession here:
http://library.thinkquest.org/17456/
succession1.html
List the types of biomes:
List the types of biomes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Tundra
Taiga
Desert
Tropical rain forest
Temperate rain forest
Grasslands
Freshwater
Saltwater
Describe each biome
• Taiga - world's largest biome, located
south of the tundra between 50° N and 60°
N latitude; has long, cold winters,
precipitation between 35 cm and 100 cm
each year, cone-bearing evergreen trees,
and dense forests
Describe each biome
• Tundra - cold, dry, treeless biome with
less than 25 cm of precipitation each year,
a short growing season, permafrost, and
winters that can be six to nine months long
Describe each biome
• Temperate rainforest - biome with 200
cm to 400 cm of precipitation each year,
average temperatures between 9°C and
12°C, and forests dominated by trees with
needlelike leaves
Describe each biome
• Tropical rain forest - most biologically
diverse biome; has an average
temperature of 25°C and receives
between 200 cm and 600 cm of
precipitation each year
Describe each biome
• Grasslands - temperate and tropical
regions with 25 cm to 75 cm of
precipitation each year that are dominated
by climax communities of grasses; ideal
for growing crops and raising cattle and
sheep
Describe each biome
• Desert - driest biome on Earth with less
than 25 cm of rain each year; has dunes
or thin soil with little organic matter and
plants and animals specially adapted to
survive extreme conditions
Describe each biome
• Deciduous forest - biome usually having
four distinct seasons, annual precipitation
between 75 cm and 150 cm, and climax
communities of deciduous trees
Describe each biome
• Freshwater - flowing water such as rivers
and streams and standing water such as
lakes, ponds, and wetlands
Describe each biome
• Saltwater - oceans, seas, a few inland
lakes, such as the Great Salt Lake in Utah,
coastal inlets and estuaries
Review biomes here:
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/m
sese/earthsysflr/biomes.html
More information on biomes
can be found here:
http://mbgnet.mobot.org/