ecology

• What is ecology primarily concerned with?

  Organisms and their environment interactions
• What are the key terms in ecology?

  • Habitat: place where an organism lives
  • Population: organisms of one species in a habitat
  • Community: populations of different species in a habitat
  • Abiotic factors: non-living environmental factors
  • Biotic factors: living environmental factors
  • Ecosystem: interaction of biotic and abiotic components
• Why do organisms compete for resources?

  To survive and reproduce effectively
• What do plants need from their environment?

  Light, space, water, and nutrients
• What do animals require from their environment?

  Space, food, water, and mates
• What is interdependence in a community?

  Species depend on each other for survival
• What can happen if one species is removed from an ecosystem?

  It can cause far-reaching effects on others
• What happens to blackfly larvae if stonefly larvae are lost?

  They experience less competition for algae
• How does the loss of stonefly larvae affect water spiders?

  They are more likely to be eaten by predators
• What is a stable community?

  A community with constant population sizes
• What are abiotic factors?

  Non-living factors in the environment
• Give an example of an abiotic factor.

  Temperature
• How can abiotic factors affect population sizes?

  Changes can increase or decrease populations
• What happens if light intensity decreases for plants?

  Photosynthesis rate decreases, affecting growth
• What can a decrease in soil mineral content cause?

  Deficiencies affecting plant growth
• What are biotic factors?

  Living factors in the environment
• Give an example of a biotic factor.

  New predators arriving
• How can new predators affect prey populations?

  They can decrease the prey population size
• What happens when grey squirrels outcompete red squirrels?

  The population of red squirrels decreases
• What does the graph of species A's population suggest?

  A new pathogen arrived around 1986
• What are adaptations?

  Features that help organisms survive
• What are structural adaptations?

  Features of an organism's body structure
• How does the Arctic fox's white fur help it?

  It camouflages against the snow
• Why do desert animals conserve water?

  To survive in arid conditions
• What is a behavioral adaptation?

  Ways organisms behave to survive
• Why do swallows migrate?

  To avoid cold winter conditions
• What is a functional adaptation?

  Processes related to metabolism and reproduction
• How do extremophiles survive in extreme conditions?

  They have unique adaptations for survival
• What do food chains illustrate?

  What is eaten by what in an ecosystem
• What do producers do?

  Make their own food using sunlight
• What is biomass?

  Energy stored in living material
• How are energy and biomass transferred in ecosystems?

  Through organisms eating each other
• What are primary consumers?

  Organisms that eat producers
• What happens to prey and predator populations in a stable community?

  They fluctuate in cycles based on food
• Why are predator-prey cycles out of phase?

  It takes time for populations to respond
• What is a quadrat?

  A square frame for sampling organisms
• How do you use quadrats to study organisms?

  Count organisms in a defined area
• What is the purpose of using transects?

  To study distribution across a line
• How can you estimate percentage cover in a quadrat?

  Estimate area covered by organisms
• How do you calculate the mean number of organisms per quadrat?

  Divide total organisms by number of quadrats