B7: Ecology

• Archaea are often found in extreme environments and are called extremophiles.
• Ecology is the study of how organisms interact in an ecosystem
• What are abiotic factors in an ecosystem?

  Non-living aspects
• Biotic factors in an ecosystem include food availability, predators, and breeding behavior.
• What is a quadrat used for in ecology?

  Estimate population size
• A transect with a quadrat allows observation of population distribution changes over a distance
• Levels in a food chain from lowest to highest

  1️⃣ Producers

  2️⃣ Primary consumers

  3️⃣ Secondary consumers

  4️⃣ Tertiary consumers

  5️⃣ Apex predators
• What is the role of producers in a food chain?

  Convert sunlight to biomass
• Apex predators have no natural predators above them in the food chain.
• All life is carbon-based, meaning carbon is recycled when organisms die
• What do farmers use decomposition for?

  Produce natural fertilizers
• Deforestation reduces biodiversity by destroying habitats
• What does the Pyramid of Biomass show?

  Biomass transfer between levels
• Biomass is lost at each trophic level due to respiration, excretion, and decomposition.
• Food security is threatened by increasing world population
• What is one way to fish sustainably?

  Use nets with large holes