Chapter 3 - Ecology - Key Notes Test November 20
Chapter 3 - Ecology - Key Notes
The hierarchy of an eco system are organisms, populations, communities, ecosystem, and biome.
The living and nonliving things in an area make up an ecosystem. An ecosystem is an area in which living things (biotic) interact with one another and with nonliving (abiotic) things. Parts of an ecosystem include things such as organisms, populations, communities, soil, air, water, and sunlight.
All organisms of the same kind that live in a particular area make up a population
All populations that live together in the same place make up a community.
A biome is a region of the world with a particular climate and similar types of plants and animals. Examples of biomes are forests, deserts, grasslands, rivers, tundra, rainforest, and coral reefs.
The various living things in an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, and bacteria are known as biotic factors.
The nonliving parts of an ecosystem such as water, minerals, sunlight, air, and soil are abiotic factors.
Plant cells require nutrients in the form of minerals that come from the soil. Soil is an abiotic factor that can influence plant survival. Another abiotic factor that affects plants is the climate. An example would be the mangrove forest that requires a tropical climate in order to survive.
Symbiosis is a relationship between two kinds of organisms that lasts over time. One of the best known examples of this is the exchange between plants and their pollinators the bee.
Two factors that affect the survival of an aquatic organism are water quality and sunlight.
Sunlight impacts not only aquatic organisms, but all plant life. A good example of this would be the trees in the forest. Trees in a forest are different heights because some trees need less sunlight than others.
Sunlight is able to penetrate the top several meters of marine water, where most plant and animal life exist. This in an example of how solar energy interacts with the ocean system.
Producers form the base of all ecosystems. Producers are organisms that can make their own food through photosynthesis.
If there is a drought in an ecosystem, the competition for food among primary consumers increase.
Decomposers are organisms that obtain their food from dead organisms. Examples of decomposers would be bacteria and fungi.
An example of people affecting animal habitats would be the development of housing subdivisions that would destroy the habitats of animals.
Rain is an abiotic factor that affects plant life. An example of this would be that there are more plants in a forest than in a desert because there is more rain in a forest. Another good example of how rain affects tree growth is shown in the tree-growth rings. The ring is smaller during years where there is little rain.
A food chain is the series of steps by which energy is obtained, used, and transformed by living things. Food chains always begin with a producer.
A food web is a diagram showing which animals eat which other animals in a given ecological community.
An energy pyramid shows the energy that is lost at each level of the food chain. Producers are at the bottom of the energy pyramid and they provide the greatest amount of energy.
Herbivores eat only plants. Rabbits and mice are examples of herbivores.
Carnivores are meat eaters. A lion is an example of a carnivore.
Omnivores eat both plants and animals. Bears and Humans are examples of omnivores.
Scavengers are animals that feed on the bodies of dead organisms. A buzzard is an example of a scavenger.
Adaptation is any trait that an organism has that increases the chance of it surviving and reproducing. A chameleon using camouflage is an example of adaptation.
Limiting factors are any biotic or abiotic factor part of an ecosystem that controls the size of a population. Competition for food is an example of a limiting factor. If animals are not able to find enough food to eat, the population is likely to decrease in size.
Competition is an interaction between organism in which both organisms need the same thing. An example of this would be the Toucan and the Sloth of the rain forest in which both compete for fruit.
Parasitism is when one organism benefits from a relationship at the example of the other. Examples would include tape worms and fleas.
Forest fires are a natural and necessary part of the ecosystem. Even healthy forests contain dead trees and decaying plant matter. When a fires turns them to ashes, nutrients return to the soil instead of remaining captive in old vegetation.
Flooding increases exposure of humans to water borne diseases such as typhoid fever and hepatitis. It also increases animal borne (vector) diseases such as malaria and West Nile Fever.
Severe weather such as an unusually harsh winter in the South can impact some species, such as the deer, by limiting food supply which results in a reduction of herd size.
The hierarchy of an eco system are organisms, populations, communities, ecosystem, and biome.
The living and nonliving things in an area make up an ecosystem. An ecosystem is an area in which living things (biotic) interact with one another and with nonliving (abiotic) things. Parts of an ecosystem include things such as organisms, populations, communities, soil, air, water, and sunlight.
All organisms of the same kind that live in a particular area make up a population
All populations that live together in the same place make up a community.
A biome is a region of the world with a particular climate and similar types of plants and animals. Examples of biomes are forests, deserts, grasslands, rivers, tundra, rainforest, and coral reefs.
The various living things in an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, and bacteria are known as biotic factors.
The nonliving parts of an ecosystem such as water, minerals, sunlight, air, and soil are abiotic factors.
Plant cells require nutrients in the form of minerals that come from the soil. Soil is an abiotic factor that can influence plant survival. Another abiotic factor that affects plants is the climate. An example would be the mangrove forest that requires a tropical climate in order to survive.
Symbiosis is a relationship between two kinds of organisms that lasts over time. One of the best known examples of this is the exchange between plants and their pollinators the bee.
Two factors that affect the survival of an aquatic organism are water quality and sunlight.
Sunlight impacts not only aquatic organisms, but all plant life. A good example of this would be the trees in the forest. Trees in a forest are different heights because some trees need less sunlight than others.
Sunlight is able to penetrate the top several meters of marine water, where most plant and animal life exist. This in an example of how solar energy interacts with the ocean system.
Producers form the base of all ecosystems. Producers are organisms that can make their own food through photosynthesis.
If there is a drought in an ecosystem, the competition for food among primary consumers increase.
Decomposers are organisms that obtain their food from dead organisms. Examples of decomposers would be bacteria and fungi.
An example of people affecting animal habitats would be the development of housing subdivisions that would destroy the habitats of animals.
Rain is an abiotic factor that affects plant life. An example of this would be that there are more plants in a forest than in a desert because there is more rain in a forest. Another good example of how rain affects tree growth is shown in the tree-growth rings. The ring is smaller during years where there is little rain.
A food chain is the series of steps by which energy is obtained, used, and transformed by living things. Food chains always begin with a producer.
A food web is a diagram showing which animals eat which other animals in a given ecological community.
An energy pyramid shows the energy that is lost at each level of the food chain. Producers are at the bottom of the energy pyramid and they provide the greatest amount of energy.
Herbivores eat only plants. Rabbits and mice are examples of herbivores.
Carnivores are meat eaters. A lion is an example of a carnivore.
Omnivores eat both plants and animals. Bears and Humans are examples of omnivores.
Scavengers are animals that feed on the bodies of dead organisms. A buzzard is an example of a scavenger.
Adaptation is any trait that an organism has that increases the chance of it surviving and reproducing. A chameleon using camouflage is an example of adaptation.
Limiting factors are any biotic or abiotic factor part of an ecosystem that controls the size of a population. Competition for food is an example of a limiting factor. If animals are not able to find enough food to eat, the population is likely to decrease in size.
Competition is an interaction between organism in which both organisms need the same thing. An example of this would be the Toucan and the Sloth of the rain forest in which both compete for fruit.
Parasitism is when one organism benefits from a relationship at the example of the other. Examples would include tape worms and fleas.
Forest fires are a natural and necessary part of the ecosystem. Even healthy forests contain dead trees and decaying plant matter. When a fires turns them to ashes, nutrients return to the soil instead of remaining captive in old vegetation.
Flooding increases exposure of humans to water borne diseases such as typhoid fever and hepatitis. It also increases animal borne (vector) diseases such as malaria and West Nile Fever.
Severe weather such as an unusually harsh winter in the South can impact some species, such as the deer, by limiting food supply which results in a reduction of herd size.
