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Chapter 52: Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere

1. What is Ecology?
Ecology is the study of the interactions between organisms and their
environment.
2. Define the following subfields of ecology: Organism, Population, Community,
Ecosystem, Biosphere.
An organism is one individual of a species. A population is a
group of organisms that are from the same species that are located in the same area at
the same time. A community is a group of populations that are all in the same area at
the same time. An Ecosystem is a community along with all the abiotic factors that are
located in the area. The biosphere is the this layer above earth that is inhabitable by
organisms. It consists of all ecosystems on the planet.
3. What is the difference between biotic and abiotic factors and give an example of each.
Biotic factors are those that are living and abiotic factors are the nonliving factors that
affect an ecosystem. A biotic factor would be the organisms themselves. An abiotic
factor example would be the temperature of the ecosystem.
How do abiotic factors
affect the survival of biotic factors?
If an abiotic factor changes, it changes the niche
that the population fulfills and if the species does not adapt quickly enough then the
species could become extinct.
4. Explain Eutrophication.
Eutrophication is a form of pollution that is caused by an influx
of chemical nutrients into a marine ecosystem that can cause certain populations to
have difficulty surviving.
Chapter 53: Population Ecology
1. What is the difference between K- and R-Selection?
K-Selection is the type of selection
that include the carrying capacity of an ecosystem, which is the maximum population
the ecosystem can support. R-Selection does not include this carrying capacity and is
shown as exponential growth.
2. What is an Age Structure Diagram?
It is a diagram that shows the relative number of
organisms at each age in a population.
3. What is Fecundity?
Fecundity is the rate at which a species is reproducing.
Chapter 54: Community Ecology
1. What is competition and niche?
Competition is when two or more organisms/species
attempt to have the same niche, which is an organisms role in the environment.
Can
two organisms share the same niche?
No.
2. Explain resource partitioning?
It is when species divide a niche in order to avoid
competition for a niche.
How does niche and resource partitioning relate to the
survival of a population?
If species are competing to share a niche, then one will
eventually beat out the other. However, if the two species divide the niche, then both
can live prosperously without competing for resources,

3. Describe predation.
Predation is when one organism hunts and kills another.
How do
predator numbers change if the number of prey decreases?
The number of predators
will begin to decrease due to lack of food.
4. What are the differences between cryptic coloration, aposematic coloration, Batesian
mimicry, and Mullerian mimicry?
Cryptic coloration is when an organism has
camouflage to hide in its environment. Aposematic coloration is when an organism
has a bright color that works as a warning to other organisms or predators. Batesian
mimicry is when a harmless organism mimics a harmful one. Mullerian mimicry is when
two or more species develop similar coloration.
5. What is herbivory?
Herbivory is when an organism eats a plant or algae.
What
adaptations do plants have to counteract herbivory?
Plants have developed either
different symbiotic relationships with species of insects, or they develop toxins inside
them that will poison an animal that tries to eat it.
6. Describe the differences between the three different symbiotic relationships and give
an example of each.
The first relationship is parasitism. That is when one organism is
hurt for another organisms gain. An example of this would be a leech attaching to your
arm after swimming in a river. The next relationship is mutualism. This is when both
organisms gain from the relationship. Some great whites have little fish that swim
around them. The fish gain protection from the great white and the great white gets
cleaned by the smaller fish. Lastly is commensalism. This is when one organism gains but
the other is neither harmed nor helped. Some vines that grow on trees use the height of
the trees to get their sunlight and the trees are neither harmed nor helped in this
relationship.
7. Define lichen and mycorrhizae. What type of symbiotic relationships do these exhibit?
Lichen is a composite organism that is composed of algae or Cyanobacteria that are in a
symbiotic relationship with fungi. Mycorrhizae is a mutualism if relationship between
fungi and plants.
8. What is a keystone species and what is their role in the community?
A keystone
species is one that is so important to a community that if it were to disappear then the
entire community would fall into chaos and possibly die.
9. How do invasive species impact the balance of an ecosystem?
Invasive species can take
over a niche from another species and then the domestic species will decrease in
number because the invasive species is taking all the food and space.
10. Explain Dutch Elm Disease and the impact it has in native species.
DED infects all elm
trees in the Minnesota area but it does not kill every single tree. It is a fungal infection
that kills its victim trees a branch at a time.
11. Describe ecological succession and discuss the difference between primary and
secondary succession.
Succession is when an ecosystem works to return back to normal
after a disaster or a reduction in the resources of the area. Primary succession is when

an ecosystem goes through succession after a disaster that leaves very little or no life at
all, such as a volcanic eruption. Secondary succession is when an ecosystem undergoes
succession after there is little life left, such as a forest fire
Chapter 55: Ecosystems
1. Define all the parts of the food web.
There's the producer, which is usually a plant that
autotrophically produces energy through photosynthesis. Next is the consumer that eats
the producer and gains energy from the producer. A consumer also can be a predator of
another consumer. Finally there's the detrivore or a decomposer. These organisms eat
the bodies of dead organisms and get energy that way.
2. How are food chains and food webs related?
Food chains show a progression of energy
through the different trophic levels. A food web shows the different relationships that
each species in an ecosystem has.
3. If there is a decrease in the producer trophic level, how does that impact the other
trophic levels?
The other trophic levels will lose overall energy and therefore will lower
in population.
If there is a disruption in energy resources such as sunlight, how will it
affect the other trophic levels?
A drop in energy resources will cause producers to
produce less energy and thus will lower the population of all the trophic levels.
4. How does limiting nutrients affect the primary production in aquatic ecosystems and
give an example.
Nutrients in a pond affect the primary production of the algae in the
water. Lots of nutrients will give the algae more to use to prude e energy thus
increasing the primary production.
5. Describe or draw the three nutrient cycles: water, nitrogen, and carbon.
Water Cycle

Nitrogen Cycle

Carbon Cycle

6. Describe biological magnification.


It is the process in which certain toxins or nutrients
move up in the food chain and become more and more potent.

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