Running head: BIOLOGY II

Biology II An Assignment Submitted by Name of Student Name of Establishment Class XXXX, Section XXXX, 23 September 2012

BBIOLOGY II Biology II

1. Female crickets move toward the source of the sound produced when a male cricket rubs his leg along the side of his body. This behavior of the female is a: Taxis (phonotaxis) 2. The biome that includes the greatest amount of species diversity is the: Tropical rain forests 3. A wolf eats a rabbit that eats grass on a prairie in Wisconsin. The wolf is a: Secondary consumer 4. You are on a beach and see a swimmer being attacked by a shark. Which of the following would be an altruistic act on your part? Jumping in the water to save the swimmer 5. The energy lost in moving one trophic level to another is usually about: 90% 6. A process of learning that results in one animals preferentially associating with another is: Imprinting 7. A male robin will attack a tennis ball painted orange just as if it were a strange male entering its territory. The orange color is: A releaser 8. A predator returns to a place where it most recently found food. This is an example of: Operant conditioning 9. Male baboons will display their teeth to each other and may even fight until they establish a linear system in which each male knows which males it can beat and which ones it cannot. This is a description of:

BBIOLOGY II Dominance hierarchy

10. Which of the following is a biotic factor of an ecosystem: soil, water, bacteria or oxygen? Bacteria 1. Many animal rights activists argue that if beef cows were eliminated, more people could be fed. What is the ecological theory behind this argument in support of this position (think along the lines of trophic levels)? Do you think this is a logical argument? Explain your thoughts and comments fully. Since 1960, more than 25 per cent of the Central American forests have been lost to beef production -- most of it for export to the United States and Europe (Beyond Beef, n. d.). Beef consumption is believed to be the main cause of hunger in poor African countries. In fact, the biggest amount of all grain produced in the world annually is used to feed cattle; however, this grain would be enough to feed all the starving African people instead. Consequently, if beef consumption could be reduced, it would save millions of Africans who are starving and dying of hunger. Many countries in Latin America are engaged in beef production for export or grain production (to feed cattle) also for export, while their own people remain malnourished (Beyond Beef, n. d.). The ecological theory about the health of ecosystems and their ability to regenerate supports the argument against beef production. One ecosystem is healthier than another if it has a greater ability to regenerate itself (Wenz, 1984). By changing ecosystems in order to create pastures for cattle and to make fields to grow grain to feed livestock people harm the entire planet as well as themselves. Moreover, according to the 10 percent rule of energy transfer in food chains, about 90% of energy is lost moving from one trophic level to another, in view of that only 10% of energy is received from plants (producers) by cows (primary consumers), and when people (secondary consumers) eat beef cows, they receive 10 % of energy

BBIOLOGY II as well, but this is only 10% of the initial 10% received by cows and 90% is lost, so people

receive less energy from cows than cows from plants (The 10 Percent Rule, 2012). Therefore, it is better to be a primary consumer so as to receive more vital energy taken by plants from the sun. It is logical that the aforesaid 90% of energy, which is lost when people are secondary consumers and eat primary consumers (cows), can be used by starving people in Africa and other poor countries when they become primary consumers instead of beef cows. 2. What do the terms abiotic and biotic mean? What are some examples of each? What is the relationship between these two factors in an ecological ecosystem? Ecosystem is the full amount of biotic and abiotic factors in a particular geographic area (Nahle, n. d.). All biotic and abiotic factors are in a constant interconnection and they are also in equilibrium; therefore, an ecosystem is a complex, but well-proportioned structure. The biotic factors constitute all the living organisms of an ecosystem (plants, bacteria, animals, and fungi) and the abiotic factors are such inert components of an ecosystem as light, heat, water, Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen and all micro- and macro-elements (Nahle, n. d.). There are ecosystems of different types: small (or micro), middle (or messo) and large (or biome) ecosystems. A pond and a garden are small ecosystems. Forests, rivers, lakes and fields are middle ecosystems. Savanna, the Sahara Desert, Tundra, Taiga, a tropical rainforest, a sea and an ocean are examples of large ecosystems. The biotic factor is dependent on the abiotic factor, for the reason that living organism cannot exist without a certain amount of light, water or micro and macro elements found in the soil; however, the abiotic factor does not depend on the biotic factor in order to be present in an ecosystem. All the living organisms of every ecosystem (the biotic factor) form food chains that form food webs created of producers, consumers and decomposers (Food Chains, 2011). Plants are the first trophic level, they are at the bottom of every food

BBIOLOGY II chain, and they are called producers or autotrophs, because they take the sun energy and retransform it into living tissue via the process of photosynthesis (Food Chains, 2011). They

also absorb water and mineral elements from the soil. Animals that eat plants are called primary consumers or herbivores; they consume plants and transform their energy into the body tissues: meat, bones, etc. (Food Chains, 2011). Secondary consumers eat primary consumers and are called carnivores, because they transform the herbivores flesh into their own flesh. People are omnivores, since they can eat both plants and meat. Bacteria and fungi are decomposers, because they break organic remains of dead animals and plants into mineral elements that can be used by plants again (Food Chains, 2011).

BBIOLOGY II References Beyond Beef (n. d.). Retrieved on 23 September 2012 from http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/beyond.html#5 Food Chains (2 February 2011). [Video] Retrieved on 23 September 2012 from http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/F/FoodChains.html Nahle, Nasif (n. d.) Ecology. Retrieved on 23 September 2012 from http://www.biocab.org/ecology_1.html The 10 Percent Rule (14 February 2012). [Video] Retrieved on 23 September 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScizkxMlEOM Wenz, Peter S. (March 1984) An Ecological Argument for Vegetarianism. Ethics and Animals, No. 5, pp. 2-9. Retrieved on 23 September 2012 from http://www.animal-rightslibrary.com/texts-m/wenz01.htm