Ecology Flashcards

Question

habitat

Answer 1

physical place where an organism lives. the characteristics of the habitat aid in defining the niche.

Answer 2

when species occupying similar niches utilize at least one resource in common. leads to extinction, elimination, divergent developing differences in their niches

Answer 3

organisms that manufacture their own food

Answer 4

cannot synthesize their own food and must depend upon autotrophs or other heterotrophs in the ecosystem to obtain food and energy

Answer 5

animals that only consume plants or plant foods. the toughness of cellulose containg plant tissues has led to the development of parts for grinding and crushing. also having long digestive systems with symbiotic bacteria to assist in digestions. more defensive because they are often prey.

Answer 6

animals that only eat other animals. they posses pointed fanglike teeth for tearing flesh. they have shorter tracts due to easier digest animal food.

Answer 7

animals that eat both plants and animals.

Answer 8

symbiosis, predation, saprophytism, and scavenging.

Answer 9

symbionts live together in an intimate often permanent association which may or may not be beneficial to both participants. -some are obligatory: one cant survive w/o the other types of relationships are commensalism, mutualism, parasitism

Answer 10

one organism is benefited by the association and the other is not affected. the host neither discourages nor fosters the relation ship. (+/0)

Answer 11

(+/+) a symbiotic relationship from which both organisms derive some benefit

Answer 12

a parasite benefits at the expense of the host. exists when competition for food is most intense. few autotrophs are parasite. Seen mostly in bacteria fungi and animals. -does not kill the host because if so then it will die.

Answer 13

cling to the exterior surface of the host using suckers or clamps

Answer 14

live within the host. to gain entry they must pass through defenses like skin, digestive juices antibodies and WBC.

Answer 15

free living organisms that feed on other living organisms. includes both carnivores and herbivores. in many cases the predator aids in controlling the number of the prey but not so much as to endanger the existence of the prey population.

Answer 16

include those protists and fungi that decompose dead organic matter externally and absorb the nutrients: they constitute a vital link in the cycling of material within the ecosystem.

Answer 17

are animals that consume dead animals. they don't have any adaptations for hunting and killing their prey. decomposes can be considered scavengers.

Answer 18

species may also compete with one another for resources. but they must also cooperate. it can be extensive or nearly non existent. influenced by disruptive and cohesive forces. disruptive is competitions and cohesive include reproduction and protection.

Answer 19

animals have developed many adaptations for maintiang their internal osmolarity and conserving water

Answer 20

live in an hyperosmotic environment which causes them to loose water and take in salt. they must compensate by constant drinking of water and excretion of salt across their gills

Answer 21

live in a hypo-osmotic environment which causes intake of excess water and excessive salt loss. they drink seldom and absorb salts through the gills and excreting dilute urine

Answer 22

excrete solid uric acid crystals to conserve water

Answer 23

- the camel can tolerate a wide rang of body temps and fat layers assist - horned toad thick scaly skin to prevent water loss - others avoid sunlight

Answer 24

- non desert plants have waxy cuticles on leaf surfaces and stomata on the lower leaf surface. they shed leaves in the winter to avoid water loss. - desert plants have extensive root systems and fleshy stems to store water. spiny leaves to limit water loss

Answer 25

60% of total energy is given off as heat. vast majority of animals and plants are cold blooded or poikilothermic, most of the energy escapes to the environment.

Answer 26

body temp is very close to that of its environment. since the metabolism is closely related to its surroundings temp, it is radically effected by environmental changes.

Answer 27

mammals and birds. evolved physical mechanisms that allow them to make use of heat produced as consequence of respiration. the temp maintained is that higher then the environment expanding their capabilities

Answer 28

transfer of energy mapped out in a food chain or food web each ecosystem has one

Answer 29

single chain showing the transfer of energy . within the food chain energy is transferred from the original source in green plants through a series of organisms in repeated stages of consumption and decomposition. there are producers, primary consumers, secondary and decomposers

Answer 30

autotrophic green plants and chemo synthetic bacteria are the producers. they utilize the energy of the sun and simple raw materials (CO2, water and minerals) to manufacture carbs lipids and proteins.

Answer 31

animals that consume green plants (herbivores)

Answer 32

animals that consume the primary consumers (carnivores)

Answer 33

animals that feed on secondary consumers (also carnivores)

Answer 34

include the saprophytic organisms and organisms of decay which include bacteria and fungi.

Answer 35

is not a simple linear chain but an intricate collection of interconnected food chains. there are diff food chain levels which are consumed by other food chains. the greater number of pathways that the food chain connects the more stable the community

Answer 36

each member of the food chain utilizes some of the energy it obtains for its food for its own metabolism. and looses some addtional energy in the form of heat. leading to a loss of energy at every feeding level

Answer 37

since organisms at the upper levels of the food chain derive their food energy form the lower levels, and energy is lost from one level to the next- each level can support a successively smaller biomass. 100g of grass->20lbs of grass hoppers etc

Answer 38

consumer organisms at the top of the food chain are normally larger and usually heavier than those further down. and the mass equates to the population.

Answer 39

material is cycled and recycled between organisms and their environment. passing forms of inorganic to organic then back to inorganic. credited largely to decomposers and scavengers

Answer 40

elemental nitrogen cannot be used by organisms. Lighting and nitrogen fixing bacteria in the roots of legumes change nitrogen to usable nitrates - nitrates are absorbed by plants and are used to synthesize nucleic acids and plant proteins. - animals eat the plants synthesize their own materials then die and give off wastes. - nitrogen locked up in the wastes and dead tissues are released by bacteria decay which converts proteins into ammonia.

Answer 41

- some is nitrified to nitrites by chemosynthetic bacteria then to usable nitrates by nitrifying bacteria - rest is denitrified

Answer 42

ammonia is broken down to release free nitrogen which returns it to the beginning of the nitrogen cycle

Answer 43

- gaseous CO2 enters the living world when plants use it to produce glucose via photosynthesis. - animals eat the plants and use nutrients to form carbs, fats and proteins. a part of these are used as fuel in respiration in plants and animals - metabolic produced CO2 is released in the air the rest is release after the being is decomposed.

Answer 44

self sustaining and will remain if it has relatively stable physical environment and community, constant energy source and living system to transfer energy, and cycling of materials.

Answer 45

the orderly process by which one biotic community replaces or succeeds the other until a climax community is established. -each community stage or sere in an ecological succession is identified by a dominant species- the one that exerts control over the other species that are present. grass in the grasslands

Answer 46

because each community that establishes itself changes the environment, making it more favorable for itself and for its community that succeed it

Answer 47

the final and most stable stage of succession that occurs after the replacement of a new community that was created. permanent unless there is drastic change in equilibrium

Answer 48

base and producer of the new community- if it has the proper resources and physical factors it will thrive

Answer 49

desert, grassland, tropical rain forest, temperate deciduous forest, temperate coniferous forest, taiga, tundra and polar regions.

Answer 50

geographic region inhabited by a distinct community

Answer 51

according to the climax vegetation of the region.

Answer 52

the vegetation that becomes dominant and stable after years of evolutionary development. and since plants are the primary producers they in turn determine the climax animal population

Answer 53

receive fewer than 10 inches of rain a year - growing is restricted to after the short burst of rain falls - inhabited by small plants and animals - desert plants conserve water, animals live in burrows yet few mammals and birds live here

Answer 54

low rain fall 10-30 inches a year - provide no shelter for herbivorous animals from predators - animals here have long legs and hooves for protection - deer ox etc

Answer 55

Jungles- with high temps and torrential rains - dense growth of vegetation that does not shed leaves. - saprophytes live on the floor of the forest - monkeys, lizards insects ex.

Answer 56

- cold winters, warm summers and moderate rainfall - trees such as beech, maple and oaks and willow shed their leaves during cold winter months - deer, fox and squirrels etc

Answer 57

cold, dry and inhabited by fir, pine and spruce trees. much of the vegetation has evolved adaptations for water conservation, such as needle shaped leaves.

Answer 58

receive less rainfall than the temperate forest - long cold winters and are inhabited by a single coniferous tree the spruce. - floor contains moss and lichens - moose is chief then bears and wolves etc

Answer 59

frozen with no vegetation, and few terrestrial animals. few that do live there live near the polar oceans.

Answer 60

treeless, frozen plain found between the taiga lands and northern ice sheets. very short summer and short growing season. -lichens, moss polar bears and arctic hens

Answer 61

more than 70% of the earths surface is covered by water. 90% of the earths food and oxygen production takes place in the water. - most stable ecosystems the food systems are balanced - marine and freshwater

Answer 62

composed of the oceans, form to connect one continuous body of water. which controls the earths temp by absorbing solar heat. contains relatively constant amount of nutrient materials and dissolved salts.

Answer 63

the region of the ocean exposed at low tides that undergoes variations in temp and periods of dryness. populations are of algae, sponges, clams, snails sea urchins and crabs

Answer 64

the region on the continental shelf that contains ocean area with depths up to 600 feet and extends several hundred miles from shores. population- algae crabs crustacea and many diff fish

Answer 65

typical of the open seas and can be divided into photic and aphotic zones.

Answer 66

the sunlit layer of the open sea extending to ta depth of 250-600 feet. contains plankton, nekton, the chief autotroph is diatom an algae

Answer 67

passively drifting masses of microscopic photosynthetic and heterotrophic organisms

Answer 68

active swimmers such as fish sharks or whales

Answer 69

rivers, lakes ponds and marshes the links between oceans and land. factors that effect life are temp, transparency, depth of water, available carbon dioxide and oxygen and salt concentration.

Answer 70

routes by which ancient marine organisms reached land and evolved terrestrial adaptations. many failed to adapt and can cope with land and water

Answer 71

- hypotonic- plants and animals have adapted to ways to remove excess water - river and streams have strong swift currents thus selection favored fish and plants with strong muscles and roots - temp varies

Ecology Flashcards

(95 cards)