Ecology Studyguide 
                                                                
               Key Vocabulary 
               1.  ecosystem                      12. food web                       23. parasite/host 
               2.  producer                       13. energy pyramid                 24. scavenger 
               3.  consumer                       14. carrying capacity              25. biodiversity 
               4.  decomposer                     15. recycle                        26. pollution 
               5.  autotrophic nutrition          16. bacteria                       27. deforestation 
               6.  heterotrophic nutrition        17. fungi                          28. extinction 
               7.  ecology                        18. competition                    29. global warming 
               8.  energy                         19. population growth              30. ozone layer 
               9.  herbivore                      20. limiting factors               31. fossil fuels 
               10. carnivore                      21. carrying capacity              32. industrialization 
               11. cycling  of materials          22. predator/prey                  33. acid rain
         
        Learning outcomes 
        You should be able to … 
            •  identify renewable/nonrenewable resources 
            •  diagram and explain cycles of nitrogen, carbon/oxygen and water 
            •  discusses how human  activities  can decrease biodiversity 
            •  justify a solution to an environmental problem based on given information 
            •  evaluate pros and cons of industrialization 
            •  map flow of energy in an ecosystem by making  energy pyramids and food webs 
            •  explain  transfer  of energy  within  an ecosystem 
            •  define carrying capacity and limiting factors 
            •  compare and contrasts the three forms of symbiosis and other relationships between organisms 
            •  describe the benefits of biodiversity in addition to its cause 
            •  interpret  a series  of diagrams  showing terrestrial and aquatic succession 
            •  list causes of ecosystem disturbance/instability (Global Warming, etc) 
            •  describe the recovery of an altered ecosystem 
         
        Essential Questions 
        How do human activities improve or degrade ecosystems? 
         
        Why don't natural populations just keep growing?  
         
        Why is biodiversity important?  
         
        How does an ecosystem maintain  stability? 
         
        Topic #1 
        List five typical abiotic factors that could be found in an environment (remember plants are living organisms). 
               Oxygen, water, rocks, temperature, soil 
         
        Put the following terms in order from most complex to least complex and define each term. 
        Ecosystem, population, biosphere, community, species. 
               Biosphere = the part of earth where life and abiotic factors exist. 
               Ecosystem =  all of the living/non-living things living in a particular area 
               Community  = a group of populations  living in an area (only living, no abiotic factors) 
               Population  = 3 or more individuals  of one species living together 
               Species = one organism of a particular species     
         
        Define  and provide an example of each symbiotic  relationship: 
        Mutualism  –  
               2 organisms living together where both organisms benefit (dentist birds) 
         
        Commensalism  –  
               2 organisms living together…one benefits and the other is unchanged  (birds in a tree) 
         
        Parasitism  –  
               2 organisms living together…one is benefitted and the other is harmed (lice, ticks, etc.) 
         
        Topic #2 
        Define climax community. 
               This is the end community  produced through  succession.  It is the most stable and has the most 
        biodiversity. 
         
        Define pioneer organism, include an example. 
               A pioneer organism is the first organism to inhabit  a newly developing area…an example is a 
        lichen. 
         
        Sketch a simple diagram of either aquatic or terrestrial succession over time. 
         
        Bare rock…small grasses….taller grasses….bushes…shallow rooted trees….deeper rooted trees 
         
        Lake…shallower  lake….even shallower lake….grassy field….grassy field with shallow roots 
         
                                                              
                                                              
                                                       Time (years) 
                                     
        Topic #3 
        Complete the chart below 
        Term                    Synonym(s)               Definition                     Example 
        Producer                Autotroph                Makes its own food through     plants 
                                                         photosynthesis 
                                                          st
        Primary consumer        Herbivore, consumer,     1  eater…eats plants           Rabbit, deer,  
                                heterotroph 
                                                          nd
        Secondary consumer      Carnivore, consumer,     2  eater…eats animals/meat     Fox, hawk, frog 
                                heterotroph 
         
        Match each organism  in the food web with a level  on the energy pyramid. 
                                                                                             
        Approximately what percentage of the energy from each level is available to the level above it?  10% 
         
         
        What would happen to the food web/energy pyramid if the grasses all died? Why would this happen? 
         
        If all the grasses died, all other organisms would become less (possibly die if they couldn’t find other 
        plants to eat) as they rely on the grasses for food.   
         
        Topic #4 
        Define the following terms: 
        Carrying capacity –   the number of organisms that an environment can hold…this eventually levels off 
        due to limiting  factors. 
         
         
        Limiting factors –  
          Anything that limits the number of an organism that an environment can hold.  For example:  
        predators, not enough food, not enough space, disease, etc. 
         
         
        How do limiting factors impact the carrying capacity of a population?   
         Limiting  factors “limit” /control how many of an organism can be held by an environment.   
                                     
   Topic #5 
   Draw a diagram of one of the three chemical  cycles we discussed in class. 
     
    Check cycles answer key on web page for 3 clear cycles pictures. 
     
    What is nitrogen  fixation? 
    This is when the bacteria turn nitrogen gas into nitrates that can then be used by organisms. 
     
    Describe one way humans influence  the carbon cycle. 
    We burn  fossil fuels and cut down trees therefore increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the 
    atmosphere. 
     
   Topic #6 
   What is global warming? What do most people believe to be the cause of global warming? 
    
   Global warming  is the general warming  trend of the earth.  People believe an excess of carbon dioxide to 
   be trapping  the heat in and causing global warming. 
    
    
   What causes ozone depletion? Why is ozone depletion a problem? 
   Ozone depletion is caused by the use of CFC chemicals that enter the atmosphere and break down the O3 
   (ozone) layer.  This is a problem  because the ozone layer protects us from harmful  UV rays and without 
   it, these rays reach earth and cause cancer and other problems.  
    
   What are some of the main reasons for deforestation? Why is deforestation a “double-whammy” when it comes 
   to global  warming? 
   Deforestation occurs because people want wood to build  things and because they need land to put 
   buildings or to graze animals.  This is a double whammy  because we often burn the trees causing more 
   CO2 in the atmosphere and we remove the trees that are supposed to help remove the CO2 from the 
   atmosphere.   
    
   What is an invasive  species? Give an example  of one.  
   An invasive species is a species that did not originally come from an area.  Some examples include:   zebra 
   mussels, purple  loosestrife, feral cats, etc. 
    
   Why are invasive  species so successful  and why are they such a problem? 
    
   Invasive species are so successful because they have no natural predators to limit their numbers.   This is 
    a problem   because they dominate an ecosystem and reduce the biodiversity.  
     
    What is biomagnifications?   
    Biomagnification  is the increase in poisons as you move up the food chain.  The organisms collect the 
    poison in their bodies and when eaten by the next level on the food chain ,the amount of poison 
    magnifies/multiplies, therefore, harming  the top of the food chain the most.   
     
    Why was DDT bad for bald eagles even if the eagles weren’t eating it themselves? 
    The DDT went into the water.  The algae collected DDT.  The small fish who ate the algae now has even 
    more DDT.  The bigger fish have eaten many smaller fish and accumulated all of their DDT.  Now the 
    hawk eats many big fish and accumulates all of their DDT.  The hawk has so much DDT in them that it 
    affects their  egg production  and makes it difficult  for the babies to live.