Unit 2: Ecology



Unit 2: Ecology

Test Date: ___________________________

|Fundamental Concept and Skill |Reading |

|1. Organization of Life (from lowest to highest) |p. 64 |

|Organism: individual species (groups of organisms can interbreed and have viable offspring). | |

|Population: groups of individual species. | |

|Community: made up of several populations of species. | |

|Ecosystem: is made up of the interactions among the populations and their abiotic influences in the community. | |

|Biome: large group of ecosystems that are grouped according to their climates. | |

|Biosphere: larger portions of the earth that can support life (e.g. atmosphere, soil, water). | |

|2. Illustrate energy flow in a community by correctly drawing a food chain and a food web including producer, primary, secondary and tertiary |pp. 67-73 |

|consumers. | |

|Energy enters and leaves an ecosystem. | |

|Energy from the sun enters an ecosystem through producers (autotroph) at the 1st trophic level. | |

|Energy flows from the primary producers (1st trophic level), to the | |

|first order consumers (heterotroph, herbivore, 2nd trophic level), to the | |

|second order consumers (omnivore, carnivore, 3rd trophic level), and to the | |

|tertiary consumers (mainly carnivore, 4th trophic level). | |

|As energy flows from one level to another a large part of it is lost through heat and work done by organisms. As you go from one level to the | |

|next in the food chain energy deceases by 10% each step, thus creating an energy pyramid. | |

|A food chain diagram must start with a producer, and the arrows must point in the direction of energy flow. For example, the arrows will point | |

|from producers to the primary consumer. | |

|The flow of energy is recycled by decomposers and scavengers. Their niche is to assist in breaking down dead or decaying material as their food| |

|source. | |

|3. Describe ways that organisms in an ecosystem cooperate and compete. |p.93 |

|Symbiosis: close and permanent relationship between organisms of different species. | |

|Parasitism: relationship when one organism benefits and the other is harmed (ex: fleas on a dog). | |

|Commensalism: relationship when one organism is benefited and the other is neither harmed nor benefited. (ex: remora on a shark). | |

|Mutualism: relationship when both organisms benefit (ex: elephant and bird) | |

|Competition: organisms compete for resources such as food, space, sunlight, mates, water, etc. | |

|4. Population Biology |pp.119-123 |

|Types of growth: | |

|Linear growth: straight line | |

|Exponential growth: “j” shaped curve | |

|Carrying Capacity: the number of organisms an environment can support over time. Is represented by the letter “k” | |

|Density dependent factors: disease, competition and parasites increase as density of population increases (ex: 3rd world country diseases). | |

|Density independent factors: abiotic factors such as weather | |

|Predation: the relationship between predator and prey. | |

|Demographic trends: effects of birth and death rate | |

|5. Describe how nutrients (matter) cycle in ecosystems; Nitrogen, Carbon and Water |pp. 74-79 |

|Carbon dioxide is fixed into carbohydrates by producers. | |

|The carbon from the producers passes to the consumers | |

|Through cellular respiration, both producers and consumers make carbon dioxide. | |

|When consumers breathe, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. | |

|When consumers decompose by either decomposers/burning, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. | |

|Carbon exists in the soil as fossil fuels. The only way to return to the soil is decomposition. | |

|Nitrogen from soil is absorbed (fixed) by the roots of producers and when producers are eaten the nitrogen is passed into the herbivore where | |

|they help make proteins. When the organism dies the nitrogen is released into the atmosphere/soil. | |

|Water Cycle : evaporation (from large bodies of water) and transpiration (from plants) and respiration (from animals) forms precipitation which | |

|is reabsorbed into the ground or runs of into large bodies of water. | |

|6. Describe the patter of succession in an ecosystem. |pp. 94-97 |

|Primary succession: new land (volcano, glacier) begins to be inhabited by a pioneer species (producers) which eventually develops into a complex| |

|community. | |

|A piece of land in Northern Virginia is cleared so that nothing remains but the soil (secondary succession). | |

|Seeds borne by the wind fall onto the soil. The fast growing, shallow rooted, sun-loving plants will grow first (and fastest). | |

|Insects borne by the wind live on the plants. | |

|These plants and insects live and die, decompose and build up the soil, changing the environment and making the environment more hospitable for | |

|different species of plants and organisms (weathering turns exposed rock to soil). | |

|Climax Community: a stable mature community that undergoes little change and which maintains itself if left undisturbed. | |

|7. Biomes |pp. 98-112 |

|Be able to compare and contrast the 8 different biomes. | |

|How do biomes relate to longitude and latitude? | |

|Ice, Tundra, Taiga (coniferous forest), temperate (deciduous) forest, tropical rain forest, grassland (and savanna), desert, water (fresh and | |

|marine). | |

|8. Environmental Influences |pp.119-123 |

|Limiting factors are biotic and abiotic factors that restrict the life of an organism. | |

|Biotic factors: any living organism that affects the life of another organism. | |

|Abiotic factors: nonliving influences on an organisms life. | |

|Range of Tolerance ability to withstand fluctuations in biotic and abiotic environmental influences. | |

|Assessments and Activities: |

|Vocabulary for unit |

|Food Chain and Food Web Design (the Biological Budget) |

|Biome Project |

|Oh Deer! |

|How much Soda? |

|Lions and Hyenas movie |

|Biodiversity (types of trees) |

|Nitrogen Cycle game |

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