Ecology LHS CP1 Environmental Science

Lexington High freshman year science review for end of Q4 unit test. Dr. Lewis. Questions get more complex as you advance

What is Ecology

Science of relationships or the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment.

What are the two components that make up an environment

Biotic (living) and Abiotic (non-living) factors

What does the classification “community” refer to

Different populations living together in the same general area

What does the classification “biosphere” refer to

Part of Earth in which life exists, including air, water, and land; areas on Earth occupied by living organisms

What are the three types of feeding relationships

• Predator / Prey

• Parasite / Host

• Producer / Consumer

What are autotrophs

Plants that can make their own food

What are heterotrophs

Organisms that cannot produce their own food and rely on other organisms for food

What is predation

One organism benefits and the other gets killed

What is competition

The use of the same limited resource by two or more species in the same place & time

Adaptive Radiation

The process in which organisms quickly diversify in a multitude of forms in response to changes in the environment such as changes in resource availability (a result of competition)

Limiting Factor

Any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence of organisms in a specific environment; Limiting Factors help determine a habitat’s carrying capacity

Ecological Succession

he process of change in the species structure of an ecosystem over periods of time

Habitat

the place in which an organism lives throughout its life

Ecosystem

All communities living together in an area as well as all of the nonliving components too

Primary Succession

Takes hundreds or thousands of years for larger plants like trees to grow and mostly small plants, shrubs, and mosses are growing in this stage.

Secondary Succession

Soil still fertile and can support larger plants faster than primary succession. Usually a result of disturbances like wildfires.

J curve graph

grows exponentially-Population rapidly grows followed by an abrupt crash due to the limiting factors of the environment after exceeding carrying capacity

S curve

Logistic growth- Population begins as exponential growth rate but stabilizes as it reaches carrying capacity

Boom & Bust Cycle

Rise, fall, repeat (predator/prey)- As the prey population increases, predator population increases. As the predator population increases, it causes a drop in prey populations. Following this decrease in prey population is a fall in the predator population. Which leads to an increase in prey population once again.

Trophic Levels

Each link in a food chain is known as a trophic level. Trophic levels represent a feeding step in the transfer of energy and matter in an ecosystem

Keystone Species

Species that have a large and disproportionate impact on the whole ecosystem.

Biomagnification

The process where toxin potency increases as it moves up through trophic levels unlike energy levels.

3 types of ecological relationships

Mutualism, Commensalism, Parasitism