Ecology

AP Bio

biosphere

• part of the Earth where life exists

• extends approx 8 kn above sea level, 8 km below sea level

ecosystem

• all the organisms in a given area and the nonliving factors with which they interact

community

all the different populations (species) that live in the same geographic area and therefore interact with each other

biotic factors

• living components (organisms) of an ecosystem + their activities

abiotic factors

• nonliving components of an ecosystem that impact the type and number of organisms that can survive and reproduce in the ecosystem

climate

annual avg temp and annual avg precipitation

deserts

• deserts

• tundras (cold desert)

grasslands

• savannah

• praries (temperate grassland)

forests

• tropical rainforest

• temperate deciduous forest

• taiga (boreal or coniferous forest)

• chaparral

what type of biome can sustain the most diverse and stable communities?

forests

order of energy flow in an ecosystem

environmental E source —> autotrophs —> heterotrophs

autotrophs

capture solar E or chemical E to produce organic compounds (monomers)

• photoautotrophs

• chemoautotrophs

What is the difference between photoautotrophs and chemoautotrophs ?

• photoautotrophs capture solar E —> inorganice carbon —> organic compounds; process called photosynthesis

• chemoautotrophs capture E from smal inorganic molecules (chemical E) —> produce organic molecules in the abence/prsence of O2

heterotrophs

• consumers

• consume polymers made by autotrophs

• catergotiescategories

  • herbivore

  • carnivore

  • omnivore

  • detritivore

What is the difference between the food chain and the food web

A food web is the entire collection of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem

What does the complexity of a food web say about an ecosystem?

The more complex the food web is, the more stable the ecosystem is