Ecology: Climate Zones, Species Interactions, and Food Webs

What are the three different climate zones?

Polar, temperate, and tropical.

What is the difference between weather and climate?

Weather is day-to-day atmospheric conditions, while climate refers to long-term averages.

What are the five factors that influence climate?

1. Greenhouse effect, 2. Latitude, 3. Winds and ocean currents, 4. Large bodies of water, 5. Mountains.

How does the tilt of Earth's axis influence climate?

It changes the angle of sunlight and the duration of daylight throughout the year.

What is represented on a climatogram?

Average monthly temperature and precipitation over a year.

Define habitat and niche.

A habitat is the environment where an organism lives; a niche is the role it plays in its ecosystem.

What is the competitive exclusion principle?

Two different species cannot occupy the same niche in the same habitat simultaneously.

Differentiate between interspecific and intraspecific competition.

Interspecific competition occurs between different species; intraspecific competition occurs within the same species.

What is carrying capacity?

The maximum number of individuals an environment can support.

What is the difference between exponential growth and logistic growth?

Exponential growth occurs with abundant resources; logistic growth occurs when resources become limited.

What are biotic and abiotic factors? Give examples.

Biotic factors are living (e.g., plants, animals); abiotic factors are non-living (e.g., sunlight, water).

What is a keystone species?

A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its ecosystem.

List the six levels of ecological organization from smallest to largest.

1. Organism, 2. Population, 3. Community, 4. Ecosystem, 5. Biome, 6. Biosphere.

Differentiate between photosynthesis and chemosynthesis.

Photosynthesis uses sunlight to produce glucose; chemosynthesis uses chemicals to form carbohydrates.

What is a producer and its importance in ecosystems?

A producer makes its own food and is crucial as the base of food webs.

List and define the five types of consumers.

1. Herbivore: eats plants, 2. Carnivore: eats animals, 3. Omnivore: eats both, 4. Detritivore: eats dead matter, 5. Decomposer: breaks down organic matter.

What is a food web?

A complex network of feeding relationships and energy flow in an ecosystem.

Why is less energy available for each trophic level in a food chain?

Only about 10% of energy is transferred between trophic levels.

Differentiate between energy pyramid, biomass pyramid, and pyramid of numbers.

Energy pyramid shows energy levels, biomass pyramid shows total mass, and pyramid of numbers shows the number of organisms at each level.

Differentiate between autotrophs and heterotrophs.

Autotrophs produce their own food; heterotrophs consume other organisms for energy.

Differentiate between generalists and specialists.

Generalists have a broad diet; specialists eat specific foods.