ecology study guide

What is the missing trophic level between primary consumer and tertiary consumer in the energy transfer flow chart?

Secondary consumer

As you go up an energy pyramid, energy __________.

decreases

How much energy is absorbed by each trophic level in relation to the trophic level below it?

10% of the energy gets passed onto the next trophic level (10% rule).

List 3 examples of autotrophs.

Tree, grass, shrubs.

What is the name of an animal that eats a plant?

Primary consumer

What distinguishes a parasitic relationship from a predator/prey relationship?

In a parasitic relationship, the parasite feeds on its host over time and may eventually kill it; in a predator/prey relationship, the predator kills and eats its prey immediately.

Why do plants only live in the top zone of an ocean?

They need sunlight to carry out photosynthesis.

What is a habitat?

A specific environment in which an organism lives out its life span.

Who does competition occur between in an ecosystem?

Competition occurs between the same species or different species of organisms.

What is the role of decomposers in energy transfer?

To break down dead organisms' complex compounds and return nutrients to the soil.

List the ecological levels of organization from most specific to the broadest.

Individual/organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere.

What is ecology?

The study of the interactions of organisms with the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) parts of the environment.

What are the three types of symbiosis?

Commensalism 2. Parasitism 3. Mutualism

Explain commensalism and provide an example.

One species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor helped; example: tree frog on leaves.

Explain parasitism and provide an example.

One species benefits and the other is harmed; example: tick on a dog.

Explain mutualism and provide an example.

Both species benefit; example: bee pollinating flowers.

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

A food chain is a single pathway of energy transfer, whereas a food web is an interconnecting network of food chains.

Explain the difference between habitat and niche.

Habitat is an organism's natural address where it lives; niche is the functional role or job it carries out in its community.

What is a consumer?

An organism that cannot produce its own food and must take in food from the outside.

Which trophic level is the foundation of all food chains?

The producers (autotrophs).

List the different types of consumers and give examples of each.

Herbivore (cow), Carnivore (lion), Omnivore (bears), Scavenger (vulture), Detritivore (earthworms), Decomposers (bacteria).

In which direction does energy flow in a food chain?

Energy flows from producer to consumer to decomposer.

What is the difference between biotic and abiotic? List 3 examples of each.

Biotic: living parts of an ecosystem (plants, animals, bacteria); Abiotic: non-living parts (air, temperature, water).

Which trophic level generally has smaller numbers in an energy pyramid?

Tertiary and quaternary trophic levels.

Do parasites kill their host right away? Why or why not?

No, they do not kill their host right away because they need the host organism to feed on when it is alive.

What is an ecosystem?

A biological community of interacting organisms and their nonliving components.

What is a community?

Several interacting populations that inhabit a common environment.