UNIT 5 BIO

UNIT 5: ECOLOGY

Ecology Overview

Q: What is ecology?
A: Ecology is the study of the interactions and relationships between different organisms with each other and their environment.

SECTION 5-1: ECOLOGY TERMINOLOGY

Q: What is interdependence?
A: Interdependence is the unified existence of life that sustains biodiversity and the biosphere.

Q: What does sustainable mean?
A: Sustainable means something that can be done for a long time or repeatedly without being destructive.

Q: What are renewable resources?
A: Renewable resources are energy sources or products that are sustainable and won’t run out.

Q: What is biodegradable?
A: Biodegradable materials are those that decomposers can break down and recycle back into an ecosystem.

Q: What is conservation?
A: Conservation is the wise management of resources with the future in mind, such as not wasting water or energy, recycling, using reusable bags, and using less fossil fuels.

SECTION 5-2: THE UPPER LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION

Q: What is an individual organism?
A: An individual organism is one single living entity.

Q: What is a population?
A: A population is a group of the same species living together in the same area.

Q: What is a community?
A: A community is all the different populations living together in a specific environment.

Q: What is a keystone species?
A: A keystone species is a species that keeps the community stable, such as producers and decomposers. Examples include beavers, coral, and detritivores.

Q: What is an ecosystem?
A: An ecosystem is the entire community of organisms and all the abiotic factors within a specific environment.

Q: What is biodiversity?
A: Biodiversity is the variety of species in an ecosystem or biosphere. More biodiversity leads to a more stable and resilient ecosystem.

Q: What is a biome?
A: A biome is a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar communities.

Q: What is the biosphere?
A: The biosphere is the Earth itself and all its lifeforms.

SECTION 5-3: INTERDEPENDENCE

Q: What are trophic levels?
A: Trophic levels are each step or point of transfer in an ecosystem's energy flow system.

Q: What is a food chain?
A: A food chain is the linear exchange of chemical energy between organisms in a community.

Q: What is a food web?
A: A food web is the radial exchange of chemical energy between all organisms in a community, made up of many food chains.

Q: What are ecological pyramids?
A: Ecological pyramids are diagrams showing the relative amounts of energy or matter within each trophic level. There are three types:

• Energy pyramid: Shows the percentage of energy transferred between levels.

• Biomass pyramid: Shows the amount of living material at each trophic level.

• Numbers pyramid: Shows the total number of species at each trophic level.

Q: What is symbiosis?
A: Symbiosis is a relationship between different species due to coevolution. There are three types:

• Parasitism: One organism benefits while the other suffers.

• Commensalism: One organism benefits, and the other is unaffected.

• Mutualism: Both organisms benefit.

Q: What is a nutrient cycle?
A: Nutrient cycles are the movement of chemicals needed for survival (like oxygen, carbon, nitrogen) between living and non-living factors.

SECTION 5-4: POPULATION ECOLOGY

Q: What are population dynamics?
A: Population dynamics refers to how populations are balanced within ecosystems, such as too many producers leading to a lack of resources or too few herbivores causing carnivores to starve.

Q: What is the predator-prey relationship?
A: In a predator-prey relationship, too many predators cause prey to decrease, leading to predators starving, which causes the prey population to increase again, and the cycle repeats.

Q: What is population growth?
A: Population growth refers to how fast a population increases or decreases, and it must remain stable to avoid overpopulation.

Q: What is carrying capacity?
A: Carrying capacity is the maximum number of organisms a niche can support.

Q: What are logistic and exponential growth?
A:

• Logistic growth: Growth slows down as it reaches the carrying capacity.

• Exponential growth: Growth continues rapidly at a constant rate, which is unstable.

Q: What are limiting factors?
A: Limiting factors are conditions that restrict the growth rate of a population, such as competition, predation, and disease.

Q: What are density-dependent and density-independent factors?
A:

• Density-dependent factors: Factors that depend on the number of individuals in an area (e.g., competition, predation).

• Density-independent factors: Factors that don't depend on population size, like weather, climate, and human impacts.

Q: What is demography?
A: Demography is the study of human populations, and human population growth has increased exponentially due to agriculture, medicine, sanitation, and technology.

Q: What are age structure diagrams?
A: Age structure diagrams graph the percentage of individuals in different age groups, used to predict growth patterns:

• Growing population: High birth rate, high death rate.

• Stationary population: Low birth rate, low death rate.

• Declining population: Low birth rate, low percentage of young.

SECTION 5-5: HUMAN IMPACTS AND SOLUTIONS

Q: What is pollution?
A: Pollution is the dumping of toxic chemicals or non-biodegradable materials into the environment.

Q: What are the types of pollution?
A:

• Water Pollution: Oil spills, farm chemical runoff, factory waste.

• Air Pollution: Smog and acid rain from factories.

• Land Pollution: Chemical dumping, nuclear waste, and landfills.

Q: What are solutions to pollution?
A: Stricter laws, biodegradable materials, new technology, organic farming, conservation, and using renewable energy resources.

Q: What is the ozone hole?
A: The ozone hole is a gap in the ozone layer caused by CFCs, allowing extra ultraviolet radiation into the Earth.

Q: What are solutions to the ozone hole?
A: Eliminate CFCs and develop new technology.

Q: What causes global warming?
A: The "greenhouse effect," caused by CO2 and other fossil fuel pollution trapping solar energy.

Q: What are the effects of global warming?
A: Melting ice caps, rising sea levels, more storms, and loss of micro-organisms.

Q: What are solutions to global warming?
A: New technology, less fossil fuel use, more renewable energy, and reduced deforestation.

Q: What is habitat fragmentation?
A: Habitat fragmentation is the destruction of habitats, often due to deforestation or urbanization.

Q: What are solutions to habitat fragmentation?
A: Paper & lumber alternatives, fast food + palm oil boycotts, new laws, and conservation.

Q: What is intensive farming?
A: Intensive farming involves harsh land use and mistreatment of animals to increase food production, often with harmful chemicals.

Q: What are solutions to intensive farming?
A: Organic farming and stricter laws.

Q: What is resource depletion?
A: Resource depletion occurs when important resources like freshwater, fertile soil, and fossil fuels are overused or contaminated.

Q: What are solutions to resource depletion?
A: Using renewable energy, conservation, and reducing pollution.

Q: What causes endangerment and extinction of species?
A: Overfishing, illegal trade, habitat fragmentation, and other human activities.

Q: What are solutions to endangerment and extinction?
A: Stricter laws, conservation, and reducing deforestation and overfishing.

Q: What are invasive species?
A: Invasive species are non-native organisms introduced into an ecosystem that disrupt its balance.

Q: What are solutions to invasive species?
A: Stricter laws and the removal of invasive species