Ecology Review

Describe each of the following terms: Biotic - living Abiotic – non-living

Describe each of the following terms: Organism – one of any living thing Population – all the organisms that belong to the same species living in an ecosystem Community -populations that interact

Describe each of the following terms: Ecosystem – -all the living organisms that live in an area and the nonliving features of their environment

Describe each of the following terms: Predator – an animal that hunts and kills other animals for food. A predator is a consumer [carnivore or omnivore] Prey – an animal that is hunted and caught for food. Prey is a consumer; it may be a herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore.

Describe each of the following terms: Mutualism - a type of relationship in which both organisms benefit Commensalism - a type of relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is not affected

Describe each of the following terms: Producer - organism, such as a green plant or alga, that uses the Sun to create sugar Consumer - organism that gets energy by eating other organisms Decomposer – consume wastes and dead organisms

Describe each of the following terms: Carnivore – eat consumers (animals) Herbivore – eat producers Omnivore – eat producers and consumers

Review food chains, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, decomposers om/foodchain.html

Describe each of the following terms: Energy flow through an ecosystem - the movement of energy through an ecosystem through food webs. The transfer of energy from one organism to another.

Review the flow of energy through plants and animals here: om/me/me2.html

Describe each of the following terms: Food chain - chain of organisms along which energy, in the form of food passes. An organism feeds on the link before it and is in turn prey for the link after it. Food web - Complex network of many interconnected food chains and feeding relationships; a group of interconnecting food chains

Review food chains here: ng/foodchains.htm

Describe each of the following terms: Energy pyramid

Describe each of the following terms: Energy pyramid – a way of showing energy flow. As the amount of available energy decreases, the pyramid gets smaller. Each layer on a pyramid is called a trophic level. The amount of energy available at the next level up is 10%

Describe each of the following terms:

Review energy pyramids here: Idealized Energy Pyramid

Describe each of the following terms: Succession Primary succession Secondary succession

Describe each of the following terms: Succession - natural, gradual changes in the types of species that live in an area; can be primary or secondary Primary succession – takes where no soil exists Secondary succession – takes place where soil is already present

Describe each of the following terms: Pioneer species - a group of hardy organisms, such as lichens, found in the primary stage of succession and that begin an area's soil-building process Climax community - stable, end stage of ecological succession in which the plants and animals of a community use resources efficiently and balance is maintained by disturbances such as fire.

Review succession here: org/17456/succession1. html