Ecology Honors Test Review This is NOT all inclusive- Only to guide your studying!

FORMAT 38 MC (1.5 each = 57 pts) 2 OE (2 pts, 6 pts) 65 Total Points

Know the difference between: – Omnivores – Herbivores – Carnivores – Decomposers

Energy Pyramids Producers Herbivores Carnivores Top Carnivores Grass, trees, plants Deer, rabbits Snake, fox Hawk

Energy Pyramids 1 st trophic level 2 nd trophic level 3 rd trophic level 4 th trophic level 10,000 calories 1,000 calories 100 calories 10 calories Energy is one way flow – 10% kept

Example of a food chain Grass Mouse Snake Hawk You should be able to determine Trophic Levels Feeding strategies (herbivore, carnivore) You should know that ALL organisms will be broken down by decomposers once they die You should be able to MAKE a food chain/web based on information given

Know all about… Nitrogen Cycle Water Cycle Carbon Cycle see the following slides for Ms. Pelullo’s notes pages on each cycle Know how much (%) of each is present in the atmosphere – CO 2, O 2, and N 2

Human impact info Ozone Greenhouse gases & global warming Eutrophication Acid Rain Know general details

Levels of organization Biosphere (broad) Biome Ecosystem Community Population Species Organism (specific)

Know the difference between abiotic and biotic & examples of each

Ecological Succession (primary and secondary) Population Ecology – S vs J curves

BIOMES Know what biome we live in! Do not need to know specific details of each..

Symbiotic relationships – Mutualism – Commensalism – Parasitism

The following slides include information that are from a higher level textbook…

Additional (Higher Level) Notes Important abiotic factors: Solar energy powers all surface terrestrial and shallow water ecosystems. (dark areas – chemosynthesis) Water – essential to all life, aquatic organisms have an “unlimited” supply however, face issues with concentration balances. Temperature – effect on metabolism, hard to maintain at 0C and denatures enzymes over 50C Wind – some organisms dependent on wind to bring nutrients, increases organisms rate of water loss by evaporation, cool in summer, chill in winter.

Population Growth: Exponential Growth Model: Rate of expansion of a population under ideal conditions- when the whole population multiplies by a constant factor during constant time intervals. – Population size can stop growing or may even crash – environmental factors that restrict population growth are known as population limiting factors. – J curve graph Logistic Growth Model: idealized population growth that is slowed by limiting factors. – “K” – carrying capacity – number of individuals in a population that the environment can just maintain with no net increase or decrease. K Value varies depending species and habitat. (K-N)/K – S curve graph

Population Density Number of individuals of a species per unit area or volume. Example: Number of Oak trees per km2 in a forest, or the number of earthworms per m3 in the forests soil. Measured with sampling techniques – estimated, use direct indicators (nests, burrows, tracks) or use the mark-recapture method – marked and released) Dispersion Pattern – the way individuals are spaced in an area. Clumped pattern – aggregated in patches – unequal distribution of resources in the environment. Uniform pattern – even pattern or Random Pattern, unpredictable way

Population Limiting Factors: Density Dependent Factors: – Affect a greater %age of individuals in a population as the number of individuals increases. Limited food supply, buildup of poisonous wastes – some examples. These factors depress a population growth rate by increasing the death rate Density Independent Factors – Occurrence is not affected by population density – Climate and weather, natural disasters