1. Chapter 4: Ecosystems and Communities
Test Review

2. Section 4.1: Climate

3. Weather Climate Greenhouse Effect Microclimate
The day-to-day condition of Earth’s atmosphere
Average conditions over long periods and is defined by year-after-year patterns of temperature and precipitation
The trapping of heat by gases in the atmosphere
Variations in climate over short distances
Weather
Climate
Greenhouse Effect
Microclimate

4. What is climate?
The average condition of temperature and precipitation in a region over long periods.

5. Describe the factors that determine global climate.
1. The Greenhouse Effect: temperature on Earth stays within a range suitable for life due to the trapping of heat by gases in the atmosphere

6. 2. Earths curvature causes different latitudes to receive less or more intense solar energy, resulting in 3 main climate zones: polar, temperate, and tropical

7. 3. Winds and ocean currents move heat and moisture through the biosphere; warm air/water rises and cold air/water sinks

8. Section 4.2: Niches and community interactions

9. tolerance resource habitat niche
Range of conditions under which a species can grow and reproduce
Any necessity of live, such as water, light, food
Place where a species lives
Consists of all the physical and biological conditions in which a species lives and the way the species obtains what it needs to survive
tolerance
resource
habitat
niche

10. No two species can occupy the exact same niche at the exact same time in the exact same habitat
Single species, that when changed, causes dramatic changes in the structure of a community
Any relationship in which two species live closely together
Competitive exclusion principle
Keystone species
symbiosis

11. mutualism predation parasitism herbivory commensalism
Relationship in which both species benefit
Occurs when one organism (predator) captures and eats another (prey)
Relationship in which one species benefits by living in or on the other species
An interaction that occurs when an animal (herbivore) feeds on producers
Relationship in which one species benefits and the other is neither harmed no helped.
mutualism
predation
parasitism
herbivory
commensalism

12. What is a niche?
Describes not only the environment where an organism lives, but HOW the organism interacts with biotic and abiotic factors in the environment
The way in which the organism uses resources to survive

13. How does competition shape communities?
Competition causes species to divide resources and determines the number and kinds of species in a community and the niche each species occupies

14. How do predation and herbivory shape communities?
Predation: predators affect the size of prey populations in a community and determines the places prey can live and feed
Herbivory: can affect both the size and distribution of plant populations in a community and determine the places that certain plants can survive and grow

15. Describe the three ways that organisms depend on each other.
1. Mutualism: relationship in which both species benefit
Examples:
Clown fish and sea anemone
Bee eating a flower’s nectar and picking up the flower’s pollen
An aphid providing food to an ant in exchange for protection

16. Describe the three ways that organisms depend on each other.
2. Commensalism: relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed
Examples:
Barnacle living on a whale’s skin

17. Describe the three ways that organisms depend on each other.
3. Parasitism: relationship in which one organism lives inside or on another organism and harms it
Examples:
Tick living on the body of a deer
Tapework living in a person’s intestines

18. Section 4.3: succession

19. The first species to colonize barren areas
A series of more-or-less predictable changes that occur in a community over time
Succession that begins in an area with no remnants of an older community
Succession that occurs in disturbed areas where remnants of previous ecosystems remain
Pioneer Species
Succession
Primary Succession
Secondary Succession

20. Describe how communities change over time.
Ecosystems change over time, especially after disturbances, as some species die out and new species move in

21. Do ecosystems return to “normal” following a disturbance?
Yes! Secondary succession in healthy ecosystems following natural disturbances often reproduces the original community

22. Section 4.4: Biomes

23. What abiotic and biotic factors characterize biomes?
Abiotic factors:
Soil type
Climate (temperature and precipitation)
Biotic factors:
Plant life
Animal life

24. Describe the effect of coastal mountains on regional climates.
As moist ocean air rises over the upwind side of coastal mountains, it condenses, cools, and drops precipitation.
As the air sinks on the downward side of the mountain, it expands, warms, and absorbs moisture.

25. Chapter mystery: the wolf effect

26. The Yellowstone wolf and elk are linked through a predator-prey relationship. If a disease were to strike the elk population, how would the wolves be affected?
Yellowstone is owned by the federal government. The reintroduction of wolves there angered nearby farmers because they feared their animals would be hunted. What level of responsibility do you think national parks should have toward their neighbors?
Draw a food chain that connects Yellowstone’s wolves, aspen and willow trees, and elk. Then write a paragraph that explains why the Yellowstone wolves are a keystone species.