1. Ecology

2. True or False
1. When we eat, 50 % of food energy is transferred from our food to our body.
2. Scavengers decompose dead organisms.
3. Biotic factors are living things.
4. The biomass of producers is less than that of consumers.
5. A community is a larger unit than a population.

3. Trophic Level - the way in which energy flows through an ecosystem
___________ = make their own food
___________ = eat other organisms for food
___________ = break down dead organisms

4. Energy Pyramid _________ = shows the energy at each level
3˚ consumers (__________)
2˚ consumers (__________)
1˚ consumers (___________)
Producers (_________)

6. 10% Rule - energy is lost through each level
only _____ of energy is passed from one level to another
During every transfer of energy within an ecosystem, ~ ______% of energy is lost as _____.

7. Food chain vs. food web _____ _____ = connected ______ ______________
___________ = show how energy flows in one pathway
Ex: corn --> chicken --> coyote --> lion
_____ _____ = connected ______ ______________

8. Structure of ecosystem
- Ecosystems have many components:
1) _________
- place where an organism lives
2) ______
- the role an organism plays in an ecosystem
3) _________ – living parts of an ecosystem
(ex: organisms)
4) __________ – nonliving parts of an
ecosystem (ex: temperature, water)

9. Symbiosis - interaction between two or more species
1) _________ = one species is harmed; one species benefits
Ex: ticks (parasite) living on animals (host)
2) _________ = both species benefit
Ex: bacteria living in cow’s stomach
3) _________ = one species benefits; one
species is not affected
Ex: smaller plants living on larger plants

10. Type of Relationship (continued)
4) _____________= organisms trying to use resources
a) _____________ competition
- between organisms of the same species
- driving force of evolution (“survival of the fittest”)
b) _____________ competition
between organisms of different species
5) ____________ = one organism feeds on another
Prey = what is being hunted
Predator = what is hunting for food
as one organism (prey or predator) increases,
there is a direct relationship to the other.

11. Biomes
Major _________ __________that the Earth’s continents are divided into.

12. Factors that create biomes
_________= overall patterns of weather
___________ and ___________

13. Climate is affected by…
1) ____________
- vertical striations of the Earth
- temperature depends on sunlight
i.e. near equator = _________.
near poles = ____________.
2) ____________
- flow of air carrying diff. amount of moisture
- ____ air rises, _____ air sinks

14. Climate is affected by…
3) _____________
water has high heat capacity (heats and cools more slowly than land
4) _____________
- climatically similar to latitude
- high altitude = _________.
- low altitude = __________.

15. Types of Biomes 1) Terrestrial Biomes (on land)
- Tundra ( ___________)
- Taiga (____________)
- Temperate Forests (_______)
- Grasslands (_____________)
- Deserts (____________)
- Tropical Rainforests (______________)
2) Aquatic Biomes (in water)
- Freshwater (lake, river, pond) – (____________)
- Saltwater (ocean)- (_______________________
_______________________________)

16. Succession: 1) ________ Succession
occurs where life has not existed before.
ex: on a fresh lava flow
- begins w/ __________ organisms (small, fast-reproducing)
- ends w/ _______ community (large, slow-reproducing, nurturing the young)
ex: evergreen trees
lichens  grasses  shrubs  trees

17. Succession (continued)
occurs after an ecosystem has suffered from a _____ _________such as fire
- much faster than ___________ succession.

18. Succession (continued)
Secondary succession
of a corn field
Primary succession following
the retreat of a glacier.

19. Cycles in Nature
________ is neither ______ nor _________. It is constantly recycled in nature
water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus cycles

21. Carbon Cycle

22. Nitrogen Cycle

23. Population Biology

24. Linear vs. Exponential _____________
a steady increase shown as a straight line
Growth - not how populations grow
______________
as a population gets larger, it also grows larger; shown as a curve line
how populations grow

25. Factors limiting a population
_______________
having to do with population density
(# of individual in the population)
Ex: _______, ________, ________, ________, ______, ________
2) _______________
affect all population regardless of population density
Ex: abiotic factors such as _________, ______ ______, ______ ________

26. How are predator and prey populations inter-dependent?
Prey population ________, predator population ________.
Predator population ________, prey pop.__________.

27. Carrying Capacity
The # of _________ of one species that an _____________ can support.

28. Population Growth Rate
= ________ – ________
or doubling rate calculation

29. Demography
The study of human population growth characteristics such as growth rate, age structure and geographical distribution.