1. Ecology
By Ashley Olsen

2. What is ecology?
Ecology is the study of the relationship between the environment and living organism
Their interactions

3. What are individual organisms?
Individual organisms are the smallest unit that an ecologist would concern themselves with

4. What are species?
Species are the same organisms (as a group) that live in the same location at the same time.
They are capable of breeding and producing fertile young

5. What are populations? A group of species
They may or may not interact with one another
These populations make up a community

6. What are communities?
They are a group of all the populations interacting with each other

7. What are ecosystems? Ecosystems are a group of habitats
When you put different habitats together, you get ecosystems

8. What is a biosphere?
A biosphere is all of the places on Earth and where the atmosphere/oceans/ caves etc. where life exists

9. What is a habitat?
A habitat is where all of the biotic interact with the abiotic features

10. What are abiotic factors?
Abiotic factors are non-living factors in the environment

11. What is the First Tropic Level/ Producers in the food pyramid?
The first level is equal to something taking a step up in the pyramid
There is the most energy that comes from the sun

12. What is the Second Tropic Level/ Primary Consumers in the food pyramid?
The second level is the first level of consumers
A consumer = a heterotroph
Herbivores

13. What is the Third Tropic Level/Secondary Consumers in the food pyramid?
A heterotroph
Carnivores and/ or omnivores
Consume the primary consumers and maybe the producers

14. What is the Fourth Tropic Level/Tertiary Consumer in the food pyramid?
The top of the pyramid
Third level consumer but its on the fourth level
Carnivores or omnivores that consume primary consumer and things below them

15. What is the Fifth Tropic Level/Quandary Consumer
The Fifth Tropic level is when you rarely get a Fourth level consumer
This level doesn’t have enough energy to supply them
In this level there is .1 calories of energy

16. What is the Flow of Energy in a Tropic Level?
A you go down in the pyramid, the amount of food required for you to consume gets larger and larger
It is impossible to supply if there are large quantities at the top of the pyramid

17. What is the difference between a food pyramid and a food web?
Food Pyramid: It may talk about different types of animals and plants or it may talk about one type.
Food Web: It talks about many types of animals and plants

18. What is a decomposer?
A decomposer is an organism that breaks down dead animals and recycles the material back into the environment

19. What is an autotroph (photosynthesis)?
An autotroph is an organism that is capable of making its own food
Carbon Dioxide + Water + Sunlight = Glucose + Oxygen

20. What is a heterotroph?
A heterotroph is an organism that is not able to make it’s own food and it gets its nutrients from other sources

21. What is an herbivore?
An herbivore is an organism that only eats plants

22. What is a carnivore?
A carnivore is an organism that only eats meat

23. What is an omnivore?
An omnivore is a organism that eats both meats and plants; eats everything

24. What is a saprobe?
A saprobe is a form of decomposers, like bacteria, that help to recycle materials back into the environment

25. What is a scavenger?
A scavenger is something that can eat dead things

26. What is carry capacity?
This is the amount of individuals in a species that an amount of land can support

27. What are limiting factors?
Limiting factors have access to resources.
These resources are food, water, shelter and money

28. What is density dependent?
Food is density dependent
The more people you have, the less food you will have
They are all affected by population

29. What is density independent?
Density independent is when everyone is equally affected no matter how many individuals there are

30. What is the competition between and among species?
Between – food, shelter and water
Within the same species – food, shelter, water and mates

31. What is symbiosis?
Symbiosis is the way two or more organisms interact with each other

32. What is competition?
Competition is an interaction between organisms or species, in which the fitness of one is lowered by the presence of another.

33. What is mutualism? Mutualism has an equal relationship
Both organisms benefit from this, no organisms are harmed

34. What is parasitism?
Parasitism is when one animal benefits (the parasite) and one organism is harmed (the host)
They do not want to kill the host, they want to make it as sick as possible
If the host dies, the parasite will most likely die

35. What is commensalism?
Commensalism is when one organism benefits and the other organism neither benefits nor harmed

36. What is the predator/prey?
A predator is the one who hunts
The prey is the one that is hunted
The predator population lags behind the prey in numbers
The prey population is lower

37. What is amensalism?
Amensalism is when One organism benefits and completely destroys/kills the other organism

38. What is the J-curve? Tend to be small To produce a lot of young
They reach sexual maturity at an early age
They have little or no parental evolvement
This is affected by the environment

39. What is the S-curve? Tend to be large Produce only a few young
Reach sexual maturity later
They have a lot of parental care
The environment is a very important factor in their life