Envi-Sci Quiz Prep 10.4
From
•Energy Flow in
Ecosystems Reading
Notes
•What is the source of
energy plants use to
grow?
•THE SUN
• What is the process
called whereby the
plants convert the
sun’s energy into
food?
•PHOTOSYNTHISIS
•Where do animals
get their energy to
grow, move and
reproduce?
• They eat the plants or
other animals that ate
plants
•SO, originally, where
did the all the energy
come from that the
animals use?
•THE SUN
•What is a producer?
•PLANTS
•What is a
consumer?
•ANIMALS
•What chemical
source do some
deep ocean
producers use for
energy?
•Thermal Vents
•What are
decomposers?
•Fungus and
bacteria that eat
dead plants and
animals.
•Producers are
what tropic level?
•The bottom
•Herbivores are
what tropic level?
•First level
consumers
•Carnivores are
what tropic level?
•Second (+)level
consumers
•How does your
body get the
energy out of
food?
• CELULAR
RESPIRATION
•What is cellular
respiration?
•The process cells
use to oxidize food
to extract it’s energy
•For what do you use
most of the energy
you obtained
through cellular
respiration?
• Most of the energy is
used just to keep you
alive and growing.
•What happens to the
excess energy that
you don’t use?
•It is stored as fat
until you need it.
•How can we trace
the transfer of
energy through an
ecosystem?
•Energy Pyramid
•What is a “food
chain”?
•A simplified model
of who eats what.
•How is energy lost
at each trophic
level?
•About 90% of the
energy taken in is lost
to the processes of
cellular respiration and
just keeping the
organism alive
•How does energy
loss affect the types
of organisms at each
increasing tropic
level?
•Fewer individuals
can be supported
at each increasing
level
Drill
• How do decomposers
fit into the ecosystem’s
energy flow?
• Decomposers can put
some energy back into
the system when they
are eaten
Drill
•How do
decomposers help
the environment?
•They return
nutrients to the
soil, and clean up
debris that could
cause disease or
fuel fires
•Why do large
hunting animals
have super large
territories?
•They are at the top
of the food and
energy pyramid
where the energy
density is the
lowest
Food/Energy Pyramid
REAL Food/Energy Pyramid
90% energy loss each level
Population Sampling Lab
• How would the
number of samples
affect the results?
More Samples
=
Better accuracy
Population Sampling Lab
•How would sample
size and
population size
affect these
results?
Bigger samples
=
Better Accuracy
Population Sampling Lab
•What would cause
your results to be
off from the actual
population?
• Random Chance
• Tags cause increased
predation
• Tags cause disease
• Hunters don’t report
• Animal habits not considered
•What concerns should
biologists have about a
species’ habits before
they use this method to
approximate
population size?
• If we are looking in the wrong
place at the wrong time, our
results will be invalid
• Example: If we are sampling
Canadian Geese in the
summer in Maryland, while
the geese are in Canada
Drill
•Why is a food web
more realistic than
a food chain?
•Most species eat and
are eaten by many
different organisms,
as depicted in a food
web
Drill
•If a food chain
were broken, how
could that affect
the top level
consumers?
•All of the consumers
above the break
would die off.
Keystone Species PPT
•What does a
keystone species
do?
A keystone species
holds the community
together. Without it,
everything else falls
apart
Keystone Species PPT
• When the California
sea otter was killed off,
what happened to the
Sea urchin population?
•It grew out of
control because
the otter wasn’t
there to eat it.
Keystone Species PPT
•What do sea
urchins eat in that
area?
•The base of the
giant kelp plants
Keystone Species PPT
•What happened
to the kelp
plants?
•They were all killed
by the high sea
urchin population.
Keystone Species PPT
•What happened
to the young and
small fish?
•They were eaten or
left because there
was no kelp forest
to hide in.
Keystone Species PPT
•What regulates the
number of sea
otters that can live
in an area?
•The amount of
sea urchins it
has for food
Keystone Species PPT
•What are
interdependent
species?
•Species that
depend on each
other to survive
Keystone Species PPT
•What kills the
Monterey Pine
Forests, and what
carries it to the
trees?
•Pine pitch canker,
carried by the pine
bark beetle
Keystone Species PPT
•What regulates
the growth of the
beetles?
•The Woodpeckers
eat them so they do
not become too
numerous and kill all
the trees.
Keystone Species PPT
•What regulates the
number of wood
peckers?
•The number of
dead trees for
them to nest in.
Keystone Species PPT
•What fertilizes
the milkweed
flowers?
•Monarch
butterflies
Keystone Species PPT
•What feeds on
the sap of the
milkweed plant?
•Monarch
butterfly larva
Keystone Species PPT
•Why don’t birds
eat the larva?
•They are
poisonous from
eating the
milkweed sap
Drill
•What is natural
selection?
• The process where a
species attributes are
selected for or against by
the natural pressures of
the environment.
• - - Food supply,
competition, weather, etc
•In general, what
sort of species
reproduces the
most quickly?
•Small organisms
that are low on the
food web and have
many predators
•What is a territory?
•An area defended by
one or more
individuals against
other individuals
•What is the
primary limiting
factor to an area’s
carrying capacity?
•The most limited
resource
What is a
population?
• .
• All members of a
species in the same
area at the same time
•What is a
population’s
density?
•# of individuals
per unit of space
or volume
•What is a
population’s
dispersion?
•How they are spread
out in that area
•Clumped
•Random
•Even
•What is a
population’s
growth rate?
•Births minus
deaths
•What is a
population’s
reproductive
potential?
•The fastest rate at
which the population
can grow under
perfect conditions
•What 3 things affect
a population’s
reproductive
potential?
•# of offspring in a
liter
•# of liters per year
•How young they
reproduce
•Why do physically
larger species
reproduce so
slowly?
• They have long
generation times.
• (length of time before
reproducing the first time)
•What is
exponential
growth?
•Population
increases faster
and faster
•What is
necessary for
exponential
growth to occur?
•Lots of food and
space
•Few predators
•What is an
ecosystem’s
carrying capacity?
•Maximum
population the
ecosystem can
support
•What happens if
the carrying
capacity is
exceeded?
• Population crashes –
• may recover at lower
level
• May die off completely
•What is a
“limiting
resource”?
•Resource that limits
how many
individuals it can
support
•What is the resource
that determines the
ecosystem’s
carrying capacity?
•The resource in
lowest supply
•Why is there
competition
within a
population?
•Limited food,
•Limited shelter
•Limited mates
•What 4 things does a
territory provide?
•Space
•Shelter
•Food
•Breeding sites
•How is competition
within a population
part of natural
selection?
•Only those with the
competitive traits to
survive and reproduce
get to pass on their
genes to the next
generation