Textbook: Glencoe Science Biology ( new zebra book)
Chapter 2 Study Guide
Name
2.1 Organisms and their relationships Page 32
1. What two types of things do all living things depend upon in order to survive?
Non living factors found within the environment
Other organisms living in the same environment.
2. What is Ecology?
Portion of Biology in which the relationships among living organisms and the interaction the organisms
have with their environments are studied.
3. What does an ecologist do?
A. An ecologist observes and studies the interaction between living things and their environment.
B. An ecologist observes how the various animals interact with each other.
C. An ecologist observes how the environment affects the plants and animals that live there.
4. What is a longitudinal analysis?
Observations and analyses that are made by ecologist over long periods of time.
Sometimes it takes a long time to completely study all the interactions of a particular species.
5. Explain the following milestones that have been made by ecologist.
In 1872
Theodore Roosevelt (1905)
Rachel Carson (1962)
Dian Fossey (1967)
Marjorie Carr (1971)
Montreal protocol (1987)
Tom Goldtooth
Ban on leaded gasoline
(1996)
Yellowstone becomes the first national park in the United States.
Urges the U.S. Congress to set aside over 70 million acres of land to
protect the natural resources found on them.
Publishes a best- selling book warning of the environmental danger of
pollution and pesticides.
Her ecological work prompted the government of Rwanda and
international conservation groups to begin efforts to protect mountain
gorillas
Stops the construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal because of the
environmental damage the project would cause.
The united States and other countries sign the Montreal protocol, an
agreement to phase out the use of chemical compounds that destroy
atmospheric ozone.
The Indigenous Environmental Network is formed by Native
Americans to protect their tribal lands and communities from
environmental damage.
Completing a phase-out that was begun in 1973 the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency bans the sale of leaded gasoline for vehicle use.
Textbook: Glencoe Science Biology ( new zebra book)
Wangari Maathai (20040
Began the Green Belt Movement in Africa, which hires women to plant
trees to slow the process of deforestation and desertification.
6. What is the Biosphere?
The portion of Earth that supports life.
It extends several kilometers above the earth’s surface into the atmosphere and extends several
kilometers below the ocean’s surface to the deep-ocean vents.
7. What is the Biotic portion of an ecosystem?
The Biotic portion of an ecosystem is the LIVING parts of the ecosystem.
Some examples of the biotic portion would be plants, animals, insects, bacteria.
8. Describe the Abiotic factors within an ecosystem:
Nonliving factors in an organism’s environment
Organisms adapt to survive in the abiotic factors present in their natural environment
9. List the levels of organization found in nature:

organism
Population
Biological community
Ecosystem
Biome
Biosphere
A population is made up of all the members of one particular species within an
area.
A community is made up of all the LIVING things within a community.
An ecosystem is made up of all the living things AND the abiotic factors as well.
A biome is a large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have
similar types of communities.
The biosphere is the thin layer of Earth and its atmosphere that supports life.
10. What is a HABITAT?
A habitat is an area where an organism lives.
11. What is meant by the organism’s NICHE?
The niche is the role or position that an organism has in its environment.
An organism’s niche is how it meets its needs for food, shelter, and reproduction.
The niche might b e described in terms of requirements for living space, temperature, moisture, or in
terms of appropriate mating or reproduction conditions.
Textbook: Glencoe Science Biology ( new zebra book)
12. Describe the following community interactions:
Living things must compete for the available resources such
as food, water, living space, and available mates.
Survival of the fittest. The strong take the resources and
the weak just die or move away.
The predator hunts and kills the prey.
Whenever a prey population goes up, the predator
population will come in to feed on the abundant prey.
Mutualism occurs when two different species live together
and help each other.
Examples include the protist living inside the termite. The
termite provides food for the protist, in return the protist
breaks down the wood so the termite can get the
nourishment.
Two living things live together. One benefits, while the
other is not affected at all.
Example: Orchids growing in a tree.
Two species living together. One benefits and the other is
hurt.
Example: Heart worms in dogs. Also fleas on dogs.
Section 2.2 Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem. Page 41 in your book.
Energy in an Ecosystem
13. What is an Autotroph?
All of the green plants and other organisms that produce their own food in a ecosystem are primary
producers called autotrophs.
An autotroph is an organism that collects energy from sunlight or inorganic substances to produce food.
Textbook: Glencoe Science Biology ( new zebra book)
14. What is a Heterotroph?
Heterotrophs cannot make their own food. They must eat other living things to survive.
Name
Description
Examples
Herbivore
Eats only plants
Rabbit, cow, grasshopper
Carnivore
Eats only meat
Lion, wolves
Omnivore
Eats both plants and meat.
Bears and humans
Detritivores
Eats dead matter within the
Worms and other aquatic insects
ecosystem and recycle nutrients
back into the soil.
Decomposers
Release digestive enzymes to break Bacteria and fungi
down dead things. Makes things
rot and returns nutrients to the
soil.
15. Describe a food chain:

A food chain is a
simple model that
shows how energy
flows through an
ecosystem.
16. Describe a FOOD WEB:
A food web is a model in which many food chains interconnect as the energy flows through many
different pathways.