ECOLOGY STUDY GUIDE (Chs. 3, 4 & parts of 5 & 6)
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Be able to define these words: ecology, biosphere, species, population,
community, ecosystem, biome
What is the difference between abiotic and biotic factors in an ecosystem?
What is biodiversity?
What succession?
What is the difference between primary & secondary succession? Example of
each.
What are pioneer species?
What is primary productivity?
Know the trophic levels: producer, consumer & decomposers
Know the difference between primary, secondary and tertiary consumers.
Know the difference between herbivores, carnivores, omnivores & detritivores.
Know the difference between a food chain and a food web.
Be able to explain what happens to energy as it is transferred through trophic
levels.
Know how much energy is lost at each transfer.
Be able to explain why there are usually only 3 or 4 levels of consumers in an
ecosystem.
Be able to analyze and draw a food web.
What was the "vital commodity" in the bean transfer lab?
Know the difference between the 3 types of ecological pyramids: energy,
numbers & biomass.
Know the major biogeochemical cycles: Water, carbon, nitrogen.
Know the definitions of the following: nitrogen fixation, denitrification
What is condensation, evaporation, precipitation, transpiration?
Be able to explain why energy is said to flow while materials are said to cycle.
What is coevolution? Know some examples.
Know some examples of coevolution between plants and animals.
What is symbiosis?
Be able to explain the differences between parasitism, mutualism,
commensalism. Know examples.
What is the difference between a predator and a host?
Know the difference between a habitat and a niche.
What is the difference between the fundamental niche & the realized niche?
What is resource partitioning? Know some examples.
What is meant by the word competition?
What is the difference between intraspecific and interspecific competition?
Know some examples of competition.
How can predators affect competition between prey species?
What is climate? What are the major things that affect climate in an area?
What is a biome?
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Know the characteristics (plants, animals & climate) of the major terrestrial
biomes.
Have a general idea where each of the land biomes is located on a map.
How much of the Earth's surface is covered with ocean, lakes, rivers?
What is plankton? Phytoplankton? Zooplankton?
Know the different zones of the marine biome (photic, aphotic, intertidal, coastal
ocean, open ocean, benthic zone).
What is an estuary, a coral reef, a wetland, a salt marsh, a mangrove swamp?
According to Time Magazine, what were the four major threats to planet Earth?
What is the main cause of extinction?
Where do most of the species of the earth live?
What environmental disasters occurred at Love Canal, Bhopal, Times Beach,
Chernobyl, Bikini Island?
What are problems associated with waste? What are some ways around the
trash problem.
What is acid rain? What causes it? What kinds of effects is it having and where?
What is the ozone hole? What problems is this causing?
What is destroying the ozone layer? How does it manage to do this?
What is global warming? What is the cause of this phenomenon?
Describe the greenhouse effect.
How might increased temperatures affect the planet Earth?
What are some other types of pollution?
What is biological magnification? What does DDT have to do with this?
What kinds of resources are being lost at a rapid pace?
Know the history of human population growth over time.
When did the world’s population start to expand exponentially? Why did this
happen?
What is the demographic transition?
In what year did the world's population reach 6 billion?
How many people are added to the human population in one year right now?
Where is population growth the fastest? Where is it slowest?
When might the population of the earth stabilize? How many people might there
be then?
What is the projected population of people in 2050?