Name: ________________________________
Ecology Review Sheet
Biology 414
Chapter 4
Vocab Terms to be familiar with:
Climate: AVERAGE weather patterns in a biome
Microclimate: small climates created within biomes
Biome: an area characterized by climate
Habitat: the home of an organism
Niche: the role an organism plays in its environment (job)
Symbiosis: any relationship between species
Mutualism: both species benefit (bird on top of cow/ remora fish and shark)
Commensalism: one species benefits the other unharmed ( barnacles on a whale)
Predation: when a predator kills its prey (lion and water buffalo)
Parasitism: one species benefits (parasite), the other is harmed (host) (ex: humans and tapeworms)
Competition: 2 species fight over a resource or a niche
4.1 Climate/Biomes (4.4)
1. What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is day to day temperature changes, climate is AVERAGE weather (temp/precipitation)
2. There will be a few questions on biomes from your biome chart:
a. Which biome has the least precipitation?
- desert
b. Which biome is found as a belt around the equator? Hint, high humidity and rainfall
- tropical rainforest
c. Which biome has a permanently frozen ground, 24 hours of daylight in the summer, and is
home to polar bears and penguins?
- tundra
d. Which biome do we live in?
- deciduous forest
e. What abiotic factors determine the climate of a biome?
- location from the equator, amount of sunlight
4.2 Niches and Community Interactions:
8. How are an organism’s niche and habitat different?
Habitat is the home of an organism, and niche is the ROLE of the organism in the ecosystem
9. Pick an organism. What is its habitat? Explain its niche.
Shark
Habitat: open ocean
Niche: top carnivores, eat fish (and humans+seals), and they hunt alone
10. Why won’t 2 different species occupy the same niche?
They will compete for limited resources
11. What are some abiotic resources organisms compete for?
- water, shelter, sunlight, air
12. What are examples of some biotic resources organisms compete for?
- food, mates
13. Explain what limiting factors are.
- factors that limit a population size ( how big the population can grow)
14. Give an example for number 13
amount of sunlight for plants
15. During parasitism there are two roles that need to be filled. Write the role of the following:
- host: its being harmed, provides nutrients
- parasite: lives off of the host
16. In predation what are the roles of the two organisms involved?
-predator: hunts and kills the prey
- prey: is food for the predator
17. What is the difference between commensalism and mutualism?
Mutualism: both benefit
Commensalism: 1 benefits, the other is unharmed
18. Keystone species: a species that plays a very important role in its ecosystem
Grey Wolf Example:
- reduced the population size of the Elk
- willow plant increased
- more willow= more home for birds, and wood for beavers