Ecology
Unit/Chapter Title: Ecology/ Chapters 52-55
Course: AP Biology
Essential Questions:
•How do interactions within biological systems lead to complex properties?
•How are competition and cooperation important to biological systems?
•How does variation within biological systems affect interactions of the system with the environment?
Unit Components
Introduction to Ecology and the
Biosphere
Unit Vocabulary/
Concepts/Topics
Ecology: biotic, abiotic
Climate
Biome: aquatic, terrestrial
Unit Overview
Population Ecology
Unit Vocabulary/
Concepts/Topics
Population: density, dispersion,
demography
Life history
Population growth: exponential,
carrying capacity, K-selection, rselection, density-dependent
factor, density-independent factor
Demographic transition
Ecological footprint
Community Ecology
Unit Vocabulary/
Concepts/Topics
Community: Interspecific
interaction, Interspecific
competition
Predation
Symbiosis
Species diversity: trophic
structure, dominant species,
keystone species
Disturbance: intermediate
disturbance hypothesis,
succession
Island biogeography
Ecosystems
Unit Vocabulary/
Concepts/Topics
Ecosystem: primary producer,
consumer, detritivores
Primary productivity: gross, net
Energy transfer
Biogeochemical cycle: carbon,
nitrogen
Human impact: acid precipitation,
biological magnification,
greenhouse effect, ozone layer
AP College Board Frameworks
4.A.5 Communities are composed of populations of organisms that interact in complex ways.
4.A.6 Interactions among living systems and with their environment result in the movement of matter and energy.
4.B.4 Interactions between and within populations influence patterns of species distribution and abundance.
4.B.5 Global distribution of ecosystems changes substantially over time.
4.C.3 The level of variation in a population affect population dynamics.
4.C.4 Diversity of species within an ecosystem may influence stability of the ecosystem.
I Can……
• Justify the selection of the kind of data needed to answer a particular question about the interaction of populations within
communities.
• Apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe communities composed of populations of organisms that interact in complex
ways.
• Predict the effects of a change in the community’s populations on the community.
• Apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe interactions among living systems and their environment that result in the
movement of matter and energy.
• Use visual representations to analyze situations or solve problems qualitatively to show how interactions among living systems with
their environment result in the movement of matter and energy.
• Predict the effects of a change of matter and energy availability on community.
• Refine observations and measurements on the effect of population interactions on patterns of species distribution and abundance
based on data analysis.
• Articulate the reasons that scientific explanations and theories about why global distribution of ecosystems changes substantially over
time are refined or replaced.
• Predict the impacts of human activities on an ecosystem.
• Make claims or predictions about the effects of variation on population dynamics using theory and models.
• Make claims or predictions about how species diversity within an ecosystem influences ecosystem stability.