BSC 116 Principles of Biology II - Group Activity: Ecology
Active and Collaborative Learning: Application of Ecological Principles
Your group should include four students
Print Names of Participants
________________________ __________________________
_________________________ ___________________________
1a. Describe each of the following levels of ecology. How are they similar and how are they
different?
a. organismal ecology
b. population ecology
c. community ecology
d. ecosystem ecology.
1b. State a hypothesis that could be tested at each level of ecological study.
2. Compare the exponential growth model (pg. 1182) to the logistic growth model.
Describe examples of each.
3. Explain why the hare and lynx populations’ cycle in a boom-and-bust fashion.
4. What is meant by carrying capacity? What factors determine the carrying capacity of a species?
5. What are some techniques used to measure population density?
6. What is an ecological niche? What is the difference between an ecological niche and a habitat?
7. What is the principle of competitive exclusion?
8. What are two outcomes of two species with identical ecological niches?
9. What are five defenses that animals use to prevent becoming prey?
10. What is a keystone species? Why is this concept significant in consideration of earth’s
sustainability?
11. Why is a food chain ultimately limited in tropic levels?
12. In ecosystems energy flows but chemicals cycle? What does this mean? Draw a functional
diagram that illustrates how energy flows though an ecosystem and how components recycle.
Identify primary producers, consumers and degraders (=decomposers and detritivores).
13. What is Biological Magnification and how have humans contributed to its adverse affect on life?
14. When we talk about biodiversity, what three levels of diversity do we consider?
15. What are two examples of animal species that have become extinct in the past 25 years?
What does HIPPO stand for?
16. Why do invasive species often times become problems in the environment?