AP BIO
Ecology Review
Chap 51-55
http://educ.queensu.ca/~fmc/august2004/pages/dinobreath.html
List the 6 levels of organization that
ecologists study from smallest to
largest
Organisms → Populations →
Communities →
Ecosystems →
Biomes →
BIOSPHERE
All the organisms that live in a place
PLUS their non-living environment
ecosystem
Another name for autotrophs
producers
The portion of the Earth in which
all life exists
biosphere
Make a food chain out of the following:
herbivore
omnivore
autotroph
autotroph → herbivore → omnivore
WHICH ORGANISMS are responsible for
removing nitrogen from and returning
nitrogen to the atmosphere?
BACTERIA in soil
The process of taking nitrogen from the
atmosphere and changing it into a form plants
can use is called ______________________
NITROGEN FIXATION
The process of converting soil nitrogen back
into atmospheric form is called
DENITRIFICATION
_______________________
Energy moves through ecosystems
Food chains
in ______________
food chains/webs
biogeochemical cycles
Which of these is a decomposer?
↑
Fungi and SOME bacteria are decomposers
Organism that eats both plants and
meat
omnivore
Process in which water from plant
leaves evaporates into the atmosphere
transpiration
How does the way matter flows through
an ecosystem differ from the way that
energy flows?
Energy is passed in one-way direction through
the biotic (living organisms) in an ecosystem.
Matter cycles within and between biotic and
abiotic parts of an ecosystem.
Which biogeochemical cycle does NOT
involve a stage where the chemical
enters the atmosphere? phosphorus
Denitrification changes
Nitrates
in soil into ______________
nitrogen gas
________________
Nutrient which is scare or cycles slowly
that controls population growth
Limiting nutrient
Give an example of a decomposer
Bacteria or fungi
Which group of organisms is always
found in the first trophic level of
every food chain or web?
Autotrophs or producers
Primary consumers are eaten by
__________________
Secondary
consumers
Camouflage is called
____________
coloration
cryptic
Why is only about 10% of the
energy in an organism
transferred in a food chain?
Some is used by organism for life
processes such as movement, transport,
metabolism, growth, reproduction, and
rest is lost as HEAT
Give an example of an ABIOTIC factor
Climate, temperature, precipitation,
wind, soil type, water availability,
sunlight
Who is it?
Heterotroph that obtains energy by
eating only plants
Heterotroph that eats both plants and
animals
Heterotroph that breaks down organic
matter (Ex: Fungi & bacteria)
HERBIVORE
___________________
OMNIVORE
_____________________
DECOMPOSER
__________________
Heterotroph that feed on dead plants
DETRITIVORE
and animal remains (EX:Crabs & worms) ___________________
Heterotroph that eats only meat
CARNIVORE
___________________
Primary producers are eaten by
Primary consumers
________________
Which of these is an herbivore?
↑
Zebras are herbivores
How is a symbiosis DIFFERENT from
cooperation?
Cooperation is between organisms of same species;
Symbiosis is between different species of organisms
that live in close association with another
Tell two ways water returns to the
atmosphere in the water cycle.
Evaporation and transpiration
An organism that eats both meat
and plants
omnivore
Name a limiting factor that could
cause a population to decrease
Competition- for food, shelter, territory
Predation
Disease/Parasitism
Drought/climate change
Human disturbance
PUT THE FOLLOWING IN ORDER OF INCREASING
COMPLEXITY
ORGANISM
COMMUNITY
ECOSYSTEM
BIOSPHERE
POPULATION
BIOME
ORGANISM
POPULATION  ________________
COMMUNITY 
________________
 ________________
ECOSYSTEM  ________________
BIOSPHERE
________________
BIOME
 ________________

The portion of the Earth in which
all life exists
biosphere
Organism that captures and eats
another
predator
What is the difference between a
BIOTIC and ABIOTIC factor?
Biotic factors are living;
Abiotic factors are the non-living
parts of an ecosystem
Which organisms are responsible for
nitrogen fixation in the nitrogen cycle?
Bacteria in soil
food chain
This diagram shows a ____________
BIOLOGY; Miller and Levine; Prentice Hall; 2006
Which of the organisms above is:
a primary producer ? ___________
algae
How many trophic levels are shown?
5
Symbiotic relationship in which
both organisms benefit from their close
association
mutualism
An “organism’s job” that includes what it eats,
what eats it, where in the habitat it lives, how it
acts, and when & how it reproduces?
niche
Tell one way chemosynthesis is different
from photosynthsis.
Photosynthesis
Requires light
Gets energy from
sunlight
Chemosynthesis
Happens without light
Gets energy from
chemical bonds
In the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen fixing
bacteria living on the roots of plants turn
nitrogen gas from the atmosphere
into ammonia
_________.
Tell one way chemosynthesis and
photosynthesis are ALIKE.
Both: Ways organisms get energy
Use energy to make carbohydrates
Happen in autotrophs
Matter moves through ecosystems in
________________.
Biogeochemical cycles
biogeochemical cycles
food chains/webs
A group of individuals that belong to the
same species that live together in an area
population
Another name for heterotrophs
consumers
Organisms that are able to take in energy
from their environment and make their
own carbohydrates are called
___________________________
autotrophs
Which of these is a carnivore?
↑
Lions are carnivores
Group of different populations
that live together in an area
community
All the living things an ecosystem
that an organism might interact with
Biotic factors
Which of the organisms above is:
a secondary consumer?
BIOLOGY; Miller and Levine; Prentice Hall; 2006
Small fish
Principle that states no two organisms
can share the same niche at the same
time in the same place
Competitive exclusion principle
Animals that display bright warning colors
like yellow and black stripes on wasps are
examples of _____________
aposematic coloration
How is a detritivore different from a
decomposer?
Detritivores EAT dead organisms;
Decomposers break them down and
absorb their nutrients
Name one of the biogeochemical cycles
you learned about
Carbon, nitrogen, Water (hydrogen &
oxygen); phosphorus
Which of the organisms above is:
a tertiary consumer? _____________
squid
BIOLOGY; Miller and Levine; Prentice Hall; 2006
Which of the following is TRUE?
Burning fossil fuels is depleting our ozone layer
FALSE: Burning fossil fuels causes many environmental
problems… but the ozone hole is caused by CFC’s
Burning fossil fuels causes acid rain.
TRUE
Burning fossil fuels is the major cause of global warming.
TRUE
Conserving electricity, using renewable energy sources
(like biofuels , solar, and wind), riding a bike, recycling
waste, making products more energy efficient are all ways
to help the global warming problem TRUE
Group of organisms so similar that they
can breed and produce fertile offspring
species
An organism that is captured and
eaten by another
prey
Symbiotic relationship in which one
organism benefits but the other is
neither harmed nor helped
commensalism
The scientific study of interactions
between organisms and between
organisms and their environment
ecology
Any necessity for life such as
water, food, light, or space
resource
Relationship in which organisms
attempt to use the same resource
at the same time and place
competition
Batesian
_____________
mimicry is when a
harmless species displays similar
coloration as a harmful one.
Each step in a food chain or web
trophic level
Which of the organisms above is:
shark
a quaternary consumer? __________
BIOLOGY; Miller and Levine; Prentice Hall; 2006
?
The maximum population size an
environment can support is called
Carrying capacity
_____________
Müllerian mimicry is when a
two unpalatable/dangerous species look
alike, like bees and wasps or
Monarch and Viceroy butterflies
A tick sucking a dog’s
blood is an example of
which kind of symbiosis?
parasitism
Tell something living things use nitrogen for.
Making proteins
(amino part of amino acids)
Making nucleic acids (nitrogen bases)
Part of ATP molecule (nitrogen base)
How is movement of matter in an ecosystem
different than the movement of energy?
Energy flows one direction through food chains;
matter recycles continuously in biogeochemical
cycles
Groups of different species that live
together in an area make up a
community
__________________
Which of these is an omnivore?
↑
Most humans are omnivores
Cycle which includes an underground
reservoir in the form of fossil fuels
Carbon cycle
Another name for the water cycle
Hydrologic cycle
Process in which green plants use
energy from sunlight to produce
carbohydrates
photosynthesis
Another name for a living thing
organism
Tell the group of organisms that all the
cycles have in common which keeps
matter cycling between living (organic)
and nonliving (inorganic) parts of the
ecosystem.
decomposers
Organism such as mites, snail,
earthworms, or crabs that eat dead
plants or animals
detritivore
Nitrifying bacteria in soil turn
_________
ammonia into nitrates
Keystone
_____________
species are not necessarily
abundant, yet exert a strong control on
community structure
Process seen in lakes by which nutrients
(especially phosphorus & nitrogen) become
highly concentrated in body of water causing
increased growth of organisms such as algae
which block sunlight and kill off organisms
below
eutrofication
Ammonifying
The concentration
of a toxin at higher
and higher
concentrations as it
passes up a food
chain is called
Biological magnification
dominant species is the one that is
A _____________
most abundant or has the most biomass in
the community
Ammonifying
___________ bacteria in
soil turn
organic material in soil into
ammonia
An organism that eats ONLY meat
carnivore
Tell how a detritovore is different from
a decomposer.
Both get nutrients from dead organisms;
detritivores eat dead stuff; decomposers
Absorb energy from dead stuff, but
DON’T actually EAT it.
Symbiotic relationship in which one
organism benefits by living on or
inside another which is harmed
parasitism
Principle that states no 2 organisms
can occupy the same niche in the same
habitat at the same time.
Competitive exclusion principle
Which level is it?
Group of individuals that belong to the same
POPULATION
species and live in the same area. ___________________
Group of ecosystems that have the same climate
BIOME
and communities
_____________________
Organisms so similar to one another that
SPECIES
they can breed and produce fertile offspring __________________
COMMUNITY
Populations that live together in an area ____________________
BIOSPHERE
Portion of the planet in which all life exists ___________________
Collection of all the organisms that live in an
ECOSYSTEM
area together with their physical environment ___________________
Organisms that can make their own food
using energy from sunlight or chemical
bonds in inorganic compounds
autotrophs or producers
All the non-living things such as
climate, temperature, weather,
soil type, or sunlight in an
ecosystem that impact an organism
Abiotic factors
Another name for the water cycle
Hydrologic cycle
Cycle in which photosynthesis and
cellular respiration participate
Carbon cycle
Organism that can’t make its own
food and get energy from
consuming other organisms
heterotrophs or consumers
Any relationship in which two species
live closely together
symbiosis
Interaction in which one organism
captures and feeds on another.
predation
Network of complex interactions
linking all the food chains in an
ecosystem food web
Organism that eats only plants
herbivore
Process in which elements, chemical
compounds, and other forms of matter
are passed from part of the biosphere
to another
Biogeochemical cycle
Organism that eats only meat
carnivore
Process in which liquid water
changes into a gas
evaporation
Click here , scroll down, and
complete the food web matching
activity
Although almost 80% of the atmosphere is made up of
nitrogen gas, most living things don’t have the enzymes
necessary to use nitrogen directly from the atmosphere.
Tell how we get the nitrogen we need to make proteins
and DNA if we can’t get it from breathing.
From food we eat
Process that is part of the carbon cycle
in which sunlight is used to change
atmospheric carbon into biomolecules
used for energy by living things
photosynthesis
Cycle in which transpiration,
evaporation, and condensation play
a role
Water/hydrologic cycle
Cycle in which volcanic activity and
burning fossil fuels plays a role
Carbon cycle
Cycle which is dependent on bacteria
for nitrogen fixation and denitrification
Nitrogen cycle
Which type of organism is always on the
first trophic level of every food chain
A producer
The process in which organisms use chemical
energy stored IN THE CHEMICAL BONDS OF
INORGANIC MOLECULES to make their own
food in the absence of light is called
_____________________
chemosynthesis
Process in which the break down of sugars in
living things returns carbon to the
atmosphere as CO2 during the carbon cycle
Cellular respiration
What causes Dead zones?
Runoff of fertilizer/animal waste into
water (Ex: Gulf of Mexico)
Tell 2 human activities by which carbon
can enter the atmosphere as CO2
during the carbon cycle
Cellular respiration,
burning fossil fuels
Tell one way carbon leaves the atmosphere
during the carbon cycle.
Photosynthesis
CO2 gas dissolves in water;
Name 2 NON-human activities by which
carbon can enter the atmosphere or oceans
during the carbon cycle.
Volcanic activity
Decomposition of dead organisms
Deposition as fossil fuels
Erosion
Tell one way bacteria help with
biogeochemical cycles.
Nitrogen fixation & denitrification (nitrogen cycle)
Decomposers break down dead organisms (carbon cycle)
Tell something humans do to return nitrogen
to the soil for the nitrogen cycle.
Add fertilizers;
waste treatment plants
Death and decomposition
Name the 4 biogeochemical cycles you
learned about.
Carbon, hydrologic (water);
nitrogen; phosphorus
What caused the depletion of protective
ozone layer in atmosphere?
Use of CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons)
in spray cans, air conditioners, fire
extinguishers
What has been done about it?
Montreal Protocol banned used of CFC’s
A change in direction in movement
toward or away from a stimulus is called
taxis
_____________
What benefit does the ozone layer in the
atmosphere provide?
Protection from ultra violet light
Which international agreement intended
to help with global warming was signed by
all industrialized countries except the US?
Kyoto Accord
What are some of the consequences of
exposure to ultra violet light?
Increases skin cancer
cataracts
wrinkles
decreased crop production
Which international agreement
intended to help with ozone depletion was
signed by the United States?
Montreal protocol
Learning at a specific critical time that
is involved in forming social
attachments which has both learning
& innate components
imprinting
A species (usually introduced by humans)
that takes hold outside its native range
which has few natural predators/diseases
to control its numbers and out competes
native species
Invasive species
Give some examples of the above
Rabbits in Australia
leafy spurge & zebra mussels in US
Fixed action pattern is a sequence of
A ____________________
behaviors that are essentially unchangeable
and usually conducted to completion once
started
innate behavior is inherited
An ________
or developmentally fixed
A male stickleback fish that exhibits
aggressive behavior when it sees any
object with a red underside is an example
Fixed action pattern
of a ____________________
Learned
_________ behaviors develop during
animal’s lifetime and are modified by
experience
The releaser that triggers a fixed action
sign stimulus
pattern is called a _____________________
What is the % oxygen saturation of a
sample with 5 mg/L of oxygen at 5° ?
55%
_______
A change in the rate of movement in
response to a stimulus is called
kinesis
_____________
chemical signal that stimulates a
response from other individuals
pheromones
Primary productivity is the rate at
_________________
which plants and other
photosynthetic organisms produce
organic compounds in an ecosystem
Tell some of the physical factors that
influence the amount of oxygen
dissolved in water
Temperature: ↓ temp = ↑ DO
photosynthetic activity: ↑ photosynthesis = ↑ DO
Decomposition activity: ↑ decay/microbes=↓DO
Mixing (waves, waterfalls, rapids) ↑ = ↑ DO
Salinity (more salty = ↑ salts = ↓DO
This diagram
used to determine
dissolved oxygen
is called a
____________
Nomograph
OR nomogram
What is the % oxygen saturation of a
sample with 7 mg/L of oxygen at 25° ?
65%
_______
Fill in the blanks with the following:
Respiration
Gross productivity
Net productivity
Net
Gross
Respiration
___________
= __________
+ _________
productivity
productivty
In which aquatic environment would
you expect dissolved oxygen to be
the highest?
• A clear old mountain lake
• A bog where the water is shallow and warm
with a mat of aquatic plants
• A marine tidepool
→• A cold mountain stream dropping over a series
of small rock falls
• A coral reef
Moving water has greater dissolved oxygen
From Holtzclaw and Holtzclaw Study guide