Lesson 2 Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is ecology?
Ecology is the study of the relationships between organisms and between organisms and their physical surroundings.
What are abiotic factors?
Abiotic factors are the non-living parts of an environment that affect living organisms, such as water, temperature, pH, light, and shelter.
What are biotic factors?
Biotic factors are the living parts of an environment, involving relationships between organisms like competition, predation, and symbiosis.
What is symbiosis?
Symbiosis is a close and long-term interaction between two different species, where at least one organism benefits.
Name the four basic requirements for life.
Water, Oxygen, Food, Shelter
How do abiotic factors influence organisms?
Abiotic factors provide the conditions and resources necessary for life, influencing where and how organisms live.
How do biotic factors influence organisms?
Biotic factors affect interactions between organisms, such as who competes, eats, or cooperates with whom.
What is competition in biology?
Competition is when organisms try to use the same resource, like food or space, such as baby birds competing for their mother’s attention.
What is predation?
Predation is a relationship where one organism kills and eats another, like a preying mantis eating a cricket.
What is mutualism?
Mutualism is a symbiotic relationship where both organisms benefit, like bees and flowers.
What is parasitism?
Parasitism is a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and the other is harmed, like fleas on a dog.
What is commensalism?
Commensalism is a symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and the other is not affected, like barnacles on a whale.
Give an example of how abiotic and biotic factors work together.
Sunlight (abiotic) helps plants (biotic) grow; rain (abiotic) gives animals (biotic) water to drink.
How are ecosystems like a giant web?
Everything in nature is connected; a change in one part can affect many other parts of the ecosystem.
What are small changes in ecosystems?
Small changes happen all the time, like daily weather.
What are big changes in ecosystems?
Big changes can alter the whole ecosystem, like a bushfire.
What are slow changes in ecosystems?
Slow changes happen gradually, such as seasonal shifts.
What are sudden changes in ecosystems?
Sudden changes occur quickly, such as a storm or volcanic eruption.
What are three ways ecosystems can respond to changes?
Adapt (change to cope), bounce back (return to normal), or become a new ecosystem (transform).
What does it mean for an ecosystem to adapt?
Organisms change to deal with new conditions, like growing thicker fur in winter.
What does it mean for an ecosystem to bounce back?
The ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance, like regrowth after a bushfire.
What does it mean for an ecosystem to become a new one?
If a big change occurs, the ecosystem may transform into a completely different one, such as after a volcanic eruption.
