Unit 1 - chapter 1

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

the scientific study of the abundance and distribution of organisms in relation to other organisms and environmental conditions

Question 2

ecological systems

Answer 2

-biological entities that have their own internal processes and interact with their external surroundings

Individual: survival and reproduction - the unit of natural selection
Population: population dynamics - the unit of evolution
Community: interactions among species
Ecosystem: flow of energy and cycling matter
Landscape: interactions among ecosystems
Biosphere: global processes

Question 3

Individual

Answer 3

Individual: a living being - the most fundamental unit of ecology

Individual approach: emphasizes the way in which an individual’s morphology, physiology, and behavior enable it to survive in its environment

Adaptation - a characteristic of an organism that makes it well suited to its environment

Question 4

Species

Answer 4

• a group of organisms that interbreed with each other and produce fertile offspring (fertile offspring is not entirely true !)

Question 5

Population

Answer 5

-individuals of the same species living in a particular area

population approach: emphasizes variation over time and space in the number, the density, and the composition of individuals

Question 6

Community

Answer 6

-all populations of species living together in a particular area

community approach: emphasizes the diversity and relative abundances of different kinds of organisms living together in the same place

Question 7

Ecosystem

Answer 7

• one or more communities of living organisms interacting with their non-living physical and chemical environments

ecosystem approach: emphasizes the storage and transfer of energy and matter, including the various chemical elements essential to life

Question 8

Landscape

Answer 8

• multiple ecosystems that are connected by the movement of individuals, populations, matter, and energy

landscape approach: concerned with the movement of energy, matter, and individuals between different ecosystems

Question 9

Biosphere

Answer 9

• all the ecosystems on Earth

biosphere approach: concerned with the largest scale, including movements of air and water - and the energy and chemical elements they contain - over Earth’s surface

Question 10

law of conservation of matter
law of conservation of energy

Answer 10

matter: matter cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change form
energy: energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change form. Aka first law of thermodynamics

Question 11

dynamic steady state

Answer 11

• when gains and losses of ecological systems are in balance

examples:
organisms: energy input v energy output into survival and reproduction

populations:
within subpopulations - birth and death
among subpopulations - colonization and extinction

ecosystems: solar energy entering ecosystem, energy leaving ecosystem

Question 12

natural selection: Darwin’s 5 steps

Answer 12

1. variation: phenotypic variance
2. Heritability: genetic variance and heritability
3. Struggle for Existence: populations produce more offspring than the environment can support
4. Selection (within a generation): some individuals have higher survival and/or reproduction than others
5. Evolution (between generations): favored phenotypes increase in frequency in the next generation

Question 13

organisms can be classified based on:

Answer 13

sources of energy: autotrophs, heterotrophs, mixotrophs

how they interact with other organisms: predator, parasitoid (eventually kills host), parasite (rarely kills host), pathogen, herbivore, competition, mutualism, commensalism (one benefits, one mutual), symbiotic, scavenger, detritivore, decomposer,

Question 14

testing hypotheses with manipulative experiments

Answer 14

randomization: an aspect of experiment design in which every experimental unit has an equal chance of being assigned to a particular manipulation

microcosm: a simplified ecological system that attempts to replicate the essential features of an ecological system in a laboratory or field setting

natural experiment: approach that relies on natural variation in the environment

mathematical model: a representation of a system with a set of equations that correspond to hypothesize relationships among the system’s components

Question 15

human impacts on ecological systems

Answer 15

habitat destruction
pollution
climate change
overharvesting of resources