Unit A Interactions and Ecosystems Flashcards
(14 cards)
What is a species?
Organisms that have the same characteristics and can reproduce.
Species are the basic unit of biological classification.
Define population in ecological terms.
Several individuals from the same species live together in the same area.
Populations can vary in size and density.
What is a community in ecology?
All the populations of different species that live and interact in the same place.
Communities consist of various species interacting with each other.
What is symbiosis?
A relationship where different living things live closely together, potentially benefiting one or both.
Symbiosis includes different types of interactions, such as mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.
What is commensalism?
A relationship in which one species benefits while the other neither benefits nor is harmed.
Example: An orchid hangs off a tree, and the tree is not affected.
Define mutualism.
A relationship in which both species in the relationship benefit.
Example: A goby fish and a snapping shrimp work together to hide from predators.
What is parasitism?
A relationship in which one species benefits while the other species is harmed.
Example: A mosquito and a human.
How does energy flow through ecosystems?
Through producers and consumers in the food chain.
Food chains demonstrate how energy cycles through different organisms.
What does the law of conservation of energy state?
Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be manipulated from one form to another.
This principle is fundamental in understanding energy dynamics in ecosystems.
Where does energy for an ecosystem come from?
From the sun.
Plants absorb sunlight to produce energy through photosynthesis.
What percentage of energy do plants absorb for their own food production?
90%.
Only 10% of the absorbed energy is converted to stored energy.
What percentage of energy is stored as chemical energy by plants?
10%.
The remaining 90% is either used or wasted.
When a consumer eats a producer, what percentage of energy does it get?
10%.
The remaining energy is lost in the process.
What happens when a higher-order consumer eats a first consumer?
It gets the remaining 10% of the energy from the first consumer.
Again, roughly 90% of that energy is wasted or used up.
