Ecology 1 Review

What process do most systems use to convert sunlight into energy?

Photosynthesis

What is a habitat?

Physical area where a species lives

_______ species are the first species to colonize environments largely devoid of life.

Pioneer

A __________ consists of organisms of the same species that live in the same area and interact with one another. Two or more of these make up a community.

Population

A ___________ is all the members of the same species that live together.

Population

Observing the size of a herd of elephants that are all the same species would be an observation at the __________ level.

Population

What is the smallest or most specific level of organisation you and your neighbours all have in common?

Population

A population is a group of organisms belonging to the same species that live in the same area and interact with one another.

True

Abiotic factors are necessary for a thriving ecosystem.

True

An aquarium is its own ecosystem.

True

An ecologist studying interactions among different species in an ecosystem should study the species at the community level.

True

An ecosystem may be defined as all of the living species within an environment and their relationship with each other and their surroundings.

True

Computer simulations are useful for modelling the complex phenomena that ecologists observe in the wild.

True

Each species in an ecosystem occupies a role or niche for which it becomes specialized.

True

Ecology studies how living organisms interact with each other and with their environment.

True

Ecosystems rarely remain stable over time.

True

Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction. Matter and nutrients are recycled.

True

Human destruction of habitats is the major factor causing other species to decrease in number and become endangered or go extinct.

True

Many ecologists actually do their research in the field.

True

Matter is recycled in ecosystems. True or False?

True

Most of the energy enters ecosystems in the form of sunlight.

True

One way organisms interact with each other is by eating other organisms.

True

The competitive exclusion principle of ecology states that two different species cannot occupy the same niche in the same place for a long time.

True

The competitive exclusion principle states that two organisms cannot coexist in the same geographical area for long if they share the same niche.

True

Two different species cannot occupy the same niche in the same geographic area.

True

Which of the following are recycled through ecosystems?

Water, carbon

What internal factors affect available resources within an ecosystem?

rate of decomposition of dead organic matter, shade from taller trees, competition among root systems, population growth rates

Which of the following would an organism's niche include?

role in the flow of energy through the ecosystem, role in the recycling of nutrients in the ecosystem, role in interacting with other organisms.

Non-living, physical aspects of the environment, such as sunlight, temperature, wind, water, and air, are known as ________ ________.

Abiotic factors

The parts of an environment that are not living are called __________.

Abiotic factors

An ecosystem consists of all the ________ factors, such as sunlight and rain, and ______ factors, such as plants and animals, that interact in the same habitat.

Abiotic, biotic

Ecosystems are closed environments.

False

Factors such as time and the types of organisms present do not influence ecosystems.

False

Living organisms are abiotic factors, whereas the nonliving factors are called biotic factors.

False

Niche is another word for habitat. True or False?

False

Only 2 species at the most can have the same habitat.

False

Only 2 species at the most can share the same niche.

False

The competitive exclusion principle states that two different species can occupy the same niche in the same place for a long time.

False

The term "organism" refers to a living thing that depends only on abiotic factors.

False

There is no relation between the beak of birds and their ecological niche.

False

Two species can fill the same niche.

False

_________________ are important because most ecologists are focused on studying real-world habitats.

Field studies

Why do organisms need sunlight?

For photosynthesis

Which of the following are examples of biotic factors?

Grasses, bacteria, fungus

The actual place where an organism lives is referred to as its _______.

Habitat

Ecologists often use __________ statistics to estimate information about the populations of certain species.

Inferential

Which type of statistics can be used to determine the chances that a sample truly represents the population from which it was drawn?

Inferential

Which of the following are examples of descriptive statistics?

Mean, range, average

Which are abiotic factors in all terrestrial ecosystems?

Minerals, water, temperature

What is the role a species plays in the ecosystem?

Niche

Secondary succession will occur after which of the following?

A forest fire

Once a niche is left vacant, what happens?

A new species evolves to fill the niche.

Water, soil and temperature are examples of _______ factors of the environment.

Abiotic

Biotic factors are the living aspects of an ecosystem (e.g. animals and plants), and the nonliving aspects of an ecosystem (e.g. sunlight and water) are known as _______ ______.

Abiotic factors

Descriptive statistics are used to estimate characteristics of a population using a sample.

False

What links together the abiotic and biotic aspects of an ecosystem?

The flows of energy and the cycles of nutrients

Which of the following is/are producers?

Algae, all plants, certain bacteria

Causes of habitat destruction include...

All of the above

Choose the factor(s) that can be used to describe a habitat.

All of the above

What benefits do ecosystems provide to humans?

All of the above

What ecological issues might be investigated at the biosphere level?

All of the above

What goods do ecosystems provide to humans?

All of the above

What will happen if two species occupy the same niche?

All of the above

Which of the following can be considered its own ecosystem?

All of the above

Which of the following could be their own ecosystem?

All of the above

Which of the following do ecologists study?

All of the above

Which of the following would be part of a forest ecosystem?

All of the above

Which of the following would be part of a species' niche?

All of the above

Which of the following would be part of an aquatic ecosystem?

All of the above

Which study would best be done in a laboratory?

Analyzing the DNA of a certain species of insect from the desert.

Biotic factors include water, soil, weather, humidity, and sunlight.

False

Which of the following statement(s) is/are true?

Bacteria can be part of an ecosystem, A niche refers to the role of a species in its ecosystem.

Any area which an organism lives is part of the __________.

Biosphere

The ________ consists of all the biomes on Earth, encompassing all the places where life exists.

Biosphere

The __________ consists of all the organisms on Earth and the areas in which they live.

Biosphere

A habitat includes most of the __________ components of an ecosystem.

Biotic

__________ components are the living organisms in an environment.

Biotic

An organism is a life form consisting of one or more _____.

Cells

What is the single most important external factor controlling an ecosystem? Why?

Climate, as this determines the amount of energy and water available to an ecosystem

In terms of energy, ecosystems are not _______ systems.

Closed

A ________ consists of two or more populations of different species that live in the same ecosystem and interact with one another.

Community

All of the different species of fish in an aquarium would represent what ecological level?

Community

All the different species that live in an area together form the _________.

Community

________________ statistics are used to describe data.

Descriptive

Field studies ________ take place in a controlled environment.

Do not

Field studies and computer simulations are important methods of investigation in _______.

Ecology

What is the study of the interactions between living organisms and their environment?

Ecology

_______ is the scientific study of the interactions of living things with each other and their relationships with their environments.

Ecology

Studying how a drought affects the food supply in a region of the Alaskan tundra would be a question at the __________ level.

Ecosystem

The biotic community along with its interacting physical environment comprises the:

Ecosystem

What consists of all the living organisms in an area and the non-living aspects of the environment?

Ecosystem

A cell is the smallest unit of study in ecology.

False

All energy in an ecosystem continues to circulate within the same ecosystem, making it a closed system. True or False?

False

_______ succession occurs on brand new land.

Primary

Why is soil quality important?

Soil quality, in part, determines the plant life that can live in the ecosystem

If two animals can reproduce and produce fertile offspring, then they are members of the same

Species

What is a group of individuals that are genetically similar and can breed to produce fertile young?

Species

Which of the following are examples of abiotic factors?

Sunlight, soil, temperature

Choose the examples of abiotic factors.

Temperature, soil, water