biosphere; ecosystem; community; population; organism
What is the ecological hierarchy from largest to smallest?
community
A scientist is studying how sea slugs respond to predators. Which hierarchical level of ecology does this represent?
population
Which hierarchical level is represented by a survey of students and their habits?
scientific analysis and study of interactions among organisms and their environment, such as the interactions organisms have with each other and with their abiotic environment
Ecology is the study of _________.
all the organisms of the same species living in the same geographical area
A population consists of _________.
habitat
The specific place in which an organism lives is its _____.
nitrogen and phospherous
Photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and algae, depend on the availability of two important inorganic nutrients, _____ and _____.
from oceans to land
The global water cycle supports a net flow of atmospheric water vapor __________.
light is available for photosynthesis
The photic zone is the shallow water near shore and the upper layer of water away from shore where __________.
the size of the area in which they live
To figure out the human population density of your community, you would need to know the number of people living there and __________.
a relatively flat line that drops steeply at the end
Chimpanzees have a relatively low birth rate. They take good care of their young, and most chimps live a long life. The chimp survivorship curve would look like __________.
a group of individuals of a single species that occupies the same general area
A population is defined as __________.
life history
A set of traits that affects an organism’s schedule of reproduction and survival is called its _____.
if there are no limiting factors
A population will always grow exponentially __________.
the size of a population remains constant
When birth rate equals death rate, __________.
undergo a dramatic decline in size, possibly to a stable level at or below 1,800 individuals
A population of mice has grown so rapidly that there are 2,400 individuals in an ecosystem that will support about 1,800 mice. The mouse population is most likely to __________.
-logistic
(The logistic model of population growth assumes there is a maximum population size that the environment can support and that population growth slows as the population approaches that carrying capacity)
(The logistic model of population growth assumes there is a maximum population size that the environment can support and that population growth slows as the population approaches that carrying capacity)
A newly mated queen ant establishes a nest in an unoccupied patch of suitable habitat. Assuming that no disasters strike the nest, which type of equation is likely to best describe its population growth?
-the carrying capacity of its environment
(Ecologists define carrying capacity as the maximum population size that a particular environment can support with no net increase or decrease over a relatively long period of time.)
(Ecologists define carrying capacity as the maximum population size that a particular environment can support with no net increase or decrease over a relatively long period of time.)
No population can grow indefinitely. The ultimate size of any population is limited by __________.
Which one of the following would most likely be an example of an abiotic factor that limits population growth?
Which one of the following would most likely be an example of an abiotic factor that limits population growth?
is currently exponential
Human population growth __________.
habitat destruction
The single greatest current cause of population decline is __________.
the estimate of the amount of land required to provide the raw materials an individual or a population consumes
Which of the following is a definition of the ecological footprint?
-ecological niche
(The competitive exclusion principle states that when the populations of two species compete for the same limited resources, one population will use the resources more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the extinction of the other population.)
(The competitive exclusion principle states that when the populations of two species compete for the same limited resources, one population will use the resources more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the extinction of the other population.)
According to the principle of interspecific competition, two species cannot continue to occupy the same _____.
tertiary and secondary
Consider this segment of a food web: Snails and grasshoppers eat pepper plants; spiders eat grasshoppers; shrews eat snails and spiders; owls eat shrews. The shrew occupies the trophic level(s) of __________.
Which of the following describes the number of different species in the community?
Which of the following describes the number of different species in the community?
changes gradually because each species responds differently to changes in environmental factors
During ecological succession, the species composition of a plant community __________.
colonization of a newly formed volcanic island
Which of the following is an example of primary succession?
cryptic coloration
Flounder look like the sea floor. This is an example of _____.
Although the amount of organic material decreases with increasing trophic level, the amount of toxin remains the same.
Why does biological magnification occur?
Grass grows on a sand dune, then shrubs, and then trees.
(replacement of one species by another)
(replacement of one species by another)
Which of the following best illustrates ecological succession?
nutrients and other life-sustaining molecules are in limited supply and must be continually recycled
Biogeochemical cycles are crucial to ecosystem function because __________.
nutrients are recycled, but energy is not
The biggest difference between the flow of energy and the flow of chemical nutrients in an ecosystem is that __________.
biodiversity hot spots
Regions with high concentrations of species, especially species that are endangered or threatened, are referred to as _____.
landscape
An assemblage of interacting ecosystems makes up a _____.
Exponential growth
An ideal habitat with unlimited resources is associated with
