Fancy Fun:Let’s do a bit of practice before we learn some new things!

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1)A fruit fly is classified as a consumer rather than as a producer because it is unable to

  1. reproduce asexually
  2. synthesize its own food
  3. release energy stored in organic molecules
  4. remove wastes from its body

2)Organisms contain compounds such as proteins, starches, and fats. The chemical bonds in these compounds can be a source of

  1. amino acidsc. simple sugars
  2. energyd. enzymes

3)Which life function is not necessary for an individual organism to stay alive?

  1. nutrition
  2. regulation
  3. reproduction
  4. excretion

4)Which row in the chart below shows a direct relationship that can exist between two living organisms?

  1. Producer-carnivore
  2. Predator-prey
  3. Parasite-prey
  4. Carnivore-host

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  1. Succession:
  2. ______: replacement of populations in habitat as it moves toward a stable state (determined by changes in plants)
  3. The environment may be altered in substantial ways through the activities of organisms, ______
  4. Although these alterations are sometimes abrupt (ex. ______), in most cases species replace others, resulting in long-term ______changes in ecosystems.
  5. Ecosystems tend to change with time until a ______is formed.
  6. The type of ecosystem that is formed depends on the ______
    ______of a given geographical area.
  7. ______organisms: the first organisms to inhabit a given location

Example: ______

  1. Pioneer organisms modify their environment and establishing conditions under which more ______can live.

Example: seasonal dieback and erosion, for example, would create pockets of "soil" in the crevices and hollows of the bare rock inhabited by the lichen

  1. Each community ______, often making it more difficult for itself andmore favorable for the following community which infiltrates the first community over a period of years.
  2. ______: the development of plant communities on newly formed habitats that previously lacked plants (ex. a lava flow)
  3. ______: return of an area to its natural vegetation following a disruption or removal of the original climax community

An example of a PRIMARY SUCCESSION -

Adirondack Bog

1. Water plants at pond edge

2. Sedges and sediments begin to fill pond

3. Sphagnum moss and bog shrubs fill pond (Labrador tea & cranberries)

4. Black spruce and larch

5. Birches, maple, or fir

An example of a SECONDARY SUCCESSION

1. Wild fire

2. Annual grasses

3. Shrubs and briers

4. Cherries, alders, and birches

5. Climax community -- Northern N.Y. (hemlock, beech, maple)

-- Southern N.Y. (oak, hickory)

  1. ______: a self-perpetuating community in which populations ______with each other and their environment
  2. The climax community of a region is always its ______
  3. Altered ecosystems may reach a point of stability that can last for hundreds or thousands of years.
  4. A climax community persists until a ______of a major biotic or abiotic nature alters or destroys it.

Example:

  1. After the original climax community has been destroyed, the damaged ecosystem is likely to ______that eventually result in a stable system similar to the original one.
  2. Ponds and small lakes, fill in due to seasonal dieback of aquatic vegetation and erosion of their banks, and eventually enter into a terrestrial succession terminating in a terrestrial climax community.
  1. ______: plant species -- dominate in the sense that they are the most abundant food sources
  1. ______: animal species

Quick Check:

1)Which situation is most likely to lead to ecological succession?

  1. The fish populations in a large lake remain the same for many years.
  2. Hunters are allowed to hunt wolves, with no limits, for one season.
  3. The amount of industrialization increased in an area, resulting in the increased burning of fossil fuels.
  4. A farmer who has planted corn for many years retires, and the field is left abandoned.

2)Abandoned railroad tracks are overgrown with weeds. Ten years later there are small aspen trees growing in the middle of the tracks. This change is an example of

  1. ecological successionb. biological evolutionc. genetic variationd. heterotrophic nutrition

3)The diagram below represents the various stages of ecological succession in New York State. If the ecosystem is not altered, which stage would be the most stable?

  1. Grassc. pine forest
  2. Shrubd. hardwood forest
  1. Biomes:
  2. Biomes- a ______that share similar climates and organisms.
  1. There are 6 major grouping of biome:

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  1. ______
  2. ______
  3. ______
  4. ______
  5. ______
  6. ______

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  1. Check your biomes chart for full details
  1. Aquatic Ecosystems
  2. Many factors affect life in aquatic communities
  3. ______
  4. The deeper you descend, the colder it gets
  5. ______
  6. There are three major zones in the world’s oceans
  7. Photic zone- first 200m where light penetrates
  8. Aphotic zone- any depth after 200m where no light penetrates
  9. Benthic zone- lowest level of a body of water including the sediment surface
  10. Flow
  11. The different currents that move the water
  12. Amount of dissolved nutrients
  13. Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, salt, nitrogen, phosphorous
  14. ______:
  15. Streams, lakes, and freshwater wetlands (bogs, marshes, swamps)
  16. ______:
  17. Salt marsh, mangrove swamps
  18. ______:
  19. Divided by distance from shore and depth
  20. There are 3 categories for distance
  21. ______- organisms can be submerged at high tide and exposed at low tide
  22. ______- extends from the low tide mark to the edge of the continental shelf
  23. ______- extend from edge of continental shelf outward
  1. Populations:
  2. Ecologist study populations by looking at the populations’ geographic range, distribution, and growth rate.
  3. Geographic range: ______
  4. Examples-
  5. Distribution: ______
  6. Clumped- ______
  7. Random- ______
  8. Uniform- ______
  9. Growth rate: ______
  10. Immigration- ______
  11. Emigration- ______
  12. Logistic Growth- ______(most populations)
  13. Exponential Growth- ______(humans)

  1. Disruption of Existing Ecosystems:
  2. ______- growth of cities has destroyed land and wetlands ruining natural habitats
  3. ______- Organisms without any known predators in our area have accidentally been brought to this side of the world.
  4. Examples: Japanese beetles, Gypsy Moths, Dutch elm disease.
  5. ______- overuse of fields, over grazing by animals and erosion of land. When crops are harvested, the plants which contain essential nutrients that should be returned to the soil are also taken away. Therefore, the ground is less fertile and will eventually not be able to support crops.
  1. ______- The use of pesticides has disrupted food chains.
  2. Examples: DDT has killed beneficial insects. DDT does not break down and eventually becomes concentrated at dangerous levels within the soil.

Quick Recap:

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1)A fundamental concept of ecology is that living organisms

  1. are independent and do not interact with each other or with the physical environment
  2. do not interact with other living organisms, but do interact with the physical environment
  3. interact with each other, but do not interact with the physical environment
  4. interact with other living organisms and interact with the physical environment

2)The fact that no organism exists as an entity separate and distinct from its environment is a major concept in the branch of biology known as

  1. Cytologyc. genetics
  2. Biochemistryd. ecology

3)The organisms in a pond and the physical factors influencing them best describe

  1. a populationc. a biosphere
  2. an ecosystemd. a food chain

4)The graduating class of a high school would like to give the school a gift that would have a positive impact on the environment. Which plan would be the best choice?

  1. making wooden benches by harvesting trees from school property
  2. planting native trees along the border of the school property
  3. introducing a new population of foxes, the school mascot, to school grounds
  4. clearing an area to make room for additional student parking

5)Which statement best describes an ecosystem maintaining a state of approximate equilibrium?

  1. Nutrients from decayed organisms are recycled in a forest ecosystem.
  2. All the frog species in a South American rain forest become extinct.
  3. A mutation spreads through a species of bacterium, making them unable to decompose wastes.
  4. Mice are released into a field ecosystem as food for a declining predator population.

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