Ecology Unit Test Study Guide

Vocabulary words - These are most (not all) of the words you should be familiar with for the test.

Abiotic factor / Acid rain
Autotrophs / Barnacle
Biodiversity / Biogeochemical Cycle
Biological magnification / Biomass
Biome / Biosphere
Biotic factor / Canopy
Carnivore / Carrying capacity
Chemosynthesis / Climate
Climax community / Coevolution
Commensalism / Community
Competition / Competitive exclusion principle
Condensation / Coniferous Forest
Conservation / Consumer
Decomposer / Decomposition
Deforestation / Denitrification
Desert / Desertification
Detritovore / Ecological Succession
Ecology / Ecosystem
Endangered / Energy
Energy pyramid / Equator
Evaporation / Food chain
Food web / Global warming
Grassland / Green house effect
Groundwater / Habitat
Habitat fragmentation / Heat
Herbivore / Heterotrophs
Immigration / Invasive species
Lichen / Mutualism
Niche / Nitrogen fixation
Nonrenewable Resource / Numbers pyramid
Nutrient / Omnivore
Ozone / Parasitism
Permafrost / Phosphorus Cycle
Photosynthesis / Pioneer species
Plankton / Pollutant
Population / Prairie
Precipitation / Predation
Predator / Prey
Primary succession / Producer
Rainforest / Renewable Resource
Resource / Respiration
Root Uptake / Runoff
Savanna / Secondary compound
Secondary succession / Seepage
Smog / Soil erosion
Species / Sustainable development
Symbiosis / Temperate Deciduous Forest
Transpiration / Trophic level
Tundra / Wetland
Weather
Zooplankton

Concepts to be familiar with:

  1. List several biotic factors in an ecosystem.
  2. List several abiotic factors in an ecosystem.
  3. What serves as the ultimate energy for all life on earth?
  4. What are trophic levels & give an example?
  5. What is the term for an organism's total way of life?
  6. How does an animal's habitat differ from its niche?
  7. Compare & contrast biomes.
  8. Understand basic global environmental issues and if applicable, what cycle is being disrupted.
  9. Examples of producers, consumers, etc.
  10. Examples of primary and secondary succession and the order of succession.
  11. Be able to read food chains, energy pyramids and food webs. If changes are made to these be able to predict what affect it will have.
  12. Why is the number of trophic levels limited?
  13. Know your cycles and what humans are doing to disrupt them.
  14. Types of relationships and examples of them..