Ecology

Ecology

Check For Understanding: 

Food Chains, Food Webs, and Trophic Pyramids

Vocabulary

• Biotic vs Abiotic

• Population

• Community

• Ecosystem

• Autotroph vs Heterotroph

• Habitat vs Niche

Multiple Choice

If a scientist in New Zealand was studying how a group of herbivores interacted with a group of omnivores, and all of their abiotic surroundings, what level of ecology would she be studying?

• Community

• Population

• Species

• Ecosystem

• Biome

Multiple Choice

Ruby-throated hummingbirds live in woodland areas, but also frequent gardens where flowering plants are plentiful. They hover to feed on flowers, nectar, and sap. During this floral feeding process, the birds pollinate many plants. These tiny birds are omnivores, sometimes feeding on insects and spiders.

• Habitat of an autotroph

• Niche of an autotroph

• Niche of a heterotroph

• Habitat of a heterotroph

Interactions

• Biotic-Biotic interaction

• Abiotic-Biotic interaction

• Competitive Exclusion Principle

• Carrying Capacity

Open Ended

What was one example of a biotic-biotic interaction and an abiotic-biotic interaction from the clip.

Open Ended

Can two species occupy the exact same niche at the exact same time?

Use the Competitive Exclusion Principle to justify your answer.

Open Ended

Use your understanding of carrying capacity to explain what is happening in the graph between lynx and rabbits.

Food Webs

• Be able to take organisms and construct an accurate food web

• Be able to accurately show the flow of energy throughout an ecosystem

Multiple Choice

What is the PRODUCT of the process used by producers that is passed on as energy throughout an ecosystem?

• photosynthesis

• Sun

• glucose

• carbon dioxide

• water

Trophic Pyramids

• Be able to accurately place and label organisms that belong at each level

• Be able to use the Rule of 10% to calculate energy available at each level 

Multiple Choice

If there are 100 KJ of energy available at the secondary consumer level, how many KJ of energy are available at the producer level?

• 10 KJ

• 1,000 KJ

• 10,000 KJ

• 1 KJ

Open Ended

Why are autotrophs so crucial to an ecosystem?

Support your answer with QUANTITATIVE data and use these vocabulary words:

Rule of 10%

Producers

Primary consumers

Secondary consumers

Tertiary consumers