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Questions and Answers
What does the term 'tolerance range' refer to in ecology?
Which group of animals is classified as 'warm-blooded'?
What is the energy budget of an animal?
Which type of movement behavior is defined as movement towards or away from a stimulus?
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How do heterotrophs obtain their energy?
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What is the effect of temperature on animals according to the content?
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What do controlled hypothermia techniques like hibernation and aestivation achieve?
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Which statement about autotrophs is accurate?
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What is daily torpor primarily characterized by?
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Which of the following accurately describes hibernation?
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Aestivation is primarily associated with which type of animals?
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What occurs during uncontrolled hypothermia in ectotherms?
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What characterizes a population in biological terms?
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Which of the following best describes biotic characteristics of a habitat?
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What information does survivorship provide about a population?
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What defines exponential growth in a population?
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What is carrying capacity in ecological terms?
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Which of the following describes logistic population growth?
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What does environmental resistance refer to?
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Which factor is considered a density-independent factor?
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What does the Competitive Exclusion Principle state?
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What is the ecological niche of an organism?
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Which of the following best describes mutualism?
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Interspecific competition occurs between:
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What characterizes a climax community compared to a seral community?
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What is a primary characteristic of seral communities?
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How does community stability influence an ecosystem?
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What role do decomposers play in ecosystems?
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What defines the trophic structure of an ecosystem?
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What is an effect of habitat loss on biodiversity?
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How does human population growth relate to environmental issues?
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What is the primary concern regarding tropical rain forest deforestation?
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What concept explains the relationship between the Earth's carrying capacity and human populations?
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What happens to energy in ecosystems once it is lost?
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How do persistent organic pollutants (POPs) affect trophic levels?
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Which of the following is not a characteristic of climax communities?
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Which of the following describes a primary producer's role in an ecosystem?
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Study Notes
Ecology
- The study of interactions between organisms and their environment, including living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) factors.
Tolerance Range
- Animals can only survive within a specific range of values for each environmental factor.
- The range of optimum within the tolerance range represents the conditions where an animal is most successful.
- Outside the tolerance range, essential functions cease.
Taxis
- A type of movement behavior in response to a stimulus, either towards or away from it.
- Phototaxis is a response to light.
- Positive phototaxis involves movement towards light.
- Negative phototaxis involves movement away from light.
Energy
- Animals obtain energy from the food they consume.
- Energy is used for maintaining body temperature and metabolic functions.
- An energy budget describes an animal's energy intake, use, and loss.
Heterotrophs
- Organisms that obtain energy by consuming other organisms.
- Unable to produce organic substances from inorganic ones.
Autotrophs
- Organisms that produce their own food through photosynthesis or other carbon-fixing activities.
Temperature
- Temperature influences the rate of chemical reactions in animal cells (metabolic rate).
- Endotherms (birds and mammals) control body temperature using metabolically produced heat.
- Ectotherms (amphibians and reptiles) rely on external sources for temperature regulation.
Hypothermia
- A state of reduced metabolic rate and lowered body temperature.
- Daily torpor is a brief period of hypothermia that may occur daily in some animals.
- Hibernation is prolonged hypothermia lasting weeks to months.
- Aestivation is inactivity during extended periods of heat and dryness.
- Brumation is a state of sluggishness and inactivity exhibited by reptiles during cold periods.
Population
- A group of individuals of the same species occupying a given area at the same time.
- Biotic characteristics of a population include growth, food availability, competition, and interspecies interactions.
Survivorship
- The probability of an individual surviving to a certain age within a population.
Exponential Growth
- A population's potential to increase in numbers by a constant ratio per unit time.
Environmental Resistance
- Factors that limit population growth, including climate, food availability, space, and other environmental constraints.
Carrying Capacity
- The maximum population size that an environment can sustainably support.
Logistic Population Growth
- A sigmoid-shaped growth curve that reflects initial rapid growth followed by a plateau as carrying capacity is approached.
Population Regulation
- Mechanisms that control population size, such as density-dependent and density-independent factors.
Density-Independent Factors
- Factors that affect population size regardless of density, such as weather events or natural disasters.
Density-Dependent Factors
- Factors that have a greater impact on population growth at higher densities, such as competition, disease, and predation.
Herbivory
- Consumption of plants by animals, typically without killing the plant.
Predation
- The consumption of one organism (prey) by another (predator).
Interspecific Competition
- Competition between individuals of different species for shared resources.
Competitive Exclusion Principle
- States that two species cannot coexist in the same niche if they are competing for the same limited resources.
Symbiosis
- An intimate and long-term relationship between two different species.
- Parasitism benefits one species (parasite) at the expense of the other (host).
- Commensalism benefits one species without harming or benefiting the other.
- Mutualism benefits both species involved in the relationship.
Ecological Community
- A group of interacting populations of different species inhabiting the same geographic area.
Ecological Niche
- The role and position of a species in an ecosystem, including its food sources, habitat, reproduction, and relationships with other species.
Community Stability
- The ability of a community to resist or recover from disturbances and maintain its structure and function.
Seral Community
- An early stage in ecological succession, characterized by rapid species changes, low stability, and low biodiversity.
Climax Community
- The final stage in ecological succession, characterized by stable species composition, high stability, and high biodiversity.
Trophic Structure
- The hierarchical arrangement of organisms in an ecosystem based on their feeding relationships.
Primary Productivity
- The rate at which energy is converted into living tissue by producers (autotrophs) in an ecosystem.
Biomass
- The total mass of living organisms in an ecosystem.
Food Chain
- A linear sequence of organisms through which energy flows in an ecosystem.
Food Web
- A complex network of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem.
Trophic Level
- The feeding level of an organism in a food web.
Decomposers
- Organisms that break down dead organic matter into simpler substances, facilitating nutrient cycling.
Biomagnification
- The increasing concentration of substances (especially toxins) in organisms at higher trophic levels of a food web.
Nutrient Cycling
- The continuous movement of chemical elements between the biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem.
Gaseous Cycles
- Nutrient cycles involving a gaseous phase, such as the carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle.
Human Population Growth
- A major driver of environmental problems.
Carrying Capacity (Human)
- The maximum human population size that Earth's ecosystem can sustainably support.
Age Structure
- The proportion of a population within pre-reproductive, reproductive, and post-reproductive classes.
Ecological Footprint
- The area of productive land and water required to support a person's lifestyle.
Biodiversity Loss
- The decline in the variety of life on Earth, including species extinction, habitat loss, and pollution.
Habitat Loss
- The destruction of natural habitats, leading to species displacement and biodiversity loss.
Deforestation
- The clearing of forests for other purposes, such as agriculture, development, and logging.
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Description
Test your knowledge of ecology with this quiz focusing on the tolerance ranges of animals and their movement behaviors such as taxis. Explore how these concepts relate to energy acquisition and the roles of heterotrophs in ecosystems. Enhance your understanding of ecological interactions.