What is an Ecosystem? Biology Study Guide

[What is an ecosystem?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - All the living and nonliving things in an area. [What are some examples of nonliving things in an ecosystem?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - Nonliving things include air, water, temperature, amount of sunlight, minerals, salinity, and pH....

[What is an ecosystem?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - All the living and nonliving things in an area. [What are some examples of nonliving things in an ecosystem?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - Nonliving things include air, water, temperature, amount of sunlight, minerals, salinity, and pH. [What are some factors that could affect the number of organisms in an ecosystem?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - Such factors include things like resource availability, competition between organisms for resources, organisms eating other organisms, and changes in the environment. [Why might organisms interact in an ecosystem?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - Organisms might interact in an ecosystem to get the food, water, or shelter they need to survive. [Would you expect to find the same kinds of interactions between organisms in very different ecosystems? Why or why not?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - Answers will vary. [Why is it important to understand feeding relationships in an ecosystem?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - If we understand the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem, then we have a better understanding of energy flow within the ecosystem. Relationships vary in importance with respect to energy flow as well as the overall effect on ecosystem stability. - **After Video** [What are different types of symbiosis?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - Competition, predation, parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism [How is predation essential to maintaining an ecosystem?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - Without predators, organisms that are prey (like the rabbit in the video) would become overpopulated in an ecosystem. Eventually, they would eat all of the plants, become sickly, and/or die of starvation. [What do food webs show about an ecosystem?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - Food webs show where each organism gets its energy from. [If two different organisms compete for the same food source, like the owl and the hawk, how can they both thrive in the same ecosystem?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - Over many generations, both organisms have adapted and found a specialty that allows both to thrive. For example, the hawk hunts during the day, and the owl hunts at night. [Why are the bacteria in a termite's stomach considered mutualistic and not parasitic?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - Both the termite and the bacteria benefit from the feeding relationship (mutualism). Without the bacteria, the termite would starve; without the termite the bacteria would not have a food source. If this were a parasitic relationship, then one of the organisms would benefit, and the other would be harmed. [What are some careers that study symbiotic relationships, and why are these important?ANSWER](javascript:void(0);) - An ecologist and a marine biologist are two careers that study symbiotic relationships. An ecologist could study all kinds of ecosystems, and knowing the interactions can help her or him preserve ecosystems. A marine biologist specializes in studying life in the ocean. - Eco[systemDEFINE](javascript:void(0);) All the living and nonliving things in an area. - [SymbiosisDEFINE](javascript:void(0);) Interaction between organisms of two different species. - [PredationDEFINE](javascript:void(0);) Relationship in which one organism eats another organism. - [CompetitionDEFINE](javascript:void(0);) Relationship in which two organisms compete for the same resource. - [ParasitismDEFINE](javascript:void(0);) Relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed. - [MutualismDEFINE](javascript:void(0);) Relationship in which both of the organisms benefit. - [CommensalismDEFINE](javascript:void(0);) Relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is neither helped nor harmed. - [Food webDEFINE](javascript:void(0);) Model showing where each organism in an ecosystem gets its energy.