AP Biology ecology unit covering energy flow, population dynamics, community interactions, and ecosystem cycles.
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- What are producers in an ecosystem?
- Organisms that make their own food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.
- What are primary consumers?
- Herbivores that feed on producers.
- What are secondary consumers?
- Carnivores or omnivores that feed on primary consumers.
- Define tertiary consumers.
- Carnivores that feed on secondary consumers.
- What is a trophic level?
- A step in a food chain representing organisms at the same nutritional level.
- What percentage of energy is typically transferred from one trophic level to the next?
- About 10 percent.
- How does a food chain differ from a food web?
- A food chain shows a linear sequence of organisms; a food web shows multiple interconnected food chains.
- What does a pyramid of energy represent?
- The total energy stored at each trophic level, with producers containing the most energy.
- What role do decomposers play in energy flow?
- They break down dead organic matter and return nutrients to the soil.
- Are autotrophs the same as producers?
- Yes, both organisms make their own organic food from inorganic molecules.
- What is carrying capacity?
- The maximum population size that an environment can sustain indefinitely.
- Describe exponential population growth.
- Population growth where size increases by a constant percentage per generation, producing a J-shaped curve.
- Describe logistic population growth.
- Population growth that starts exponentially but slows as the population approaches carrying capacity, producing an S-shaped curve.
- Give an example of a density-dependent limiting factor.
- Disease, competition for food, predation, or parasitism.
- Give an example of a density-independent limiting factor.
- Natural disaster, drought, extreme temperature, or flood.