CARDINAL NEWMAN CATHOLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL
Name: ____________________ Date: _________________ SNC 2D 3
ECOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS A PEST?
Pests are organisms that cause ___________ for ____________
EXAMPLES
______________
______________
______________
Although it would be appealing to eliminate these species, all other _______________would be _______________ in some way
à Mosquitoes: Some __________ and ________________ rely on mosquito ___________ for food; adult mosquitoes are an important food source for ______________ and ____________
à Wasps: Required for _____________ and _________________ tissues of dead plants
à Crab grass: Important food source for ___________ and ____________
ORGANISMS INTERACTING WITHIN ECOSYSTEMS
To better understand living things, scientists examine organisms within their _____________ setting
WHAT IS ECOLOGY?
Ecology is a term which describes the ____________ of how organisms _______________ with each other
à “Oikos” is Greek for “the place where one lives”
à “Logos” is Greek for “study of”
There are two types of factors in the environment which affect the ___________, _____________________ and _________________ of an individual in an environment:
ABIOTIC
The _______________ factors on organisms
EXAMPLES
Amount of ____________
________________
___________ and ______________ of _________
BIOTIC
Factors caused by the presence of ___________ things
LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
Organisms do not live in ________________. Organisms usually group with others of the same species.
POPULATION
All of the members of the _________ species, living in the __________ ecosystem or _____________
EXAMPLE
__________ in a lake
COMMUNITY
The __________ of all the _____________ of all species in an ecosystem or habitat
EXAMPLE
Community in a lake might include pike, ___________, ____________, mosquito larvae and __________
Ecologists can ____________ their study ______________ the _______________ of organisms to the physical environment
When they do so, the begin investigating _________________
ECOSYSTEM
The ________________ of __________ things and its physical ________________
EXAMPLE:
When studying a ____________ ecosystem, an ecologist could examine how much sunlight reaches the forest floor and its effect on the plants and animals of that ecosystem
ECOTONES and BIODIVERSITY
WHAT ARE ECOTONES?
__________________ are transition areas between ecosystems where organisms from __________ ecosystems _____________ with each other
They offer greater _______________ (more species) than either ecosystems
Ecosystems with ______________ biodiversity are _________ fragile
à ________________ have other alternatives for food if their main ___________ are affected