SNC1D/1P – ECOLOGY UNIT REVIEW

NAME:DATE:

  1. In what ways can Earth be considered “an island”?
  1. Explain why Easter Island is considered an “ecological disaster”. What does it mean to manage natural resources in a sustainable way? Give two examples of how overexploitation of a resource has harmed ecosystems.
  1. What is biodiversity? Explain the connection between biodiversity and the health of an ecosystem.
  1. Consider the hierarchy of biological organization (shown below) to answer the following:

a)What is the biosphere? What are the three physical components of the biosphere?

b)What is a biome? Name the four Canadian biomes. Which biomes would have the most / least biodiversity?

c)What is an ecosystem? Distinguish between the terms aquatic and terrestrial.

What is the difference between a biotic and abiotic component of an ecosystem?

d)Distinguish between the terms population and community.

e)What is an ecological niche?

  1. What is the water cycle?
  1. What is the chemical equation for: a) photosynthesis? b) cellular respiration?

Why are they said to be complimentary processes?

  1. Consider the following food chain to complete the table below.

grain /  / grasshopper /  / sparrow /  / snake /  / wolf
organism / grain / grasshopper / sparrow / snake / wolf
trophic level
producer / consumer (specify)
herbivore / (top) carnivore
autotroph / heterotroph(specify)
  1. Why is a producer necessary in all food chains What is the role of a decomposer?
  1. How is a food web different from a food chain?
  1. Consider an energy pyramid. As you proceed up a food chain, what happens to the:

a)amount of energy available? Approximately how much energy (%) is passed on to the next organism in a food chain?

b)the number of organisms?

  1. Abiotic limiting factors determine where a particular species is able to live. Give some examples of abiotic factors and explain how they can limit population size.
  1. Biotic factors determine how easily a species can survive in an ecosystem. Distinguish between the following different types of interactions between organisms: competition, predation, mutualism, commensalism and parasitism.
  1. Define carrying capacity. How do human actions affect the carrying capacity of an ecosystem?

  1. Answer the following questions using the population graph for Isle Royale provided above.

a)What is the greatest moose population? When (what year) did that occur?

What was the wolf population when the moose population was the greatest?

b)What would happen to the moose population if the wolves were removed from Isle Royale?

c)Describe the patternbetween the moose and wolf populations.

d)Identify a factor, other than the moose population, that has influenced the wolf population on Isle Royale.

e)Identify two factors, other than the wolf population, that may influence the moose population on Isle Royale.

  1. What is a pesticide? What are some of the risks of using pesticides? Explain the terms bioaccumulation and bioamplification.
  1. Using the food chain below, consider the following:

phytoplankton→ zooplankton → krill → cod → seal → polar bear

a)If each phytoplankton has only one atom of mercury in it, and every zooplankton must consume 600 phytoplankton in a year to survive, how many atoms of mercury are there in one zooplankton after a year?

b)If a krill must consume 300 zooplankton in a year to survive, how many atoms of mercury are there in one krill after a year?

c)If a cod must consume 100 krill in a year to survive, how many atoms of mercury are there in one cod fish after a year?

d)If a seal must consumer 75 cod in a year to survive, how many atoms of mercury are there in one seal after a year?

e)If a polar bear must consume 10 seals in a year to survive, how many atoms of mercury are there in one polar bear after a year?

Assume that a concentration of 1200 000 000 atoms of mercury would be fatal to a polar bear. What would be the fate of the polar bear (from the food chain above)?

  1. Distinguish between the following forestry practices: clearcutting, shelterwood cutting, and selective cutting. What does it mean if a forest is “certified”? What is an urban forest?
  1. What is a species at risk? Distinguish between the following different classifications of species at risk: extinct, extirpated, endangered, threatened, and special concern.
  1. What is an invasive species? What are some consequences of introducing an invasive species to an ecosystem? What are the three approaches to controlling an invasive species?
  1. What is a fertilizer? What is the risk of using fertilizers?
  1. What is an ecological footprint? What is stewardship?