/
Ecology Concepts
Save to my account
Sign up
Ecology Concepts
Ecology Concepts
Study
1
Question
What is the definition of the environment?
Answer
The environment is defined as the sum total of living, non-living components, influences, and events surrounding an organism.
2
Question
What is ecology?
Answer
Ecology is the study of the interactions between living organisms and their biotic and abiotic environments. Therefore, it is the study of the relationship of plants and animals to their physical and biological environment.
3
Question
What is an organism in ecological terms?
Answer
An organism is an individual living being that has the ability to act or function independently. It may be a plant, animal, bacterium, fungi, etc.
4
Question
What is a population in ecology?
Answer
A population is a group of organisms usually of the same species, occupying a defined area during a specific time.
5
Question
What is a community in ecology?
Answer
A community refers to all the populations of different species living and interacting in a particular area or habitat. A community may consist of different species of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms, which are interdependent and affect each other's survival and well-being.
6
Question
Define ecosystem.
Answer
An ecosystem is defined as a structural and functional unit of the biosphere consisting of a community of living beings and the physical environment, both interacting and exchanging materials between them.
7
Question
Who coined the term 'ecosystem' and when?
Answer
The term 'ecosystem' was first coined by British ecologist Arthur Tansley in 1935.
8
Question
What is productivity in an ecosystem?
Answer
Productivity refers to the rate of biomass production in an ecosystem.
9
Question
What is energy flow in an ecosystem?
Answer
Energy flow is the sequential process through which energy flows from one trophic level to another. The energy captured from the sun flows from producers to consumers and then to decomposers and finally back to the environment.
10
Question
What is decomposition in an ecosystem?
Answer
Decomposition is the process of breakdown of dead organic material. The top-soil is the major site for decomposition.
11
Question
What is nutrient cycling in an ecosystem?
Answer
In an ecosystem, nutrients are consumed and recycled back in various forms for the utilization by various organisms.
12
Question
What is a biome?
Answer
A biome refers to a large geographical region characterized by a particular set of climate conditions, plant, and animal life.
13
Question
What are the types of biomes?
Answer
Types of biomes include forests, grasslands, tundra, deserts, and aquatic biomes such as oceans, rivers, and lakes.
14
Question
What is the biosphere?
Answer
The biosphere is a part of the earth where life can exist. It represents a highly integrated and interacting zone comprising atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), and lithosphere (land). The biosphere is approximately 20 km thick.
15
Question
Where does most life occur in the biosphere?
Answer
Most life occurs between 500 meters below the surface of the ocean and about 6 km above sea level.
16
Question
What is habitat?
Answer
A habitat is the place where an organism or a community of organisms lives, including all living and non-living factors or conditions of the surrounding environment.
17
Question
What is a microhabitat?
Answer
Microhabitat is a term for the conditions and organisms in the immediate vicinity of a plant or animal.
18
Question
What does 'niche' refer to in ecology?
Answer
Niche refers to the unique role or position of a species within an ecosystem, including the physical and biological conditions it requires to survive and reproduce.
19
Question
What are the types of niche?
Answer
Types of niches based on the interactions of species include habitat niche, trophic niche, and multidimensional niche.
20
Question
What is the competitive exclusion principle?
Answer
The competitive exclusion principle states that competition in case of the same niche of two species will lead to the exclusion of one from that niche.
21
Question
What is niche overlap?
Answer
Niche overlap describes the situation in which co-occurring species share parts of their niche space with each other.
22
Question
What is resource partitioning?
Answer
Resource partitioning is the process of moving things around in order to satisfy the niche size to an appropriate level.
23
Question
What is an ecotone?
Answer
An ecotone is a zone of junction between two or more diverse ecosystems, which have richness in biodiversity due to edge effect.
24
Question
What is the edge effect in ecology?
Answer
Edge effect refers to the changes in population or community structures that occur at the boundary of two habitats.
25
Question
What is an ecotype?
Answer
An ecotype is a population of species that differs genetically from other populations of the same species because local conditions have selected for certain unique physiological or morphological characteristics.
26
Question
What are primary producers?
Answer
Primary producers, also known as autotrophs, are organisms that synthesize carbohydrates from simple inorganic raw materials like carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight by the process of photosynthesis.
27
Question
What are the two broad groups of consumers?
Answer
Consumers can be divided into two broad groups namely micro consumers and macro consumers.
28
Question
What are macro consumers?
Answer
Macro consumers feed on plants or animals or both and are categorized based on their food sources: herbivores (primary consumers), secondary consumers (feed on primary consumers), tertiary consumers (feed on secondary consumers), omnivores (consume both plants and animals), and scavengers (feed on dead and decaying organisms).
29
Question
What are micro consumers?
Answer
Micro consumers are bacteria and fungi which obtain energy and nutrients by decomposing dead organic substances (detritus) of plant and animal origin.
30
Question
What role do decomposers play in an ecosystem?
Answer
Decomposers break down dead organic material and recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem for reuse by producers.