EXAM Q’S AND A’S
ecology - ANSWER-scientific study of interactions among organisms and between
organisms and their environment
climate - ANSWER-The average weather conditions in an area over a long period of
time
organismal ecology - ANSWER-The branch of ecology concerned with the
morphological, physiological, and behavioral ways in which individual organisms
meet the challenges posed by their biotic and abiotic environments
Population ecology - ANSWER-analyzes factors that affect population size and how
and why it changes through time
Community ecology - ANSWER-examines how interactions between species, such
as predation and competition, affect community structure and organization
Ecosystem ecology - ANSWER-emphasizes energy flow and chemical cycling
between organisms and the environment
Landscape ecology - ANSWER-focuses on the factors controlling exchanges of
energy, materials, and organisms across multiple ecosystems
Global ecology - ANSWER-how the regional exchange of energy and materials
influences the functioning and distribution of organisms across the biosphere
macroclimate - ANSWER-patterns on the global, regional, and local level
microclimate - ANSWER-Very fine scale variations of climate, such as the specific
climatic conditions underneath a log.
abiotic - ANSWER-nonliving, physical features of the environment, including air,
water, sunlight, soil, temperature, and climate
biotic - ANSWER-the living organisms in an ecosystem
biomes - ANSWER-a broad, regional type of ecosystem characterized by distinctive
climate and soil conditions and a distinctive kind of biological community adapted to
those conditions.
climograph - ANSWER-a plot of the temperature and precipitation in a particular
region
ecotone - ANSWER-The transition from one type of habitat or ecosystem to another,
such as the transition from a forest to a grassland.