AP Biology - Unit 8 Ecology Exam Study Guide with Complete Solutions

AP Biology - Unit 8 Ecology Exam Study Guide with Complete Solutions ecology - Answer️️ -study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and their interactions with other organisms and with their physical environment population - Answer️️ -group of individuals of the same species living in the same area community - Answer️️ -group of populations of different species living in the same area ecosystem - Answer️️ -interrelationships between organisms in a community and their physical environment biosphere - Answer️️ -composed of all the regions of the earth that contain living things (hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere) habitat - Answer️️ -type of place where an organism usually lives; descriptions typically include the organisms and the physical and chemical characteristics of the environment niche - Answer️️ -all biotic and abiotic resources in the environment used by an organism biotic factor - Answer️️ -A living part of an ecosystem abiotic factor - Answer️️ -physical, or nonliving, factor that shapes an ecosystem ©SOPHIABENNETT EXAM SOLUTIONS_2024/2025 Tuesday, September 3, 2024 10:30 AM Page | 2 climate - Answer️️ -long-term prevailing weather conditions in a given area; major components include temperature, precipitation, sunlight, and wind biome - Answer️️ -large region of the earth whose distribution depends on the amount of precipitation and temperature in an area; characterized by dominant vegetation and animal life population growth is described by... - Answer️️ -biotic potential, carrying capacity, and limiting factors population size - Answer️️ -symbolically represented by N it is the total number of individuals in the population population density - Answer️️ -total number of individuals per area or volume occupied population dispersion - Answer️️ -describes how individuals in a population are distributed clumped dispersion - Answer️️ -most common pattern, like humans in cities or schools of fish uniform dispersion - Answer️️ -like trees in an orchard, or plants with toxins random dispersion - Answer️️ -like trees in a forest; occurs because of special attractions or repulsions age structure - Answer️️ -describes the abundance of individuals of each age survivorship curves - Answer️️ -describe how mortality of individuals in a species varies during their lifetimes type I survivorship curve (K- strategist) - Answer️️ -describe a species in which most individuals survive to middle age; after that age, mortality is high. ©SOPHIABENNETT EXAM SOLUTIONS_2024/2025 Tuesday, September 3, 2024 10:30 AM Page | 3 example: humans type II survivorship curve (c- strategist) - Answer️️ -describe organisms in which the length of survivorship is random, that is, the likelihood of death is the same at any age example: rodents, invertebrates type III survivorship curve (r-strategist) - Answer️️ -describe species in which most individuals die young, with only a relative few surviving to reproductive age and beyond example: oysters, species with free-swimming larvae biotic potential - Answer️️ -maximum growth rate of a population under ideal conditions with unlimited resources and without any growth restrictions carrying capacity - Answer️️ -maximum number of individuals of a population that can be sustained by a particular habitat limiting factors - Answer️️ -elements that prevent a population from attaining its biotic potential; can be density-dependent or density-independent density-dependent factors - Answer️️ -limiting effect becomes more intense as the population density increases examples: parasites and disease, competition, toxic effect of waste products, predation, stress density-independent factors - Answer️️ -occur independently of the density of a population examples: natural disasters and climate extremes r-strategist (or r-selected species) - Answer️️ -rapid, exponential growth ©SOPHIABENNETT EXAM SOLUTIONS_2024/2025 Tuesday, September 3, 2024 10:30 AM Page | 4 quickly invade a habitat, quickly reproduce, then die offspring are small, quickly maturing, and require little to no parental care k-strategist (or k-selected species) - Answer️️ -slower, logistic growth size of mature population remains relatively constant small number of large offspring extensive parental care reproduction repeats throughout lifetime exponential growth - Answer️️ -occurs when reproductive rate is greater than z