Field Biology Final Review
Vocabulary
Abiotic components - nonliving, never alive, e.g. light, water, minerals, etc.
Adaptation - the process of making adjustments in response to environmental influence. For example, animals have developed webbed feet in order to be able to swim better.
Anatomical - referring to the parts of the body of a plant or animal
Aquatic - found in water, or usually in water
Balance - relatively stable populations of plants and animals based on all of the species in the habitat meeting their survival needs and having populations controlled by limiting factors.
Basic Needs - what any individual needs to survive. Food, water, shelter, air, and space are the basic needs for animals and sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, nutrients, oxygen, and space for green plants.
Behavioral - referring to all actions of an animal as it relates to its environment, including meeting survival needs, mating, escaping predation, etc.
Biome- large geographic region of plants and animals sharing similar temperature and rainfall.
Biotic Components - the living or once-living organisms
Biotic Potential- the maximum number of children possible under ideal conditions
Carnivore - a meat eater
Carrying Capacity - the maximum number of animals of a given species that can live in a measured area
Change - an alteration of the environmental conditions affecting wildlife and plants
Climax - the final stage of plant and animal succession, ie. the community of plants and animals existing in an ecosystem when it reaches a point where it no longer changes without outside influence.
Commensalism - relationship between species which benefits one, but neutral or of no benefit to the other
Community - an association of organisms - plant and animal - each occupying a certain ecological niche, inhabiting a common environment, and interacting with each other; all the plants and animals in a particular habitat bound together by food chains and other interrelations.
Competition - when two or more organisms of the same or different species have the potential for using the same resource, especially a limited resource.
Cycles - the tendency of various resources both living and nonliving to move in a systematic way throughout the ecosystem over time
Decomposers - the tiny organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, that break down plants and animals into simpler substances, releasing the nutrients for reuse by producers
Diversity - variety
Ecosystem - All living things and their environment in an area of any size, all linked together by energy and nutrient flow and for the most part, containing different species from other areas. Examples of ecosystems would be pond, river, forest, field, etc.
Endangered Species - a species whose population has dwindled to low numbers and is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. (A "threatened" species is one that is likely to become endangered.)
Energy Flow - the transfer of food energy through a food chain, ie. grasshopper eats grass, gets energy, mole eats grasshopper, gets energy from grasshopper, and hawk eats mole and gets energy from the mole
Energy Loss - the food energy consumed at each trophic or food chain level used for life functions such as reproduction, respiration, locomotion, etc. and which can not be passed to the next trophic level
Evolution - the theory that the characteristics of a plant or animal species change over time based upon the survival of individuals with favorable characteristics, who then reproduce to pass on these characteristics
Finite Resources - nutrients, elements, and compounds which are in limited supply such as coal, oil, metal ores, etc.
Food Chain - a series of organisms beginning with a green plant followed by an animal that eats the plant, followed by an animal that eats the plant eater, etc. ending with a carnivore which is not hunted.
Food Web - the complex network of food interrelationships between plants and animals in the ecosystem
Food Pyramid - representation of trophic levels in the form of a pyramid with large numbers of producers at the bottom and few carnivores at the top
Genetic Variety - the minor differences which are inherited from parents which can occur between members of a species
Habitat - an area where an organism lives because it meets its survival needs
Herbivore - a plant eater
Interrelationships - the interactions occurring amongst animals, between plants and animals, and between these living components and nonliving components of the ecosystem
Introduced Species - a species not native to an area, usually brought in by humans
Limiting Factors - events or conditions affecting the size of an animal population, e.g. disease, predation.
Mutualism - relationship between two species in which both benefit
Natural Selection - the principle that plants and animals will be selected for survival or death by natural means such as predation or inability to meet basic needs based upon their anatomical, behavioral and physiological characteristics. Also Survival of the Fittest.
Niche - the special place in a community occupied by a given organism; where an organism lives, where it gathers food, where it seeks shelter, who are its "friends and enemies," what it gives to the community, what it takes from the community, how it is affected by its environment, and how the environment is affected by it.
Nutrient Cycles - the flow of essential elements and compounds through an ecosystem
Omnivore - an animal which eats both plant and animal materials
Organic - pertaining to living material
Parasitism - relationship between species in which one is benefitted and one is harmed
Perpetuation of the Cycle - keeping resources flowing through their cycles
Photosynthesis - the physiological plant process in which sugar is made from carbon dioxide, water, and energy from the sun
Physiological - referring to the functions and processes in a plant or animal's body
Population - the number of a particular species in a defined area
Population Cycles - the tendency for the number of individuals in a species to fluctuate depending on various limiting factors, such as predation, birth, and severe weather
Predator - an animal that kills and eats other animals
Prey - animals that are killed and eaten by other animals
Producer - organisms using energy from the sun to manufacture food from water and carbon dioxide. Green plants are producers.
Recycling - the process where resources are used by organisms, returned to the pool of resources, and used again by the same or other organisms over and over
Species- organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring
Succession - the progression of plants and animals which replace one another in a changing ecosystem
Survival of the Fittest - the principle that plants and animals are selected for survival or death by natural means such as predation or inability to meet basic needs based upon their anatomical, behavioral and physiological characteristics. Also natural selection
Terrestrial - found on land (as opposed to aquatic)
Territory - the concept of "ownership" or dominance over a unit of habitat; an area defended by an animal against others of the same species; used for breeding, feeding, or both. Many species of wildlife are territorial. Best known are certain birds and wolves.
Trophic Levels - an organism's position in the food chain indicative of what it eats. Producers, first order consumers, and second order consumers are examples of tropic levels.
Essential Questions
1. What is the difference between simple vs. compound leaf arrangement? How are opposite, alternate, whorled, pinnate, palmate, trifoliate, and rosette leaves different?
2. What are the basic shapes of leaves: Sword, lance, ovate, elliptic, round, and cordate.
3. How to leaf edges differ: entire, lobed, toothed, and serrated.
4. Know the different types of symbiosis: Commensalism, Mutualism, Parasitism, and Neutralism. Be able to give examples of each.
5. In what ways do creatures that reproduce by internal fertilization differ from those who practice external fertilization? Be sure to include number of eggs, location of fertilization, where the offspring is located and degree of parental care.
6. Which animals undergo internal fertilization and which fertilize externally?
7. Be able to diagram food chains and food webs.
8. What is a keystone species?
9. What are the components of the ecological pyramid? How does the biomass change from level to level? Know the terms Autotroph/ Producers, Primary Consumer/ Herbivore, Secondary Consumer/ Carnivore and Tertiary Consumer.
10. What are the differences between these following terms? Ecosystem, Community, Habitat and Niche.
11. What are the main predation and prey tricks that animals use to attack or avoid each other?
12. What is the difference between intraspecific and interspecific interactions? What is a R-selected population versus a K-selected one?
13. Know the accomplishments of the following famous environmentalists: John James Audubon, Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Cole, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Charles Darwin, Teddy Roosevelt, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, James Lovelock, Jane Goodall, E.O. Wilson, Al Gore.
14. Be able to identify the tracks of coyotes, dogs, black bears, skunks, deer, squirrels, rabbits, mice, raccoon and opossums.
15. Using buds, leaves, fruit, nuts and bark be able to identify the following trees: Shagbark hickory, paper birch, American chestnut, weeping willow, white oak, sugar maple, American hornbeam, Eastern cedar, Northern red oak, Eastern Hemlock, red maple, American beech, flowering dogwood, white pine, and catalpa.
16. Know what is threatening the health of the Eastern Hemlock. Do scientists have hope for the hemlock’s recovery? What insect is used to control the mealy bug attack?
17. How does carrying capacity effect population curves? What is the difference between a J-curve and an S-curve?
18. What are the characteristics of an endangered species?
19. What features of an invasive species allow it to spread quickly?
20. Know what adaptive feature is important to insure survival of a species?
21. Know the major characteristics and index plants and animals of the biomes of the world: tropical rainforest, desert, savanna, grassland, broad-leaf deciduous forest, temperate rainforest, conifer forest, and tundra.
22. How has the role of fire impacted the biodiversity of the Shawangunks?
23. Know how the shape of a bird’s bill impacts what it eats.
24. What is the difference between an insect and a spider?
25. How does complete versus incomplete metamorphosis differ?
26. Given an animal skull be able to determine its relative strength of sight, smell, hearing and whether it is an herbivore, carnivore or omnivore.