AP BIO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS OVER ECOLOGY PART I 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. What are trophic levels? Explain.

What is detritus and what are detrivores? Compare and contrast scavengers and decomposers. What are important abiotic factors in our local ecosystem? How much energy is transferred between trophic levels? Does the Law of Conservation of Energy apply to ecosystems? Why or why not? Does the Law of Conservation of matter apply to ecosystems? Why or why not? Give an example of a: A) secondary consumer B) omnivore C) Decomposer What is/are: A) Groundwater? B) The water table? C) Some things that happen to groundwater? D) Transpiration? 10. What are three types of photosynthesizing organisms? 11. What are the products of respiration and combustion? 12. How are the following involved in the Carbon cycle? A) Photosynthesis? B) Respiration? C) Fossil fuels? D) Decomposers? E) The ocean and ocean water? 13. How is burning fossil fuels affecting our atmosphere? 14. How do fossil fuels originate? 15. How much of our air is Nitrogen? 16. Why cant living things use Nitrogen in our air directly? 17. What is Nitrogen fixation? What makes this process occur? 18. Where are Nitrogen fixing bacteria found? 19. In Nitrogen fixation, the element N combines with______ to make____________ 20. What is nitrification? What organisms carry this out? Where are they found? 21. What is denitrification? What organisms carry this out? Whare are they found? 21. What role do the following play in the Nitrogen cycle? Explain. A) Lightning B) Fertilizers C) Animals eating D) Bacteria 22. Match up the plant, animal, or description with its biome.

A) Good for reptiles____________________________B) On or near the equator but less rain than a rain forest.___________________________C) Oak tree________________________________D) Lemmings______________________ E) Bison________________________________F) Pine_______________________ G) Elevation of 7,000 ft._____________________________H) Elevation of 10,000 ft._______________________________I) Voles_____________________________ J) 200-450 cm rain/year____________________________K) Permafrost_________ L) Good for amphibians____________________________M) Giraffe__________________N) Leaves fall in autumn________________________ O) Very few reptlies or amphibians_____________________________P) Corn and soybeans____________________________Q) Highest biodiversity_____________ R) Canada, Scandinavia_______________________S) Lemmings______________ 23. Write 2 or 3 examples of each of these: A) Mutualism B) Commensalism C) Parasitism D) Climax community E) Pioneer species 24. Define or describe the following: A) Primary productivity B) Biomass C) Symbiosis 25. Describe a possible niche for the following: A) Ants B) Diatoms C) Krill D) Orca E) Seal 26. It takes about__________smaller birds to support a hawk. 27. Oxygen is most abundant in______________________________________water. 28. If an Orca gets 1000 Kilojoules of energy from eating one seal, about how many Kilojoules of energy were in the fish that the seal ate? 29. What 2 factors are particularly important in determining the biome? 30. How much of the species of land animals is found in rain forests? 31. Where is savanna generally found? 33.What do deciduous trees do? 34.What are some animals of the North American deciduous forest?

35. Where are temperate grasslands found? How are they useful? 36. Describe 4 characteristics of the taiga. 37. Why do conifers predominate in the taiga? 38. Where is tundra located? (2 locations) 39. Where is taiga located? (2 locations) 40. What is permafrost? 41. What are some kinds of organisms restricted to freshwater habitats? 42. What occurs in the: A) littoral zone? B) Limnetic zone? C) Profundal zone? 43. Explain the contents and importance of plankton. 44. What is the difference between primary and secondary succession? Explain.