Name: ____________________
Teacher: ____________________
Unit 1.2: Ecology: Communities and Populations
Class: ____________________
Objectives
Date: ____________________
After taking careful notes and attending associated lectures, you will be able to:
 Name 5 types of community interactions and state which organism benefits in each type of interaction.
 Give examples of behaviors and structural adaptations that have evolved in predators to help them find and
consume prey.
 Give examples of behaviors and structural adaptations that have evolved in prey to help them avoid
predators; give two examples of plant defenses.
 Define “aposematic coloring” and give three examples of organisms that use aposematic coloring.
 Define and give an example of “mimicry”.
 Differentiate between a “niche” and a “habitat”, and describe how “niche overlap” can lead to competition.
 Define the “competitive exclusion principle.”
 Define symbiosis and give three examples of community interactions that are considered symbiotic.
 Differentiate between predation and parasitism, and state two types of host defenses to parasitism.
 Differentiate between an ectoparasite and an endoparasite.
 Distinguish between mutualism and commensalism and give examples of each.
 Define population density and give examples that show low and high population densities.
 Diagram “clumped”, “even”, “random” dispersion patterns and state how these patterns come about.
 State four factors that contribute to the growth rate of a population.
 Given information, graph population growth and predict future growth based on graphed data.
 Differentiate between immigration and emigration and their effects on a population.
 Diagram an exponential growth curve and state what leads to exponential growth.
 Diagram a logistic growth curve and state what leads to logistic growth.
 Define “carrying capacity”; given a logistic growth graph, determine the carrying capacity
 Distinguish between density-dependent and density-independent limiting factors and give examples.
Vocabulary:
symbiosis
parasitism
ectoparasite
clumped dispersion
mortality rate
logistic growth
mutualism
predation
endoparasite
even dispersion
immigration
carrying capacity
commensalism
competition
mimicry
random dispersion
emigration
limiting factor
niche
competitive exclusion
population density
birthrate
exponential growth
Next Generation Science Standards addressed in this unit:
LS2-1
Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect
carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.
Homework: 25 points Due: Monday, September 8th, 2014
Answer the following using complete sentences.
+2 1. Give two structural adaptations used by predators to find/capture/consume prey and explain how
these structures aid the predator. (
+2
2. Give two structural adaptations used by prey to avoid being captured or consumed and explain how
these structures aid the prey animal.
+2
3. How is aposematic coloring different from mimicry? What is an example of an organism that uses
mimicry?
+1
4. What are two examples of defenses that have evolved in plants?
+2
5. What would happen if two different species occupied the same niche?
+1
6. What is the difference between an endoparasite and an ectoparasite?
+1
7.
+1
8. Sucker fish eat the parasites off of whale sharks. What type of symbiosis is represented?
+1
9. Cattle egrets are birds that follow herds of cattle. As cattle walk through a prairie, they stir up any
insects which are then eaten by the cattle egrets. What type of symbiosis is represented?
+2
10. How does immigration affect population size? How does emigration affect population size?
+2
11. A population has a greater number of births and a fewer number of deaths within a specific time
period. How does the population size change over this period of time?
+1
12. Refer to the graph to the right. What type of growth
is represented by region B?
+1
13. Define “carrying capacity”.
+1
14. What is the approximate carrying capacity of the
population represented in the graph?
+1
15. Which region of the graph represents a time period
where there are more deaths than births?
+2
16. If a new predator moved into an area, how would this affect the prey population? What type of
limiting factor is this?
+2
17. A fire sweeps through a forest. Is this limiting factor density-dependent or density-independent?
Explain the reason for your answer.
How do tears, saliva, and mucus help an organism?