Ecology Review Questions and Answers
Rated A
ecology ✔✔the study of organisms and their interactions with each other and their environment
biosphere ✔✔all areas of the planet where life exists including land, water an
...
Ecology Review Questions and Answers
Rated A
ecology ✔✔the study of organisms and their interactions with each other and their environment
biosphere ✔✔all areas of the planet where life exists including land, water and air
populations ✔✔groups of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area
communities ✔✔different populations that live together in a defined area
ecosystem ✔✔collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their
nonliving environment
autotroph ✔✔organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce
its own food from inorganic compounds; also called a producer
heterotroph ✔✔an orgasnism that must ingest or east to get energy and organic compounds
producer ✔✔an organism that makes its own food, also called an autotroph
primary consumers ✔✔organisms that get energy and nutrients by eating producers
secondary consumers ✔✔organisms that eat primary consumers
herbivore ✔✔organism that obtains energy by eating only plants
omnivore ✔✔organism that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals
carnivore ✔✔organism that obtains energy by eating other animals
detrivore ✔✔organism that obtains its energy by feeding on dead organisms or wastes
decomposers ✔✔organisms that break down wastes and dead organisms and return raw materials
to the environment
food chain ✔✔a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
food web ✔✔a diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem,
the interaction of many food chains
trophic level ✔✔feeding level in an ecosystem
energy pyramid ✔✔a diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding
level to another in a food web
pyramid of numbers ✔✔a representation of the number of individual organisms in each trophic
level of an ecosystem
biomass pyramid ✔✔represents the amount of living organic matter at each trophic level
biogeochemical cycles ✔✔process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of
matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another
predation ✔✔interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism
symbiosis ✔✔the relation between two different species of organisms that are live closely
together and are interdependent
commensalism ✔✔symbiotic relationship in which one member of the association benefits and
the other is neither helped nor harmed
parasitism ✔✔symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives in or on another organism (the
host) and consequently harms it
mutualism ✔✔symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship
nitrogen fixation ✔✔process in which bacteria convert nitrogen gas into nitrogen compounds
plants can use to make proteins
denitrification ✔✔conversion of nitrates in the soil by bacteria into nitrogen gas
evaporation ✔✔the process by which water changes from liquid form to an atmospheric gas
transpiration ✔✔loss of water from a plant through its leaves
living components of an ecosystem ✔✔biotic factors
nonliving components in an ecosystem ✔✔abiotic factors
each trophic level receives about one-tenth of the energy of the level below it ✔✔10% rule
[Show More]