04: The Ecosystem

Question 1

This can be defined as an ecological unit consisting of a biotic community (an assemblage of plant, animal, and other living organisms) together with its abiotic environment (such as soil, precipitation, sunlight, temperature, slope of the land, etc.).

Answer 1

An ecosystem (or Ecosystem)

Question 2

The word ecosystem is an abbreviation of the term, “____.” A river, a swamp, a meadow, and a cave are all examples of ecosystems. Some consider the ____ to be the basic unit in ecology.

Answer 2

Ecological System, Ecosystem

Question 3

Kinds of Ecosystem

Answer 3

Riverine ecosystem

Lacustrine ecosystem

Marine ecosystem
Boundary ecosystem (where one body of water meets another (estuaries and lagoons); where a body of water meets land (wetlands); where one land area meets another land type)
Soil ecosystem
Polar ecosystem (in polar regions, such as polar barrens and tundra)
Mountain ecosystem
Agroecosystem (farms, livestock production systems)
Forest ecosystem
Grassland ecosystem
Urban ecosystem (cities, suburbs)

Question 4

Kind of Riverine Ecosystem

Answer 4

• River ecosystem
• Stream ecosystem
• Spring ecosystem

Question 5

Kind of Lacustrine Ecosystem

Answer 5

• Pond ecosystem
• Lake ecosystem

Question 6

Kind of Marine Ecosystem

Answer 6

• Coastal water ecosystem
° Estuary ecosystem
° Lagoon ecosystem
• Coral reef ecosystem
• Soft-bottom continental shelf ecosystem
• Upwelling continental shelf ecosystem
• Open ocean ecosystem
• Polar ocean ecosystem (the Arctic and Antarctic oceans)

Question 7

A major process linking the abiotic and biotic constituents of ecosystems is the flow of energy.

Answer 7

Energy Flow

Question 8

The main source of energy in almost all natural ecosystems is ____ from the ___.

Answer 8

Radiant Energy, Sun

Question 9

These organisms, such as plants, algae, and photosynthetic bacteria, take radiant energy and fix it into organic molecules by photosynthesis, such a creating glucose from carbon dioxide.

Answer 9

Primary Producers or Autotrophic Organisms

Another process is Chemosynthesis

Question 10

These organisms utilize the energy fixed in organic molecules by autotrophs.

Answer 10

Heterotrophs

Question 11

These organisms are heterotrophs that eat autotrophs, such as antelopes that feed on grass or zooplankton that feed on phytoplankton in the ocean or in lakes.

Answer 11

Herbivores (or Primary Consumers)

Question 12

These organisms are heterotrophs that eat herbivores or other carnivores, and include coyotes, tigers, owls, and preying mantises. They can be secondary consumers (those that eat an herbivore), or tertiary consumers (those that eat a carnivore that has eaten a herbivore), and so on.

Answer 12

Carnivores (Secondary Consumers or Tertiary Consumers)

Question 13

These organisms are heterotrophs that consume either autotrophs (primary producers) or consumers (herbivores and carnivores), and include bears and humans.

Answer 13

Omnivores

Question 14

These organisms, such as crows, are heterotrophs that feed on recently dead organisms.

Answer 14

Scavengers

Question 15

These organisms are heterotrophs that obtain energy by breaking down dead organisms into their inorganic form, such as bracket fungi that break down dead tissues and wastes into carbon, nitrogen, and other inorganic compounds and elements.

Answer 15

Decomposers

Question 16

Energy flows through an ecosystem in the form of ____. As these are broken, energy is released, which then can be used by the organism or dissipated as heat.

Answer 16

carbon-carbon bonds

Question 17

A second major process linking the biotic and abiotic constituents of an ecosystem is the flow of nutrients.

Answer 17

Nutrient Cycle

Question 18

Unlike energy, which is not cycled, ___ are cycled in ecosystems.

Answer 18

Inorganic Nutrients

Question 19

____ is the process by which inorganic materials, such as water, oxygen, carbon, calcium, and nitrogen, move through both the biotic communities (organisms) and the geological world (atmosphere, oceans, soil, and even rocks).

Answer 19

A biogeochemical cycle

Question 20

Four Most Important Nutrient Cycle

Answer 20

Water Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
Phosphorus Cycle
Oxygen-Carbon Cycle

Question 21

A ____ is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.

Answer 21

Food Chain

Question 22

Levels in Food Chain

Answer 22

Producers
Primary Consumers
Higher-Level Consumers
Decomposers

Question 23

Trophic Levels

Answer 23

First Trophic (Plants or Autotrophs)
Second Trophic (Herbivores)
Third Trophic (Carnivores)
Fourth Trophic (Top Carnivores)

Question 24

In many ecosystems, the base, or foundation, of the food chain consists of (plants or phytoplankton), which are called ____.

Answer 24

Photosynthetic Organisms, Producers

Question 25

The organisms that consume the producers are ____ called primary consumers.

Answer 25

Herbivores

Question 26

Secondary consumers are usually ____ that eat the primary consumers.

Answer 26

Carnivores

Question 27

These are carnivores that eat other carnivores.

Answer 27

Tertiary Consumers

Question 28

___ feed on the next lower trophic levels, and so on, up to the organisms at the top of the food chain.

Answer 28

Higher-Level Consumers

Question 29

Energy is ____ at each trophic level and between trophic levels as heat and in the transfer to decomposers.

Answer 29

Lost

Question 30

This is a concept that accounts for the multiple trophic (feeding) interactions between each species.

Answer 30

A food web (Food Web)

Question 31

At the cellular level, energy is used in most ____ (usually in the form of ___), especially those responsible for building large molecules from smaller compounds.

Answer 31

Metabolic Pathways, ATP

Question 32

Living organisms would not be able to assemble complex organic molecules (such as ____) without a constant energy input.

Answer 32

Proteins
Lipids
Nucleic Acids
Carbohydrates

Question 33

Energy is acquired by living things in two ways: ____ harness light or chemical energy and ____ acquire energy through the consumption and digestion of other living or previously living organisms.

Answer 33

Autotrophs, Heterotrophs

Question 34

These organisms are autotrophs, which are organisms capable of synthesizing their own food (more specifically, capable of using inorganic carbon as a carbon source).

Answer 34

Photosynthetic and Chemosynthetic

Question 35

____ use sunlight as an energy source, and ____ use inorganic molecules as an energy source.

Answer 35

Photosynthetic Autotrophs (or Photoautotrophs), Chemosynthetic Autotrophs (Chemoautotrophs)

Question 36

____ are critical for ecosystems because they occupy the trophic level containing producers. Without these organisms, energy would not be available to other living organisms, and life would not be possible.

Answer 36

Autotrophs

Question 37

This is the energy that remains in the producers after accounting for these organisms’ metabolism and heat loss. This is then available to the primary consumers at the next trophic level.

Answer 37

Net primary productivity

Question 38

Extra: Term for the interrelationship of organisms

Answer 38

Symbiosis

Question 39

Extra: Types of Symbiosis

Answer 39

Mutualism
Commensalism
Parasitism
Prey and Predation

Question 40

Extra: There are two kinds of Parasitism, what are those?

Answer 40

Endoparasites (Inside the Host)
Ectoparasites (Outside the Host)