4.1 Species, communities and ecosystems

Question 1

Species

Answer 1

A group of organisms that can potentially interbreed to produce fertile offspring. Members of a species share a common gene pool​

Question 2

Reproductive Isolation

Answer 2

Members of a species may be reproductively isolated in separate populations due to geographical barriers, behavioral differences, or niche partitioning

Question 3

Autotrophic Nutrition

Answer 3

Organisms that produce their own organic molecules from carbon dioxide and other simple inorganic compounds. Examples include plants and cyanobacteria

Question 4

Heterotrophic Nutrition

Answer 4

Organisms that obtain their organic molecules by feeding on other organisms. Examples include animals and fungi

Question 5

Mixotrophs

Answer 5

Organisms capable of both autotrophic and heterotrophic modes of nutrition, like Euglena gracilis

Question 6

Consumers

Answer 6

Heterotrophs that feed on living organisms by ingestion. Example: Monarch butterfly feeding on a flower​

Question 7

Detritivores

Answer 7

Heterotrophs that obtain organic nutrients from detritus by internal digestion. Example: Earthworms

Question 8

Saprotrophs

Answer 8

Heterotrophs that obtain organic nutrients from dead organisms by external digestion. Example: Fungi

Question 9

Community

Answer 9

A group of populations of different species living and interacting in the same area​

Question 10

Ecosystem

Answer 10

A community of living organisms interacting with each other and their abiotic environment, forming a system

Question 11

Nutrient Cycling

Answer 11

The process through which inorganic nutrients are absorbed by producers, transferred through the food chain, and returned to the environment via decomposition​

Question 12

Sustainability of Ecosystems

Answer 12

Ecosystems have the potential to be sustainable over long periods of time through nutrient cycling and energy flow​

Question 13

Mesocosms

Answer 13

Experimental tools that model ecosystems on a smaller scale to study the interactions within ecosystems and the impact of environmental changes

Question 14

Chi-Squared Test

Answer 14

A statistical test used to determine if there is a significant association between two categorical variables by comparing observed frequencies to expected frequencies​

Question 15

Statistical Significance in Ecology

Answer 15

Recognizing and interpreting the importance of results from statistical tests like chi-squared to determine the relationship between species or environmental factors