5.6 Sustainable Ecosystems

Question 1

Ecosynthetic

Answer 1

describes organisms that produce organic material using energy released from chemical reactions rather than light

Question 2

Food chains

Answer 2

diagram that shows how the energy stored in one organism is passed to another

Question 3

Food webs

Answer 3

diagram showing several food chains joined together to demonstrate that animals eat more than one type of food

Question 4

Tropic level

Answer 4

a level within a food chain, food web or food pyramid

Question 5

First-order consumer

Answer 5

organism that is within the second trophic level of a food chain (herbivores); also known as a primary consumer

Question 6

Primary consumers

Answer 6

the first consumer in a food chain; also known as a first-order consumer

Question 7

Secondary consumers

Answer 7

the second consumer in a food chain; also known as a second-order consumer

Question 8

Energy pyramid

Answer 8

a representation of the level of food energy at each level within a food chain

Question 9

Pyramid of numbers

Answer 9

a representation of the population, or numbers of organisms, at each level within a food chain

Question 10

Pyramid of biomass

Answer 10

a representation of the dry mass of organisms at each level within a food chain

Question 11

Birth rate

Answer 11

the number of organisms within a population that are born within a particular period of time

Question 12

Death rate

Answer 12

the number of organisms within a population that die within a particular period of time

Question 13

Immigration

Answer 13

the number of individuals moving into an area

Question 14

Emigration

Answer 14

the number of individuals leaving an area

Question 15

Exponential growth

Answer 15

a rapid increase in number or size, represented by a J-shaped graph

Question 16

Sigmoid

Answer 16

the shape of a graph that shows a population increasing in number then reaching a plateau

Question 17

Steady fate, plateau phase, equilibrium

Answer 17

a state in which conditions are balanced and there is neither growth nor a decrease in number; also known as steady state or plateau phase

Question 18

Zero population growth

Answer 18

the point at which birth and death rates balance each other out

Question 19

Carrying capacity

Answer 19

the maximum population size that a particular environment can sustain