AMS - Ecology List 1

Question 1

Abiotic Factors

Answer 1

An abiotic factor is a non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment.

Question 2

Autotrophs

Answer 2

an organism that serves as a primary producer in a food chain.

Question 3

Biotic Fatcors

Answer 3

Biotic factors are living things within an ecosystem; such as plants, animals, and bacteria.

Question 4

Bioaccumulation

Answer 4

Bioaccumulation means an increase in the concentration of a chemical in a biological organism over time, compared to the chemical’s concentration in the environment.

Question 5

Carbon SInk

Answer 5

A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases – for example, plants, the ocean and soil. In contrast, a carbon source is anything that releases more carbon into the atmosphere than it absorbs – for example, the burning of fossil fuels or volcanic eruptions.

Question 6

Carnivore

Answer 6

A carnivore is an organism that mostly eats meat, or the flesh of animals.

Question 7

Commensalism

Answer 7

An association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm.

Question 8

Competition

Answer 8

Competition is an interaction between organisms or species in which both require a resource that is in limited supply

Question 9

Consumer

Answer 9

organisms that consume other organisms to obtain their energy.

Question 10

Decomposer

Answer 10

an organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material.

Question 11

Ecosystem

Answer 11

a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

Question 12

Energy Pyramid

Answer 12

An energy pyramid is a model that shows the flow of energy from one trophic, or feeding, level to the next in an ecosystem.

Question 13

Food Chain

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Food Web

Answer 14

A food web consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem.

Question 15

Habitat

Answer 15

the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.

Question 16

Herbivore

Answer 16

An herbivore is an animal that mainly eats plants.

Question 17

Heterotrophs

Answer 17

an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter.

Question 18

Leaching

Answer 18

Leaching occurs as excess water removes water-soluble nutrients out of the soil, by runoff or drainage.

Question 19

Limiting Factor

Answer 19

A limiting factor is anything that constrains a population’s size and slows or stops it from growing

Question 20

Mutualism

Answer 20

An association between organisms of two different species in which each benefits.

Question 21

Niche

Answer 21

In ecology, the term “niche” describes the role an organism plays in a community.

Question 22

Ocean Acidification

Answer 22

Ocean acidification refers to a reduction in the pH of the ocean over an extended period of time, caused primarily by uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

Question 23

Omnivore

Answer 23

An omnivore is an organism that regularly consumes a variety of material, including plants, animals, algae, and fungi.

Question 24

Parasitism

Answer 24

Parasitism is generally defined as a relationship between the two living species in which one organism is benefitted at the expense of the other.

Question 25

Phytoplankton

Answer 25

plankton consisting of microscopic plants.

Question 26

Pioneer Species

Answer 26

The term pioneer is used to describe the species that first colonize new habitats created by disturbance.

Question 27

Population

Answer 27

A population is defined as a group of individuals of the same species living and interbreeding within a given area

Question 28

Predation

Answer 28

Predation is the ecological process by which energy is transferred from living animal to living animal based on the behavior of a predator that captures and kills a prey before eating it.

Question 29

Predator

Answer 29

an animal that naturally preys on others.

Question 30

Prey

Answer 30

an animal that is caught and killed by another for food.

Question 31

Primary Succession

Answer 31

Primary succession happens when a new patch of land is created or exposed for the first time.

Question 32

Producer

Answer 32

Producers are organisms that can make their food, such as trees, shrubs, grass, algae, lichen, seaweed, and some bacteria.

Question 33

Secondary Succession

Answer 33

Secondary succession happens when a climax community or intermediate community is impacted by a disturbance.

Question 34

Species Overshoot

Answer 34

when the population of a species significantly exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment.

Question 35

Sustainability

Answer 35

Ecological sustainability is defined as the maintenance or restoration of the composition, structure, and processes of ecosystems including the diversity of plant and animal communities and the productive capacity of ecological systems.