Ch. 4 Key Terms

Question 1

ecosystem

Answer 1

A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

Question 2

biotic factor

Answer 2

Living organisms that are part of an environment.

Question 3

abiotic factor

Answer 3

A nonliving condition or thing, as climate or habitat, that influences or affects an ecosystem and the organisms in it

Question 4

organism

Answer 4

An individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form.

Question 5

species

Answer 5

A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding. The species is the principal natural taxonomic unit, ranking below a genus and denoted by a Latin binomial, e.g. Homo sapiens.

Question 6

population

Answer 6

The specified extent or degree to which an area is or has been populated.

Question 7

community

Answer 7

Consists of various organisms in an area

Question 8

habitat

Answer 8

A place where an organism makes its home.

Question 9

natural selection

Answer 9

The process through which populations of living organisms adapt and change.

Question 10

evolution

Answer 10

The change in the characteristics of a species over several generations and relies on the process of natural selection.

Question 11

adaptation

Answer 11

The biological mechanism by which organisms adjust to new environments or to changes in their current environment.

Question 12

artificial

Answer 12

Artificial objects, materials, or processes do not occur naturally and are created by human beings

Question 13

artificial selection

Answer 13

the identification by humans of desirable traits in plants and animals

Question 14

archaea

Answer 14

any of a group of single-celled prokaryotic organisms

Question 15

bacteria

Answer 15

Single-celled microorganisms that can exist

Question 16

fungus

Answer 16

organisms that eats organic material

Question 17

protist

Answer 17

any member of a group of diverse eukaryotic, predominantly unicellular microscopic organisms.

Question 18

gymnosperm

Answer 18

plants that produce flowers and bear their seeds in fruits

Question 19

angiosperm

Answer 19

plants that produce flowers and bear their seeds in fruits.

Question 20

invertebrate

Answer 20

any animal that lacks a vertebral column, or backbone

Question 21

vertebrate

Answer 21

that has a backbone extending down the back of the body.