Ch. 5 Key Terms

Question 1

photosynthesis

Answer 1

the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water.

Question 2

producer

Answer 2

an organism, as a plant, that is able to produce its own food from inorganic substances.

Question 3

consumer

Answer 3

consumer in a food chain are living creatures that eat organisms from a different population.

Question 4

decomposer

Answer 4

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

Question 5

cellular respiration

Answer 5

the process of cell catabolism in which cells turn food into usable energy in the form of atp.

Question 6

food chain

Answer 6

a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food.

Question 7

food web

Answer 7

a system of interlocking and interdependent food chains.

Question 8

trophic level

Answer 8

each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.

Question 9

carbon cycle

Answer 9

the series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, the decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels.

Question 10

nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Answer 10

nitrogen-fixing bacteria are prokaryotic microorganisms that are capable of transforming nitrogen gas from the atmosphere into “fixed nitrogen” compounds, such as ammonia, that are usable by plants.

Question 11

nitrogen cycle

Answer 11

the series of processes by which nitrogen and its compounds are interconverted in the environment and in living organisms, including nitrogen fixation and decomposition.

Question 12

phosphorus cycle

Answer 12

the phosphorus cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.

Question 13

ecological

Answer 13

relating to or concerned with the relation of living organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.

Question 14

succession primary

Answer 14

primary succession is ecological succession that begins in essentially lifeless areas, such as regions in which there is no soil or where the soil is incapable of sustaining life.

Question 15

succession secondary

Answer 15

secondary succession is the series of community changes which take place on a previously colonized, but disturbed or damaged habitat.

Question 16

pioneer species

Answer 16

species that arrive first in the newly created environment are called pioneer species, and through their interactions they build a simple initial biological community.

Question 17

climax community

Answer 17

a climax community is the final stage of succession, remaining relatively unchanged until destroyed by an event such as fire or human interference.