Chapter 1 - Ecosystems

Question 1

The function or position of a species within an ecological community. A species’s niche includes the physical environment to which it has become adapted as well as its role as producer and consumer of food resources.

Answer 1

Niche

Question 2

relating to or resulting from living organisms.

Answer 2

Biotic

Question 3

physical rather than biological; not derived from living organisms.

Answer 3

Abiotic

Question 4

a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

Answer 4

Ecosystem

Question 5

an animal that naturally preys on others.

Answer 5

Predator

Question 6

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

Answer 6

Prey

Question 7

an organism which lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other’s expense.

Answer 7

Parasite

Question 8

symbiosis which is beneficial to both organisms involved.

Answer 8

Mutualism

Question 9

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

Answer 9

Commensalism

Question 10

the practice of living as a parasite on or with another animal or organism.

Answer 10

Parasitism

Question 11

interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.

Answer 11

Symbiosis

Question 12

an animal which feeds on dead organic material, especially plant detritus.

Answer 12

Detrivore

Question 13

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

Answer 13

Decomposer

Question 14

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

Answer 14

Chemosynthetic

Question 15

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

Answer 15

Food chain

Question 16

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

Answer 16

Food web

Question 17

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

Answer 17

Trophic level

Question 18

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

Answer 18

First-order

Question 19

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

Answer 19

Primary consumers

Question 20

organism that is within the third trophic level of a food chain (carnivores); also known as a secondary consumer.

Answer 20

Secondary-order

Question 21

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

Answer 21

Secondary consumers

Question 22

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

Answer 22

Energy pyramid

Question 23

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

Answer 23

Pyramid of numbers

Question 24

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

Answer 24

Pyramid of biomass

Question 25

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

Answer 25

Birth rate

Question 26

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

Answer 26

Death rate

Question 27

the number of individuals moving into an area.

Answer 27

Immigration

Question 28

the number of individuals leaving an area.

Answer 28

Emigration

Question 29

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

Answer 29

Exponential growth

Question 30

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

Answer 30

Sigmoid

Question 31

The term 'steady state' means a stable condition that does not change over time or in which change in one direction is continually balanced by change in another. The Steady State Theory of the origin of the universe is also referred to as the infinite universe theory or continuous creation.

Answer 31

Steady state

Question 32

a state in which conditions are balanced and there is neither growth nor a decrease in number.

Answer 32

Plateau phase

Question 33

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.

Answer 33

Equilibrium

Question 34

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

Answer 34

Zero population growth

Question 35

the maximum population size that a particular environment can sustain.

Answer 35

Carrying capacity

Question 36

organism at the base of the food chain that does not need to feed on other organisms; also known as an autotroph.

Answer 36

Producers

Question 37

organism at the base of the food chain that does not need to feed on other organisms.

Answer 37

Autotrophs

Question 38

the food-making process in plants that takes place in chloroplasts within cells. The process uses carbon dioxide, water and energy from the sun.

Answer 38

Photosynthesis

Question 39

an organic substance that is solid at room temperature and is made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Answer 39

Fat

Question 40

the chemical reactions occurring within an organism that enable the organism to use energy and grow and repair cells.

Answer 40

Metabolism

Question 41

the chemical reaction involving oxygen that moves the energy in glucose into the compound ATP. The body is able to use the energy contained in ATP.

Answer 41

Cellular respiration

Question 42

a form of energy released during cellular respiration that provides cells with the energy needed to perform their functions.

Answer 42

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

Question 43

the chemical breakdown of food using oxygen. The reaction needs enzymes, occurs in all body cells and releases energy.

Answer 43

Aerobic respiration

Question 44

process by which glucose is converted into a simple form, during which energy is released.

Answer 44

Glycolysis

Question 45

the fluid found inside cells.

Answer 45

Cytosol

Question 46

part of the aerobic respiration process in which carbon dioxide and ATP (energy) are produced.

Answer 46

Krebs cycle

Question 47

part of the aerobic respiration process.

Answer 47

Electron transport chain reactions

Question 48

small rod-shaped organelles that supply energy to other parts of the cell. They are usually too small to be seen with light microscopes. Singular = mitochondrion.

Answer 48

Mitochondria

Question 49

the chemical breakdown of food without oxygen. The reaction needs enzymes, occurs in cells and releases less energy than aerobic respiration.

Answer 49

Anaerobic respiration

Question 50

an end product of anaerobic respiration in animals; also known as lactate.

Answer 50

Lactic acid

Question 51

an end product of anaerobic respiration in animals.

Answer 51

Lactate

Question 52

an end product of anaerobic respiration in plants; a form of alcohol.

Answer 52

Ethanol

Question 53

organisms that can respire only anaerobically (in the absence of oxygen).

Answer 53

Obligate anaerobics

Question 54

a form of water pollution involving an excess of nutrients such as nitrates and phosphorus, resulting in algal blooms and possible death of fish and other organisms.

Answer 54

Eutrophication

Question 55

Transpiration is the process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts, such as leaves, stems and flowers.

Answer 55

Transpiration

Question 56

a chemical used to kill insects.

Answer 56

Insecticides

Question 57

a chemical used to kill fungal growth.

Answer 57

Fungicides

Question 58

a chemical used to kill unwanted plants (weeds).

Answer 58

Herbicides

Question 59

a chemical used in the form of smoke or fumes, to kill pests.

Answer 59

Fumigants

Question 60

magnification of concentrations of a substance such as a nonbiodegradable pesticide along the food chain; also known as biological magnification.

Answer 60

Bioaccumulation

Question 61

magnification of concentrations of a substance such as a nonbiodegradable pesticide along the food chain.

Answer 61

Biological magnification

Question 62

an organism that has been released into an ecosystem in which it does not occur naturally.

Answer 62

Introduced species

Question 63

central part of an atom, made up of protons and neutrons; roundish structure inside a cell that acts as the control centre for the cell. Plural = nuclei.

Answer 63

Nucleus

Question 64

positively charged particles found in the nucleus of an atom.

Answer 64

Protons

Question 65

particles with no electrical charge that are found in the nucleus of an atom.

Answer 65

Neutrons

Question 66

negatively charged, very light particles in an atom. Electrons move around the nucleus of the atom.

Answer 66

Electrons