Chapter 16 Vocabulary

Question 1

Consumer**

Answer 1

Type of organism that obtains food by eating or absorbing other organisms.

Question 2

Heribove*

Answer 2

Heterotroph that eats only or mainly plants.

Question 3

Carnivore*

Answer 3

Heterotrophs that eats only or mainly animals.

Question 4

Omnivore*

Answer 4

Heterotroph that eats a variety of foods, including both plants and animals.

Question 5

Decomposer**

Answer 5

Type of organisms that obtains food by breaking down the remains of dead organims or other organic wastes.

Question 6

Detritivore

Answer 6

Type of decomposed that obtains energy and matter by breaking down dead leaves and other organic debris that collects on the ground or at the bottom of a body of water.

Question 7

Food Chain**

Answer 7

Diagram that represents a single pathway by which energy flows through an ecosystem.

Question 8

Food Web**

Answer 8

Diagram that represents several intersection pathways by which energy flows through an ecosystem.

Question 9

Photoautotroph

Answer 9

type of producer that uses light energy to produce organic compounds by the process of photosynthesis.

Question 10

Producer**

Answer 10

Type of organism that uses light or chemical energy to produce organic compounds for itself and other living things.

Question 11

Saprotroph

Answer 11

Type of decomposer that feeds on any remaining organic matter that is left after other de composers do their work.

Question 12

Scavenger

Answer 12

Type of decomposer that consumes the soft tissues of dead animals.

Question 13

Tropic Level*

Answer 13

Feeding position in a food chain or food level.

Question 14

Biogeochemical Cycle*

Answer 14

Cycle in which a chemical element or water is passed back and forth through biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems.

Question 15

Carbon Cycle**

Answer 15

A biogeochemical cycle where carbon is passed back and forth between sedimentary rocks, fossil fuels, the atmosphere, the ocean, and organisms.

Question 16

Condensation*

Answer 16

A process where gas changes from the gaseous to liquid state (Ex: water vapor).

Question 17

Evaporation*

Answer 17

A process where a liquid changes from a liquid to a gaseous state (Ex: water)

Question 18

Groundwater

Answer 18

Water that soaks into the ground and is stored in the underground rocks.

Question 19

Nitrogen cycle**

Answer 19

A biogeochemical cycle where nitrogen passes back and forth between the atmosphere and organims (Ex: specialized bacteria in soil).

Question 20

Precipitation*

Answer 20

A process where moisture so falls from the clouds to the ground (Ex: rain, snow, sleet, hail, freezing rain).

Question 21

Runoff

Answer 21

Water that flows over the land from precipitation or melting snow or ice.

Question 22

Sublimation

Answer 22

A process where snow or ice changes directly to water vapor without changing into a liquid first.

Question 23

Water Cycle*

Answer 23

Biogeochemical cycle where water passes back and forth between the ocean, ground, atmosphere, and organisms.

Question 24

Climax Community

Answer 24

The final, stable community resulting from ecological succession, is theoretically possible though unlikely in most real-world ecosystems.

Question 25

Ecological Succession**

Answer 25

Change in the numbers and types of species in an ecosystem over time.

Question 26

Pioneer Species*

Answer 26

The first species that colonize an ecoysteme’s after it has been disturbed.

Question 27

Primary Succession*

Answer 27

Type of ecological succession that occurs in an area that has never been colonized by living things and lacks soil.

Question 28

Secondary Succession*

Answer 28

Type of ecological succession that occurs in a formerly inhabited area that was disturbed but already has soil.