Chapter 4

Question 1

Organism

Answer 1

Any form of life.

Question 2

Eukaryotic

Answer 2

Cell containing a nucleus, a region of genetic material surrounded by a membrane. Membranes also enclose several of the other internal parts found in a eukaryotic cell.

Question 3

Prokaryotic

Answer 3

Cell that does not have a distinct nucleus. Other internal parts are not eclipsed by membranes.

Question 4

Species

Answer 4

Group of organisms that resemble one another in appearance, behavior, chemical makeup and processes, and genetic structure. Organisms that reproduce sexually are classified as members of the same species only if they can actually or potentially interbreed with one another and produce fertile offspring.

Question 5

Population

Answer 5

group of individual organisms of the same species living in a particular area.

Question 6

Genetic diversity

Answer 6

Variability in the genetic makeup among individuals within a single species.

Question 7

Habitat

Answer 7

Place or type of place where an organism or population of organisms lives.

Question 8

Distribution/range

Answer 8

Area over which we can find a species

Question 9

Community/biological community

Answer 9

Populations of all species living and interacting in an area at a particular time.

Question 10

Ecosystem

Answer 10

Community of different species interacting with one another and with the chemical and physical factors making up its nonliving environment.

Question 11

Biosphere

Answer 11

Zone of earth where life is found. It consist of parts of the atmosphere (the troposphere), hydrosphere (mostly surface water and groundwater), and the lithosphere (mostly soil and surface rocks and sediments on the bottoms of oceans and other bodies of water) where life is found.

Question 12

Atmosphere

Answer 12

The whole mass of air surrounding the earth.

Question 13

Troposphere

Answer 13

Innermost layer of the atmosphere. It contains about 75% of the mass of the earth’s air and extends about 17 kilometers (11 miles) above sea level.

Question 14

Stratosphere

Answer 14

Second layer of the atmosphere, extending about 17-48 kilometers (11-30 miles) above the earth’s surface. It contains small amounts of gaseous ozone (O3) which filters out about 95% of the incoming harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted by the sun.

Question 15

Hydrosphere

Answer 15

The earth’s liquid water (oceans, lakes, other bodies of surface water, and underground water), frozen water (polar ice caps, floating ice caps, and ice in soil, known as permafrost), and water vapor in the atmosphere.

Question 16

Lithosphere

Answer 16

Outer shell of the earth, composed of the crust and the rigid, outermost part of the mantle outside the asthenosphere; material found in earth’s plates.

Question 17

Biome

Answer 17

Terrestrial regions inhabited by certain types of life, especially vegetation. Examples are various types of deserts, grasslands, and forests.

Question 18

Anaerobic respiration/fermentation

Answer 18

Form of cellular respiration in which some decomposers get the energy that they need through the breakdown of glucose (or other nutrients) in the absence of oxygen.

Question 19

Species diversity

Answer 19

Number of different species (spices richness) and their relative abundances (species evenness) in a given area or community.

Question 20

ecological diversity

Answer 20

The variety of forests, deserts, grasslands, oceans, streams, lakes, and other biological communities interacting with one another and with their nonliving environment.

Question 21

functional diversity

Answer 21

Biological and chemical processes or functions such as energy flow and matter cycling needed for the survival of species and biological communities.

Question 22

food web

Answer 22

Complex network of many interconnected food chains and feeding relationships.

Question 23

biomass

Answer 23

Organic matter produced by plants and other photosynthetic producers; total dry weight of all living organisms that can be supported at each trophic level in a food chain or web; dry weight of all organic matter in plants and animals in a an ecosystem; plant materials and animal wastes used as fuel.

Question 24

Gross primary productivity (GPP)

Answer 24

The rate at which an ecosystem’s producers capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time.

Question 25

Net primary productivity (NPP)

Answer 25

Rate at which all the plants in an ecosystem produce net useful chemical energy; equal to the difference between the rate at which the plants in an ecosystem produce useful chemical energy (gross primary productivity) and the rate at which they use some of that energy through cellular respiration.

Question 26

Soil horizon

Answer 26

Horizontal zones that make up a particular mature soil. Each horizon has a distinct texture and composition that vary with different types of soils.

Question 27

Soil profile

Answer 27

Cors-sectional view of the horizons in soil.

Question 28

Infiltration

Answer 28

Downward movement of water through soil.

Question 29

Leaching

Answer 29

Process in which various chemicals in upper ;ayers of soil are dissolved and carried to lower layers and, in some cases, to groundwater.

Question 30

Evaporation

Answer 30

Conversion of a liquid into a gas.

Question 31

Transpiration

Answer 31

Process in which water is absorbed by the root systems of plants, moves up through the plants, passes through pores (stomata) in their leaves or other parts, and evaporates into the atmosphere as water vapor.

Question 32

Condensation

Answer 32

Conversion of water vapor into droplets of liquid water.

Question 33

Precipitation

Answer 33

Water in the form of rain, sleet, hail, and snow that falls from the atmosphere onto the land and bodies of water.

Question 34

percolation

Answer 34

Passage of a liquid through the spaces of a porous material such as soil.

Question 35

runoff

Answer 35

Freshwater from precipitation and melting ice that flows on the earth’s surface into nearby streams, wetlands, and reservoirs.

Question 36

condensation nuclei

Answer 36

Tiny particles on which droplets of water vapor can collect.

Question 37

glaciers

Answer 37

fresh water returned to earth’s surface as precipitation becomes locked up in slowly moving flowing ice and snow.

Question 38

surface runoff

Answer 38

Water flowing off the land into bodies of water.

Question 39

aerobic respiration

Answer 39

Complex process that occurs in the cells of most living organisms, in which nutrient organic molecules such as glucose (C6H12O6) combine with oxygen (O2) and produce carbon dixoide (CO2), water (H2O), and energy.

Question 40

fossil fuels

Answer 40

Products of parietal or complete decomposition of plants and animals that occur as crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils as a result of exposure to heat and pressure in the earth’s crust over millions of years.

Question 41

nitrogen fixation

Answer 41

Conversion of atmospheric nitrogen gas into forms useful to plants by lightning, bacteria, and cyanobacteria; it is part of the nitrogen cycle.

Question 42

nitrification

Answer 42

specialized aerobic bacteria convert most of ammonia in the soil to nitrite ions (NO2-), and nitrate ions (NO3-).

Question 43

nitrite ions

Answer 43

(NO2-), which are toxic to plants.

Question 44

ammonification

Answer 44

vast armies of specialized decomposer bacteria convert this detritus into simpler nitrogen-containing inorganic compounds such as ammonia and water-soluble salts containing ammonium ions.

Question 45

denitrification

Answer 45

Nitrogen leaves the soil, other specialized anaerobic bacteria in water-logged soil and in the bottom sediments of lakes, oceans, swamps, and bogs convert NH3 and NH4+ back into nitrite and nitrate ions and then into nitrogen gas (N2) and nitrous oxide gas (N2O).

Question 46

nitrate ions

Answer 46

(NO3-) Which are easily taken up by plants.