Chapter 6

Question 1

habitat

Answer 1

physical environment individuals of particular species found

Question 2

species

Answer 2

group of plants or animals have high degree of similarity and only interbreed among themselves

Question 3

biosphere

Answer 3

sum total of all Earth’s ecosystems

Question 4

ecosystem

Answer 4

all organisms in given area plus the physical environment in which they interact

Question 5

The role a species plays in its community, including how it gets its energy and nutrients, which habitat requirements it has, and what other species and parts of ecosystem it interacts with.

Answer 5

niche

Question 6

1-way passage of energy thru an ecosystem

Answer 6

energy flow

Question 7

movement of life’s essential chemicals or nutrients thru ecosystem (biogeochemical cycles)

Answer 7

nutrient cycles

Question 8

sum of all organic material - plant and animal matter - that make up ecosystem

Answer 8

biomass

Question 9

1 of many distinctive types of ecosystems determined by climate, identified by predominant vegetation and organisms that have adapted to live there.

Answer 9

biome

Question 10

critical resource - supply determines population size of given species in given biome.

Answer 10

limiting factor

Question 11

the range, within upper & lower limits, of a limiting factor that allows species to reproduce & survive.

Answer 11

range of tolerance

Question 12

living (organic) components of ecosystem: plants, animals, waste from…

Answer 12

biotic

Question 13

nonliving components of ecosystem: rainfall, mineral composition of soil.

Answer 13

abiotic

Question 14

abiotic & biotic component of environment serves as storage place for cycling nutrients

Answer 14

reservoir or sink

Question 15

organism that converts solar energy to chemical energy via photosynthesis

Answer 15

producer

Question 16

organism that obtains energy & nutrients by feeding on another organism

Answer 16

consumer

Question 17

process - all organisms break down sugar - release energy, using oxygen and giving off CO2 as waste

Answer 17

cellular respiration

Question 18

movement of carbon thru biotic & abiotic parts of ecosystem. via photosynthesis & cellular respiration, in & out of oceans and soils. Also released by human actions: fossil fuel burning

Answer 18

carbon cycle

Question 19

nitrogen cycle

Answer 19

continuous series natural processes - nitrogen passes from air to soil to organisms - returns back to air or soil thru decomposition or denitrification

Question 20

conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into biologically usable form, carried out by bacteria in soil or by lightening.

Answer 20

nitrogen fixation

Question 21

series of natural processes - nutrient phosphorus moves from rock to soil or water, to living organisms, back to soil.

Answer 21

phosphorus cycle