Ecology

Question 1

Define ecology.

Answer 1

Ecology is the study of the interactions between living things (organisms) and between organisms and their environment

Question 2

What is the biosphere?

Answer 2

The biosphere is the part of the planet containing living organisms

Question 3

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 3

An ecosystem is a group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their environment as a unit

Question 4

What is a habitat?

Answer 4

A habitat is the place where a plant or animal lives

Question 5

What is a population?

Answer 5

A population is all the members of the same species living in an area

Question 6

What is a community?

Answer 6

A community is all the different populations in an area

Question 7

What are abiotic factors?

Answer 7

Abiotic factors are non-living factors

Question 8

What are biotic factors?

Answer 8

Biotic factors are living factors

Question 9

What are climatic factors?

Answer 9

Climatic factors refer to weather over a long period of time

Question 10

What are edaphic factors?

Answer 10

Edaphic factors relate to soil

Question 11

What are producers?

Answer 11

Producers are organisms that carry out-photosynthesis

Question 12

What are flora?

Answer 12

Flora is all the plants in an ecosystem

Question 13

What are consumers?

Answer 13

Consumers are organisms that take in food from another organism

Question 14

What are fauna?

Answer 14

Fauna is all the animals in an ecosystem

Question 15

What are decomposers?

Answer 15

Decomposers are organisms that feed on dead organic matter

Question 16

What are detritus feeders?

Answer 16

Detritus feeders are organisms that feed on small pieces of dead organic matter

Question 17

What is a food chain?

Answer 17

A grazing food chain is a sequence of organisms in which each one is eaten by the next member in the chain

Question 18

What is a trophic level?

Answer 18

A trophic level is a feeding stage in a food chain

Question 19

What is a food web?

Answer 19

A food web consists of two or more interlinked food chain

Question 20

What is a pyramid of numbers?

Answer 20

A pyramid of numbers represents the number of organisms at each trophic level (or stage) in a food chain

Question 21

What is a niche?

Answer 21

The ecological niche of an organism is the functional role it plays in the community

Question 22

What is a nutrient recycling?

Answer 22

Nutrient recycling is the way in which elements (such as carbon and nitrogen) are exchanged between the living and non-living components of an ecosystem

Question 23

What is nitrogen fixation?

Answer 23

Nitrogen fixation is the conversion of nitrogen gas into ammonia (NH3), ammonium (NH4+) or nitrate (NO3-)

Question 24

What is nitrification?

Answer 24

Nitrification is the conversion of ammonia and ammonium (NH4+) compounds to nitrite and then to nitrate

Question 25

What is denitrification?

Answer 25

Denitrification is the conversion of nitrates to nitrogen gas

Question 26

What is pollution?

Answer 26

Pollution is any harmful addition to the environments

Question 27

What is pollutants?

Answer 27

Pollutants are harmful additions to the environment

Question 28

What is conservation?

Answer 28

Conservation is the wise management of the existing natural resources in an ecosystem, in order to maintain a wide range of habitats and prevent the death and extinction of organism