Ecology

Question 1

Biotic

Answer 1

relating to or resulting from living things, especially in their ecological relations

Question 2

Abiotic

Answer 2

physical rather than biological; not derived from living organisms

Question 3

Population

Answer 3

a group of individuals of the same species living and interbreeding within a given area

Question 4

Community

Answer 4

a group of species that are commonly found together

Question 5

Ecosystem

Answer 5

a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment

Question 6

Biosphere

Answer 6

the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth occupied by living organisms

Question 7

Herbivore

Answer 7

an animal that feeds on plants

Question 8

Carnivore

Answer 8

an animal that feeds on flesh

Question 9

Omnivore

Answer 9

an animal or person that eats food of both plant and animal origin

Question 10

Food chain

Answer 10

a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food

Question 11

Food web

Answer 11

a system of interlocking and interdependent food chains

Question 12

Energy pyramid

Answer 12

a graphical representation of the energy found within the trophic levels of an ecosystem

Question 13

Carrying capacity

Answer 13

the number or quantity of people or things that can be conveyed or held by a vehicle or container

Question 14

Prey

Answer 14

an animal that is hunted and killed by another for food

Question 15

Predator

Answer 15

an animal that naturally preys on others

Question 16

Mutualism

Answer 16

the doctrine that mutual dependence is necessary to social well-being

Question 17

Commensalism

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Parasitism

Answer 18

the practice of living as a parasite in or on another organism

Question 19

Producers

Answer 19

a person, company, or country that makes, grows, or supplies goods or commodities for sale

Question 20

Decomposers

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Desert

Answer 21

any large, extremely dry area of land with sparse vegetation

Question 22

Tundra

Answer 22

a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen

Question 23

Temperate deciduous forest

Answer 23

a biome that has many deciduous trees which drop their leaves in the fall

Question 24

Tropical rainforest

Answer 24

a tropical woodland with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches and marked by lofty broad-leaved evergreen trees forming a continuous canopy

Question 25

Coniferous forest

Answer 25

contains evergreen trees that bear cones

Question 26

Savanna

Answer 26

a grassy plain in tropical and subtropical regions, with few trees

Question 27

Temperate grassland

Answer 27

area in which the vegetation is dominated by a nearly continuous cover of grasses