Ecology

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

the study of the interactions between living thins (organisms) and between organism and their environment

Question 2

Biosphere

Answer 2

that part of the planet containing living organisms

Question 3

Ecosystem

Answer 3

a group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their enviroment as a unit

Question 4

Habitat

Answer 4

one place where a plant or animal

Question 5

population

Answer 5

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

Question 6

community

Answer 6

are all the different populations in an area

Question 7

abiotic factors

Answer 7

non-living factors

Question 8

biotic factors

Answer 8

living factors

Question 9

climatic factors

Answer 9

refer to weather over a long period of time

Question 10

edaphic factors

Answer 10

relate to soil: factors such as the soil pH, soil type and the moisture, air and mineral content of soil

Question 11

Producers

Answer 11

organisms that carry out photosynthesis

Question 12

consumers

Answer 12

organisms that take in food from another organism

Question 13

grazing food chain

Answer 13

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

Question 14

trophic level

Answer 14

is a feeding stage in a food chain

Question 15

food web

Answer 15

consists of two or more interlinked food chains

Question 16

a pyramid of numbers

Answer 16

represents the number of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain

Question 17

ecological niche

Answer 17

of an organism is the functional role it plays in the community

Question 18

nutrient recycling

Answer 18

the way in which elements are exchanged between the living and non-living components of an ecosystem

Question 19

nitrogen fixation

Answer 19

the conversion of nitrogen gas into ammonia, ammonium or nitrate

Question 20

nitrification

Answer 20

the conversion of ammonia and ammonium compounds to nitrate and then to nitrate

Question 21

denitrification

Answer 21

the conversion of nitrates to nitrogen gas

Question 22

pollution

Answer 22

any harmful addition to the enviroment

Question 23

pollutants

Answer 23

substances that cause pollution

Question 24

conservation

Answer 24

the wise management of our existing natural resources, in order to maintain a wide range of habitats and prevent the death and extinction of organisms

Question 25

competition

Answer 25

occurs when organisms actively struggle for a resource that is in short supply

Question 26

intra-specific competition

Answer 26

takes place between members of the same species

Question 27

inter-specific competition

Answer 27

occurs between members of the same species

Question 28

contest competition

Answer 28

an active physical contest between two individual organisms

Question 29

scramble competition

Answer 29

all of the competing individuals get some of the resource

Question 30

predation

Answer 30

the catching, killing and eating of another organism

Question 31

predator

Answer 31

an organism that catches, kills and eats another organism

Question 32

prey

Answer 32

the organism that is eaten by the predator

Question 33

parasitism

Answer 33

occurs when two organisms of different species live in close association and one organism obtains its food from, and to the disadvantage of the second organism

Question 34

symbiosis

Answer 34

occurs when two organisms of different species live in close association and at least one of them benefits

Question 35

qualitative survey

Answer 35

records the presence or absence of something

Question 36

quantitative study

Answer 36

records the number of amounts that are present

Question 37

adaption

Answer 37

any alteration that improves an organisms chances of survival and reproduction

Question 38

Outline the main events of the carbon cycle