Ecology

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

the study of organisms and their interactions with the environment.

Question 2

Biosphere

Answer 2

life supporting region of the Earth; all land, water, and air in which organisms live.

Question 3

Biotic factors

Answer 3

all of the living parts of an ecosystem.

Question 4

Organism

Answer 4

an individual member of a species within a population.

Question 5

Population

Answer 5

all of the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species.

Question 6

Community

Answer 6

all of the populations in an ecosystem.

Question 7

Ecosystem

Answer 7

all of the organisms living in an area and the nonliving features of their environment.

Question 8

Habitat

Answer 8

the place in which an organism lives.

Question 9

Niche

Answer 9

how an organism survives, how it obtains food and shelter, how it finds a mate and cares for its offspring, and how it avoids danger.

Question 10

carrying capacity

Answer 10

the largest number of individuals of one species that an ecosystem can support over time.

Question 11

limiting factors

Answer 11

anything that restricts the number of individuals in a population.

Question 12

Predator

Answer 12

consumers that capture and eat other consumers.

Question 13

Prey

Answer 13

the organism that is captured and consumed by the predator.

Question 14

Producers/Autotrophs

Answer 14

organisms such as plants and algae, which through the process of photosynthesis create energy-rich food.

Question 15

Consumers/Heterotrophs

Answer 15

an organism that cannot make its own food and feeds on other organisms.

Question 16

Herbivore

Answer 16

a consumer that only eats plants.

Question 17

Carnivore

Answer 17

a consumer that feeds only on other animals.

Question 18

Omnivore

Answer 18

a consumer that feeds on plants and animals.

Question 19

Scavengers

Answer 19

a consumer that eats organisms that have already died.

Question 20

Decomposers

Answer 20

a consumer that breaks down the complex compounds of dead and decaying plants and animals into simpler molecules that can be more easily absorbed.

Question 21

Food chain

Answer 21

a diagram that shows the flow of energy and matter between animals in a community.

Question 22

Food web

Answer 22

shows all the possible feeding relationships at each trophic level in a community.

Question 23

Trophic level

Answer 23

a feeding step in a food chain, or ecological energy pyramid.

Question 24

Ecological energy pyramid

Answer 24

hows how energy flows through an ecosystem.

Question 25

Symbiosis

Answer 25

a relationship of dependence or mutual benefit between organisms of the same ecosystem.

Question 26

Mutualism

Answer 26

a relationship where both organisms benefit.

Question 27

Commensalism-

Answer 27

a relationship where one organism benefits and the other organism is not affected.

Question 28

Parasitism

Answer 28

a relationship where one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed.

Question 29

Ecological Succession

Answer 29

Natural, gradual changes in the types of species that live in an area; can be primary or secondary

Question 30

Primary Succession

Answer 30

begins in an area where NO SOIL is present. The development of an ecosystem in an area that has never had a community living within it.

Question 31

Secondary Succession

Answer 31

the process of restabilization that follows a disturbance in an area where life has formed an ecosystem. SOIL IS ALREADY PRESENT.

Question 32

Climax Community

Answer 32

a mature, stable community that is the final stage of ecological succession. Conditions, biotic and abiotic factors, including resources, are suitable for an ecosystem to exist. (End result of succession.)