Ecology

Question 1

Niche

Answer 1

Functional role of an organism or population

Question 2

Dominant Species

Answer 2

Exerts control over the other species that are present

Question 3

Successive Communities

Answer 3

Composed of populations that are able to exist under new conditions

Question 4

Climax Community

Answer 4

The biotic part of an ecosystem in which populations exist in balance with each other and with the environment

Question 5

Self-Sustaining Ecosystem

Answer 5

Stable abiotic/biotic, constant energy source, materials are cycled

Question 6

Biomes

Answer 6

Ecosystems within a specific geographic region

Question 7

Colonization of Land

Answer 7

Lack of water, lack of food, varying temperatures, varying soil composition

Question 8

Climax Vegetation

Answer 8

Vegetation that becomes dominant and stable after years of evolutionary development

Question 9

Deserts

Answer 9

Fewer than 10 inches of rain annually, small plants/animals, conservation of water, maintaining constant body temperature (Sahara)

Question 10

Grassland

Answer 10

Low rainfall, no shelter, herbivorous mammals with long legs and hoofed (Prairies)

Question 11

Rainforest

Answer 11

Torrential rains, high to moderate temperatures, epiphytes, saprophytes (Amazon)

Question 12

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Answer 12

Cold winters, warm summers, moderate rainfall, leave shed (Northeastern US)

Question 13

Temperate Coniferous Forest

Answer 13

Cold, dry, pines, water conservation, needle-shaped leaves (Canada)

Question 14

Taiga

Answer 14

Low rainfall, long cold winters, coniferous, moss, lichens, extreme north (Russia)

Question 15

Tundra

Answer 15

Treeless, frozen plain, ice sheets, snow, permafrost, mosses (Arctic)

Question 16

Polar

Answer 16

Polar ice caps, little precipitation, considered deserts

Question 17

Intertidal Zone

Answer 17

Low tides, temperature variation, clams, snails, crabs

Question 18

Neritic Zone

Answer 18

The continental shelf, crustaceans, fish

Question 19

Pelagic Zone

Answer 19

Open sea

Question 20

Photic Zone

Answer 20

Sunlit layer of open sea, plankton

Question 21

Aphotic Zone

Answer 21

Receives no sunlight, no photosynthesis

Question 22

Effectors on Soil

Answer 22

Acidity, Texture, Minerals, Humus

Question 23

Commensalism

Answer 23

One organism benefits, while the other is not affected

Question 24

Mutualism

Answer 24

Both organisms derive some benefit

Question 25

Parasitism

Answer 25

Parasite benefits at the expense of the host

Question 26

Ectoparasites

Answer 26

Suckers/clamps

Question 27

Endoparasites

Answer 27

Live within the host

Question 28

Saprophytism

Answer 28

Protists and fungi that decompose

Question 29

Nitrification

Answer 29

Chemosynthetic bacteria make nitrates into usable material

Question 30

Denitrified

Answer 30

Ammonia is broken down to release free nitrogen, which returns to the beginning of the cycle

Question 31

Nitrogen Cycle

Answer 31

Decay, Nitrify, Denitrify, Nitrogen Fixing