Ecology

Question 1

ecology

Answer 1

the study of how living things interact with each other and their environment

Question 2

environment

Answer 2

every living and nonliving thing that surrounds an organism

Question 3

ecosystem

Answer 3

all the living and nonliving things that interact in a specific area; a subdivision of the environment

Question 4

biotic

Answer 4

living parts of the environment

Question 5

abiotic

Answer 5

nonliving parts of the environment

Question 6

habitat

Answer 6

place where a plant or animal lives

Question 7

population

Answer 7

all the individuals of a single species that live in a specific area

Question 8

community

Answer 8

combination of all the different populations that live and interact in the same environment

Question 9

biosphere

Answer 9

All of Earth’s ecosystems, collectively; the biologically inhabited portions of Earth, including all of the water, land, and air in which organisms survive

Question 10

competition

Answer 10

the struggle between organisms for the same limited resources in a particular area

Question 11

limiting factors

Answer 11

any factor in the environment that limits the size of a population

Question 12

predator

Answer 12

an animal that hunts and kills other animals for food

Question 13

prey

Answer 13

an animal that is hunted and killed by predators

Question 14

carrying capacity

Answer 14

the largest population of any single species that an area an support

Question 15

ecological niche

Answer 15

the specific role played by an organism or a population of organisms on the ecosystem

Question 16

food chain

Answer 16

a representation that identifies the specific relationships among organisms

Question 17

autotroph

Answer 17

an organism that produces its own food; the source of energy for all other living things on earth (starts with an A)

Question 18

producer

Answer 18

an organism that makes its own food from light energy and inorganic materials (starts with p)

Question 19

heterotroph

Answer 19

an organism that cannot make its own food; a consumer

Question 20

herbivore

Answer 20

an organism that eats only plants

Question 21

carnivore

Answer 21

an organism that survives by eating animals

Question 22

decomposer

Answer 22

an organism, generally a bacteria or fungus, that consumes dead organisms and organic waste

Question 23

scavenger

Answer 23

a carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms

Question 24

parasite

Answer 24

an organism that survives by living and feeding on other organisms

Question 25

host

Answer 25

the organism in a parasitic relationship that provides the home and/ or food for the parasite

Question 26

food webs

Answer 26

a representation of many interconnected food chains that shows the feeding relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers

Question 27

energy pyramid

Answer 27

a diagram showing how food energy moves through the ecosystem

Question 28

biodiversity

Answer 28

the variety of species in an area

Question 29

ecological succession

Answer 29

the process by which an existing community is replaced by another community

Question 30

consumer

Answer 30

an organism that obtains its energy from producers