Ecology Quiz Review #1 Flashcards
Consumers
An organism which does not make its own food but must get its energy from eating a plant or animal.
Decomposers
Organisms that break down dead plants or animals into the substances that plants need for growth.
Producers
An organism which produces its own food through photosynthesis.
Primary consumers
They eat primary producers—plants or algae—and nothing else.
Secondary consumers
Secondary consumers are largely carnivores that feed on the primary consumers or herbivores
Tertiary consumers
Tertiary consumers are those that eat the secondary consumers (large predators).
Top predator
An animal at the top of the food chain and has no natural predators.
Biotic factors
Living organisms within an ecosystem.
→ Tiny to gigantic organisms
Abiotic factors
The non-living chemical and physical components of an ecosystem.
→ Sunlight, temperature, water, soil
Trophic levels
The position of a species in a food chain.
Energy pyramids
Graphical representation of the energy found within the trophic levels of an ecosystem.
Food chain
Highlights feeding relationships among organisms.
Food web
The combination of several food chains to highlight the feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
Evaporation
The sun’s rays evaporate large amounts of water on earth and turn into water vapour.
Condensation
The water vapour rises in the atmosphere where it cools and condenses changing gas vapour to liquid.
Precipitation
Condensed droplets of water form from the clouds and fall to the LITHOSPHERE (in the form of RAIN, SNOW, etc).
Transpiration
Water that is absorbed by plants is turned into water vapour to be used for photosynthesis.
Cellular respiration
A series of chemical reactions that break down glucose to produce ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate).
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy.
Biosphere
Locational zone where life is able to exist within the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere.
Atmosphere
The layer of gases that surround the earth.
Made up of:
78% Nitrogen gas
21% Oxygen gas
<1% other gases, water vapour, and carbon dioxide
Lithosphere
Rocky outer shell of earth.
→ mountains, ocean floors, solid landscape
Hydrosphere
ALL the water on/above/below the surface of the earth.
→ Oceans, lakes, ice, groundwater and clouds
Biodiversity
The different living things in an ecosystem.
Limiting factors of sustainability
Some examples of limiting factors are biotic, like food, mates, and competition with other organisms for resources. Others are abiotic, like space, temperature, altitude, and amount of sunlight available in an environment.
Nitrogen fixing
A chemical process that converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia (which is absorbed by plants).
What is the difference between species diversity and genetic diversity?
Species diversity is all the differences within the population of a species. Genetic diversity is all the different genes contained in all individual plants, animals, etc.
What is the order of the water cycle?
Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, surface runoff.
How do plants produce carbon? Name the two processes.
Photosynthesis removes CO2 from the atmosphere and replaces it with O2. Respiration takes O2 from the atmosphere and replaces it with CO2.
Name 2 ways that humans increase the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.
Burning fossil fuels
Using limestone to create concrete
Deforestation
How are photosynthesis and respiration complementary?
They are complementary because they interact with each other and each reaction produces what the other one needs and uses.
→ CO2 & Water are needed for photosynthesis.
→ Glucose & Oxygen are used to create energy during cellular respiration.
