Ecosystems

Question 1

What is the biosphere?

Answer 1

The zone in, on, and around earth where life can exist.

Question 2

What are the three components of the biosphere and what are they each made up of?

Answer 2

Atmosphere: made up of water vapour, oxygen and carbon dioxide

Lithosphere: includes mountains, ocean floors and the rest of earth’s solid landscape

Hydrosphere: includes oceans, lakes, ice, clouds and groundwater

Question 3

What are the two parts of ecosystems?

Answer 3

Biotic and abiotic factors.

Question 4

Describe biotic factors.

Answer 4

Living things, their remains and things associated with their activities.

Question 5

Describe abiotic factors.

Answer 5

Non-living characteristics in an environment.

Question 6

Define an ecological niche.

Answer 6

The function a species serves in its ecosystem; this includes where it lives, what it eats and how it behaves. (No two species have ecological niche)

Question 7

Define a herbivore.

Answer 7

A consumer that eats only plants or other producers.

Question 8

Define a carnivore.

Answer 8

A consumer that eats only other consumers.

Question 9

Define an omnivore.

Answer 9

Consumer that eats both producers and consumers.

Question 10

Define a scavenger/decomposer.

Answer 10

Consumer that feeds on the remains of other dead or decaying organisms.

Question 11

Define a food chain.

Answer 11

Shows a feeding relationship among species in an ecosystem.

Question 12

What is a tropic level?

Answer 12

The level of an organism in an ecosystem depending on its feeding position along a food chain.

Question 13

What type of organism is in the first trophic level?

Answer 13

Producer (autotroph), ex. grass, plants, algae

Question 14

What type of organism is in the second trophic level?

Answer 14

Primary consumer (Heterotroph) ex. mice, deer, caterpillars

Question 15

What type of organism is in the third trophic level?

Answer 15

Secondary consumer (heterotroph), ex. weasel, snake, spider

Question 16

What type of organism is in the fourth trophic level?

Answer 16

Tertiary consumer (heterotroph), ex. fox, owl, killer whale

Question 17

Define trophic efficiency.

Answer 17

A measure of the amount of energy or biomass transferred from one trophic level to the next.

Question 18

define a food web.

Answer 18

A representation of feeding relationships within a community. A food web is made up of a series of interconnecting food chains.

Question 19

What’s the difference between a producer and a consumer?

Answer 19

A producer can make its own food, a consumer gets its energy from other organisms.

Question 20

Word equation for photosynthesis?

Answer 20

carbon dioxide + water –light energy-> glucose + oxygen

Question 21

Chemical equation for photosynthesis?

Answer 21

CO2 + H2O —light energy-> C6H12O6 + O2

Question 22

Word equation for cellular respiration?

Answer 22

glucose + oxygen —-> carbon dioxide + water

Question 23

chemical equation for cellular respiration?

Answer 23

C6H12O6 + O2 —-> CO2 + H2O + energy

Question 24

what are the products of photosynthesis?

Answer 24

glucose and oxygen

Question 25

products of cellular respiration:

Answer 25

carbon dioxide, water

Question 26

reactants of photosynthesis:

Answer 26

carbon dioxide, water

Question 27

reactants of cellular respiration:

Answer 27

glucose and oxygen

Question 28

Why are photosynthesis and cellular respiration considered complimentary processes?

Answer 28

They are considered complimentary processes because they both consume and create the same substances but in different ways.

Question 29

What is the difference between a habitat and an ecological niche?

Answer 29

A habitat is simply the environment where an organism lives, while an ecological niche is the function a species serves in its ecosystem. Two species cannot have the same ecological niche, though two species can share a habitat.

Question 30

What’s the difference between a food chain and a food web?

Answer 30

A food chain shows feeding relationships among species in an ecosystem, while a food web shows
the feeding relationships in a community, and are made up of multiple interconnecting chains. Food webs do a better job of representing feeding relationships because it’s a larger and more complex system.

Question 31

What is a trophic level?

Answer 31

The level of an organism in an ecosystem depending on its feeding position along a food chain.

Question 32

Why is energy transfer up the food chain considered inefficient?

Answer 32

Energy transfer up the food chain is considered inefficient because:
- herbivores do not eat all parts of a plant (eg. roots)
- some things are not digested (eg. fur)
- at every energy level, energy is lost as heat from the bodies of organisms

Question 33

What is a limiting factor?

Answer 33

A factor that limits the growth, distribution, or amount of population in an ecosystem.

Question 34

Give an example of a biotic limiting factor.

Answer 34

Relationships among organisms in an ecosystem.

Question 35

Give an example of an abiotic limiting factor.

Answer 35

Cactus plant.

Question 36

Define carrying capacity.

Answer 36

The maximum population size of a species that a given ecosystem can sustain.

Question 37

What does equilibrium mean in terms of population growth?

Answer 37

Equilibrium refers to the balance when a population is maintained at its carrying capacity.

Question 38

List 3 threats to biodiversity.

Answer 38

• Species extinction, which can affect the food chain
• Natural catastrophes wiping out wildlife
• Human activity causing climate change

Question 39

Define a sustainable ecosystem.

Answer 39

A sustainable ecosystem is capable of withstanding a pressure and giving support to a variety of organisms.

Question 40

What is an ecological footprint?

Answer 40

An ecological footprint is a person’s negative impact on the environment.

Question 41

how can you reduce your ecological footprint?

Answer 41

• taking shorter showers
• recycling/composting
• eating leftovers before making new food
• using your phone less
• turning off the light when leaving a room

Question 42

Define bottom-up regulation.

Answer 42

a shortage in resources at the bottom of the food chain causes a decline in the organisms in higher trophic levels.

Question 43

Define top-down regulation.

Answer 43

an increase in the population of organisms at the top of the food chain causes a decline in the organisms in lower trophic levels.

Question 44

Define competition.

Answer 44

two or more organisms compete for the same resource.

Question 45

Define symbiosis.

Answer 45

the interaction between members of two different species that live together in close association.

Question 46

Define mutualism.

Answer 46

relationship between two species in which both species benefit.

Question 47

Define parasitism.

Answer 47

one individual lives on or in a host organism and feeds on it.

Question 48

Define a predator.

Answer 48

An organism that consumes another for food.

Question 49

Define prey.

Answer 49

An organism that is consumed by another for food.

Question 50

Define a herbivore.

Answer 50

Consumer that only eats plants or other producers.

Question 51

Define omnivore.

Answer 51

Consumer that eats both producers and other consumers.

Question 52

Define carnivore.

Answer 52

Consumer that only eats other consumers.

Question 53

Define décomposer.

Answer 53

Consumer that feeds on the remains of dead or decaying organisms.

Question 54

What are the three types of relationships within a community?

Answer 54

Predator-prey relationship, competition, symbiosis.

Question 55

Define biodiversity.

Answer 55

the number of different species living in a given area or ecosystem.

Question 56

Define biodiversity hotspot.

Answer 56

An area, usually undisturbed, of very high biodiversity. They can be found in ecosystems near the equator.