Ecosystems

Question 0

Ecosystems

Answer 0

Ecosystems: community of living things that interact with each other and with the environment in which they live

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

Ecology: the study of the way in which organisms interact with other organisms and with their environment

Question 2

biotic factors

Answer 2

Biotic factors: describes the living things in an ecosystem

Question 3

abiotic factors

Answer 3

Abiotic factors: describes the non-living things in an ecosystem

Question 4

habitat

Answer 4

Habitat: the place in which a particular organism lives

Question 5

organism

Answer 5

Organism: living things

Question 6

species

Answer 6

Species: a group of animals with many features in common. Members of the same species can mate with each other to produce fertile young under natural conditions

Question 7

populations

Answer 7

Populations: all the individual organisms of one particular species in a given area at one time

Question 8

community

Answer 8

Community: all the populations of various organisms, both plant and animal, living in a given area at the same time

Question 9

ecosystem

Answer 9

Ecosystem: community of living things that interact with each other and with the environment in which they live

Question 10

producers

Answer 10

Producers: organisms, such as plants, that use photosynthesis to make their own food from the sun’s energy

Question 11

consumers

Answer 11

Consumers: organism that relies on other organisms for its food

Question 12

food chains

Answer 12

Food chains: diagram, beginning with a producer or producers, that shows what organisms eat

Question 13

food webs

Answer 13

Food webs: a number of food chains joined together

Question 14

photosynthesis

Answer 14

Photosynthesis: the food-making process in plants that takes place in chloroplasts within cells. The process uses carbon dioxide, water and energy from the sun

Question 15

chlorophyll

Answer 15

Chlorophyll: the green-coloured chemical in plants that absorbs the light energy used in photosynthesis to make food from carbon dioxide and water

Question 16

cellular respiration

Answer 16

Cellular respiration: the chemical reaction involving oxygen that moves the energy in glucose into the compound ATP. The body is able to use the energy contained in ATP

Question 17

autotrophs

Answer 17

Autotrophs: organism that can produce its own nutrients

Question 18

Consumers

Answer 18

Consumers: organism that relies on other organisms for its food

Question 19

heterotrophs

Answer 19

Heterotrophs: an organism that depends on another organism to supply its complex molecules and energy

Question 20

herbivores

Answer 20

Herbivores: animal that eats only plants

Question 21

carnivores

Answer 21

Carnivores: animal that eats other animals

Question 22

omnivores

Answer 22

Omnivores: animal that eats plants and other animals

Question 23

Detritivores

Answer 23

Detritivores: organisms that consume detritus; that is decomposing plant and/or animal parts or faeces

Question 24

decomposers

Answer 24

Decomposers: small organisms that break down dead and decaying matter

Question 25

ecological niche

Answer 25

Ecological niche: specific conditions to which an organism is able to live within

Question 26

niche

Answer 26

Niche: the conditions in which an organism lives

Question 27

habitat

Answer 27

Habitat: the place in which a particular organism lives

Question 28

nutrition

Answer 28

how it obtains its food

Question 29

relationships

Answer 29

interactions with other species within the ecosystem

Question 30

intraspecific competition

Answer 30

Intraspecific competition: members of one species compete for the same resources

Question 31

parasitism

Answer 31

Parasitism: a relationship between two organisms in which one benefits from the other without both benefiting

Question 32

mutualism

Answer 32

Mutualism: a relationship between two organisms in which both benefit

Question 33

commensalism

Answer 33

Commensalism: where one organism benefits without affecting the other

Question 34

host

Answer 34

Host: the organism on which a parasite feeds

Question 35

parasite

Answer 35

Parasite: organism that lives in or on another organism. The parasite benefits while usually harming the host organism

Question 36

first trophic level

Answer 36

First trophic level: the lowest level of a food web which contains the most amount of available energy

Question 37

second trophic level

Answer 37

Second trophic level: the second level of a food web above the most energy dense trophic level

Question 38

third trophic level

Answer 38

Third trophic level: the third level of a food web above the most energy dense trophic level

Question 39

fourth trophic level

Answer 39

Fourth trophic level: the forth level of a food web

Question 40

consumer

Answer 40

Consumer: organism that relies on other organisms for its food

Question 41

metabolism

Answer 41

Metabolism: the chemical reactions occurring within an organism that enable the organism to use energy and grow and repair cells

Question 42

Decomposers

Answer 42

Decomposers: small organisms that break down dead and decaying matter

Question 43

saprophytes

Answer 43

Saprophytes: organisms such as fungi which obtain nutrients from dead organic matter

Question 44

biodegradable

Answer 44

Biodegradable: describes a substance that breaks down or decomposes easily in the environment

Question 45

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Answer 45

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria: bacteria which take nitrogen containing compounds from the atmosphere and convert them into other compounds, which are able to be contained within soil

Question 46

Nitrifying bacteria

Answer 46

Nitrifying bacteria: bacteria that change dissolved ammonia into nitrite compounds, or nitrites into nitrate compounds

Question 47

denitrifying

Answer 47

Denitrifying bacteria: bacteria in the soil that chemically change useful nitrate compounds into poisonous nitrites and ammonia gas