Module 3

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

The study of the interactions between living and nonliving things

Question 2

Population

Answer 2

A group of interbreeding organisms coexisting together

Question 3

Community

Answer 3

A group of populations living and interacting in the same area

Question 4

Ecosystem

Answer 4

An association of living organisms and their physical environment

Question 5

Biome

Answer 5

A group of ecosystems classified by climate and plant life

Question 6

Biosphere

Answer 6

The sum of all of Earth’s ecosystems in land, water, or air

Question 7

Species

Answer 7

A unit of one or more populations of individuals that can reproduce under normal conditions, produce fertile offspring, and are reproductively isolated from other such units

Question 8

Biotic factors

Answer 8

Any living part of an environment

Question 9

Abiotic factors

Answer 9

The nonliving physical and chemical conditions affecting organisms

Question 10

Producers

Answer 10

Organisms that produce their own food

Question 11

Consumers

Answer 11

Organisms that eat living producers and/or other consumers for food

Question 12

Decomposers

Answer 12

Organisms that break down the dead remains of other organisms

Question 13

Primary consumer

Answer 13

An organism that eats producers

Question 14

Secondary consumer

Answer 14

An organism that eats primary consumers

Question 15

Tertiary consumer

Answer 15

An organism that eats secondary consumers

Question 16

Quaternary consumer

Answer 16

An organism that eats tertiary consumers

Question 17

Food chain

Answer 17

A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten

Question 18

Food web

Answer 18

Links all the food chains in an ecosystem together

Question 19

Biomass

Answer 19

A measure of the total amount of living tissue of organisms within a trophic level in an ecosystem

Question 20

Primary productivity

Answer 20

Rate at which producers in an ecosystem build biomass

Question 21

Energy movement through the tropic levels of an ecosystem

Answer 21

Energy is lost each time it moves up a trophic level in an ecosystem.

Question 22

Ecological pyramids

Answer 22

Pyramid-shaped diagrams that show the amount of energy or matter at each trophic level in an ecosystem

Question 23

Transpiration

Answer 23

Evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant

Question 24

Greenhouse effect

Answer 24

The process by which certain gases (principally water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) trap heat that would otherwise escape the Earth and radiate into space

Question 25

Symbiosis

Answer 25

A close relationship between two or more species where at least one benefits

Question 26

Habitat

Answer 26

The specific environment of an organism, both biotic and abiotic

Question 27

Niche

Answer 27

An organism’s role in its ecosystem, including its habitat, physical requirements (such as light, water, food sources), the time of day it is active, its place on the food chain, and when and how it reproduces

Question 28

Mutualism

Answer 28

A relationship between two or more organisms of different species where all benefit from the association

Question 29

Commensalism

Answer 29

A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited

Question 30

Parasitism

Answer 30

A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed

Question 31

Exponential growth

Answer 31

Population growth that is unhindered because of the abundance of resources for an ever-increasing population

Question 32

Logistic growth

Answer 32

Population growth that is controlled by limited resources or the presence of predators or both