Science vocab

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

The study of living things to each other and their non-living environment

Question 2

Community

Answer 2

All the populations living and interacting in a given environment

Question 3

Population

Answer 3

Any group of individuals of the same species living in a given area at the same time

Question 4

Pioneer Organisms

Answer 4

The organisms that first populate a community

Question 5

Ecosystem

Answer 5

A self-sustaining dynamic community of organisms and their non-living environment.

It includes organisms, abiotic factors, and energy flow.

Question 6

Biome

Answer 6

A major ecological grouping of organisms on a broad geographical basis. Characterized by its climatic and soil conditions.
The predominant plants give the biome its name.
* There are six major land biomes:
o Tundra
o Taiga
o Temperate Deciduous Forest
o Tropical Rain Forest
o Grassland
o Desert

Question 7

Tundra

Answer 7

• Treeless region in the far north with permanently frozen subsoil (permafrost).
• Plants – moss, lichen, small plants
• Animals – polar bears, flies, birds

Question 8

Taiga

Answer 8

• Northernmost forests below the tundra.
• Plants – coniferous trees
• Animals – moose, wolves, rodents, birds, insects

Question 9

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Answer 9

• Contains trees that shed leaves during cold winter and grow them during warm summer.
• Plants – maple, oak, birch
• Animals – deer, fox, squirrel

Question 10

Tropical Rain Forest

Answer 10

• Region of high temperature and abundant rainfall located near the equator.
• Richest terrestrial biome in terms of numbers of plants and animal species, especially birds, insects, vines

Question 11

Grassland

Answer 11

• Less rainfall than deciduous forests and has few trees.
• Plants – Grasses and small leafy plants
• Animals – Grazing animals like bison

Question 12

Deserts

Answer 12

• Land biome with the least amount of precipitation (less than 25 cm/year) with extreme temperature differences between night and day.
• Plants – cactus, water-conserving plants
• Animals - snakes, rodents

Question 13

Biosphere

Answer 13

• The part of the earth (soil, water, air) that contains living organisms.

Question 14

Element cycle

Answer 14

• Elements which are cycled between organisms and their environment.
• Examples: Nitrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, Phosphorus

Question 15

Producer (autotroph)

Answer 15

• An organism that can produce its own food from inorganic substances.
• Example: plants, algae

Question 16

Consumer (heterotroph)

Answer 16

• An organism that feeds on other organisms or their products.

Question 17

Herbivore

Answer 17

• Plant-eating animal.
• Examples: horse, cow

Question 18

Carnivore

Answer 18

• Meat eating animal
• Examples: Lion, Vulture

Question 19

Omnivore

Answer 19

• Animal that eats both plants and animals.
• Examples: Human, Bear

Question 20

Predator

Answer 20

A carnivore that kills animals to eat

Question 21

Prey

Answer 21

An organism eaten by another organism

Question 22

Scavenger

Answer 22

A carnivore that eats dead organisms that they did not kill.

Question 23

Decomposer

Answer 23

• Organism that breaks down dead organic material to obtain energy and raw materials for life.
• Examples: saprophytic bacteria, fungi

Question 24

Saprophyte

Answer 24

An organism that obtains its energy through nutrition from once-living organic matter.
ex- mold, mildew, mushroom, yeast

Question 25

Symbiosis

Answer 25

• The living together (more or less permanently) of 2 or more dissimilar organisms in which one or both organisms may benefit.

Question 26

Parasitism

Answer 26

• A symbiosis in which one organism benefits but the other is harmed.
• Example: tapeworm – human, flea-cat

Question 27

Communalism

Answer 27

• A symbiosis in which one organism benefits while the other is unaffected.
• Example: whale-barnacle

Question 28

Food Chain

Answer 28

• The series of organisms through which food energy is passed, beginning with producers.
• The major classes of organisms in the food chain include:
  o Producers (Plants & Protista)
  o Primary Consumers (Herbivores)
  o Secondary Consumers (Carnivores)
  o Decomposers (Bacteria)

Question 29

Food Web

Answer 29

• Overlapping and interconnecting food chains where many organisms eat or are eaten by several other organisms.

Question 30

Biomass Pyramid

Answer 30

• Exemplifies the energy loss at each trophic level.
• The total amount of organic matter (biomass) has a pyramid structure because the total mass of consumers is less than the total mass of producers.

Question 31

Trophic Level

Answer 31

• A stage in the movement of energy and nutrients through an ecosystem – autotrophs, primary consumers, etc.

Question 32

Niche

Answer 32

• The combination of an organism’s habitat and its role in its environment.

Question 33

Ecological Succession

Answer 33

• Process by which one community is gradually replaced by another in a progression to a climax community

Question 34

Climax community

Answer 34

• The final stage of ecological succession.
• It is stable and self-perpetuating and persists unless changed or destroyed by environmental change.
• Example old-growth forest

Question 35

Limiting Factor

Answer 35

• An environmental condition that prevents a population from growing to its potential.
• Example: food, space, water, sunlight

Question 36

Photic Zone

Answer 36

• The narrow top layer of the ocean where light penetrates so photosynthesis can occur.

Question 37

Aphotic Zone

Answer 37

• The part of the ocean beneath the photic zone, where light does not penetrate enough for photosynthesis to occur.