Semester exam vocabulary

Question 1

Biomass

Answer 1

Renewable organic materials, such as wood, agricultural crops or wastes, and municipal wastes, especially when used as a source of fuel or energy

Question 2

Logistic model

Answer 2

A statistical model, in epidemiology, a model of risk as a function of exposure to a risk factor

Question 3

Pioneer species

Answer 3

Species which recolonize an area after there has been damage or disruption to the ecosystem. Usually hardy plants that need very little to survive

Question 4

Carrying capacity

Answer 4

Greatest number of individuals a given environment can sustain

Question 5

Secondary succession

Answer 5

A process started by an event example forest fire, that reduces an already established ecosystem to a smaller population of species, it occurs on pre-existing soil

The fire leaves behind empty but not destroyed soil

Question 6

Commensalism

Answer 6

One organism benefits and there is no effect on the other

Question 7

Mutualism

Answer 7

Both organisms benefit from the relationship

Question 8

Parasitism

Answer 8

One organism benefits and the other is harmed

Question 9

Producer

Answer 9

Any plant that manufactures food by photosynthesis

Green plants are producers

Question 10

Biotic factor

Answer 10

All the living things that directly or indirectly affect the ecosystem

Question 11

Abiotic factor

Answer 11

The nonliving parts of the environment such as rocks light or climate

Question 12

What’s the difference between abiotic and biotic factors

Answer 12

Abiotic factors are the nonliving parts of the ecosystem and biotic factors are the living

Question 13

Population

Answer 13

All the inhabitants of a particular town area or country

Question 14

Primary succession

Answer 14

The development of plant and animal life in an area without topsoil, the development of biotic communities in a previously uninhabited and barren habitat with little or no soil

Question 15

Population density

Answer 15

The number of people living per unit of an area example per square mile, the number of people relative to the space occupied by them

Question 16

Decomposer

Answer 16

Decomposers break down dead organisms and make their materials available to other living things such as bacteria and fungi

Question 17

Consumer

Answer 17

Consumers eat producers and/or other animals all animals are consumers

Question 18

Biosphere

Answer 18

The part of the earth’s crust, waters, and atmosphere that supports life

Question 19

Symbiosis

Answer 19

The living together of two dissimilar organisms, as in mutualism, commensalism, or parasitism

Question 20

Trophic level

Answer 20

Any class of organisms that occupy the same position in a food chain, as primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers

Question 21

Genetic diversity

Answer 21

The variety of genes within a species

Each species is made up of individuals that have their own particular genetic composition

Question 22

Food chain

Answer 22

A series of organisms interrelated in there feeding habits, the smallest being fed upon by a larger one, which in turn feeds a still larger one, etc.

Question 23

Limiting factors

Answer 23

An environmental factor that tends to limit population size

Question 24

Migration

Answer 24

Process of moving of organisms from one place to another

Question 25

Niche

Answer 25

The position or function of an organism in a community of plants and animals

Usually a feeding role

Question 26

Habitat

Answer 26

The natural environment of an organism, place that is natural for the life and growth of an organism

Question 27

Keystone species

Answer 27

Plant or animal that plays a unique and crucial role in the way an ecosystem functions

When a keystone species is removed from a habitat, the habitat is dramatically changed

Question 28

Ecology

Answer 28

The branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment, including other organisms

Question 29

Food web

Answer 29

Diagram showing which animals eat which other animals in a given ecological community

Question 30

Exponential model

Answer 30

Graphs, or verbal descriptions of related changing variables

Question 31

Invasive species

Answer 31

An organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native

Question 32

Ecosystem

Answer 32

A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment

Question 33

Community

Answer 33

An ecological unit composed of a group of organisms or population of different species occupying a particular area, usually interacting with each other and their environment

Question 34

Climax community

Answer 34

An ecological community in which populations of plants or animals remain stable and exist balance with each other and their environment

Question 35

Biodiversity

Answer 35

The existence of many different kinds of plants and animals in an environment