Unit 1

Question 1

10% Rule

Answer 1

Only 10% of the total energy produced at each trophic level is available to the next level. The amount of energy passed up to the levels of the food pyramid reduces as you go up.

Question 2

Abiotic

Answer 2

Nonliving

Question 3

Ammonia

Answer 3

NH3 - Nitrogen combines with Hydrogen

Question 4

Biogeochemical Cycle

Answer 4

The elements and compounds that make up nutrients move continually through air, water, soil, rock, and living organisms in ecosystems and in the biosphere in these cycles

Question 5

Biome

Answer 5

a geographic region that is characterized primarily by precipitation and temperature

Question 6

Biotic

Answer 6

Living / once living

Question 7

Cellular Respiration

Answer 7

The process by which cells convert glucose and oxygen into energy, carbon dioxide, and water

Question 8

Commensalism

Answer 8

+ / o : one organism benefits, the other is unaffected

Question 9

Community

Answer 9

Many individuals of different species

Question 10

Competition

Answer 10

Two or more individual organisms of a single species (intraspecific competition) or two or more individuals of different species (interspecific competition) attempting to use the same scarce resources in the same ecosystem

Question 11

Decomposition

Answer 11

Organic material breaks down which returns organic carbon to the soil

Question 12

Ecology

Answer 12

The study of connections in nature between biotic and abiotic components

Question 13

Ecosystem

Answer 13

Both the biotic and abiotic components in a habitat

Question 14

Food Chain

Answer 14

The order of events in an ecosystem, where one living organism eats another organism, and later that organism is consumed by another larger organism

Question 15

Food Web

Answer 15

Consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem

Question 16

GPP

Answer 16

Gross Primary Product: The total amount of solar energy that producers in an ecosystem capture via photosynthesis over a given amount of time

Question 17

Groundwater

Answer 17

Water held underground in the soil or in pores and crevices in rock

Question 18

Hydrologic Cycle

Answer 18

The cycle through which water in the hydrosphere moves; includes such processes as evaporation, precipitation, and surface and groundwater runoff

Question 19

Laws of Thermodynamics

Answer 19

1. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can be changed from one form to another.
2. Increase of Entropy. Energy always decreases. When energy changes form, it is always degraded to a more dispersed form. Energy efficiency: how much useful work is accomplished before it changes to its next form.

Question 20

Mutualism

Answer 20

+ / + : both organisms benefit

Question 21

Nitrogen Fixation

Answer 21

Process of converting nitrogen gas (N2) in the atmosphere into nitrogen compounds that plants can absorb and use

Question 22

NPP

Answer 22

Net Primary Productivity: the energy captured by producers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire

Question 23

Nutrient

Answer 23

A substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life

Question 24

Parasitism

Answer 24

+ / - : one organism benefits, the other is harmed

Question 25

Photosynthesis

Answer 25

Process by which plants use the sun’s energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars and oxygen

Question 26

Population

Answer 26

Many individuals of the same species

Question 27

Primary Productivity

Answer 27

Rate at which organic matter is created by producers in an ecosystem

Question 28

Producer

Answer 28

Organisms that can produce their own energy through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis

Question 29

Reservoir

Answer 29

A large store of (ex: water, carbon, phosphorus, etc)

Question 30

Resource Partitioning

Answer 30

Species avoid competition through dividing the use of resources

Question 31

Salinity

Answer 31

The amount of salt in the water

Question 32

Sink

Answer 32

A reservoir that receives more than it provides

Question 33

Symbiosis

Answer 33

A relationship in which two different organisms live in close association with each other

Question 34

Trophic Level

Answer 34

The hierarchical levels of the food chain through which energy flows from primary producers to primary consumers, secondary consumers, etc

Question 35

Turbidity

Answer 35

Muddiness created by stirring up sediment or having foreign particles suspended.

Question 36

Uptake

Answer 36

The process by which a substance crosses an absorption barrier and is absorbed into the body.

Question 37

Source

Answer 37

A reservoir that contributes more of a material than it receives