Unit 1 Vocab

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

temperate rainforest

Answer 2

a coastal biome typified by moderate temperatures and high precipitation

Question 3

estuary

Answer 3

A habitat in which the freshwater of a river meets the salt water of the ocean.

Question 4

ecosystem

Answer 4

all the living and nonliving things in an environment

Question 5

second law of thermodynamics

Answer 5

when energy is changed from one form to another, some useful energy is always degraded into lower quality energy (usually heat)

Question 6

producers

Answer 6

organisms that produce their own food

Question 7

cellular respiration

Answer 7

process that releases energy by breaking down glucose and other food molecules in the presence of oxygen

Question 8

consumers

Answer 8

an organism that obtains energy and nutrients by feeding on other organisms or their remains.

Question 9

heterotrophs

Answer 9

an organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms or their by-products.

Question 10

trophic level

Answer 10

Each step in a food chain or food web

Question 11

scavenger

Answer 11

A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms

Question 12

ecological efficiency

Answer 12

the proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one trophic level to another

Question 13

temperate seasonal forest

Answer 13

A biome with warmer summers and colder winters than temperate rainforests and dominated by deciduous trees.

Question 14

environmental science

Answer 14

the study of how humans interact with the environment

Question 15

hectare

Answer 15

a metric unit of square measure, equal to 100 ares (2.471 acres or 10,000 square meters).

Question 16

forms of energy

Answer 16

electrical, chemical, mechanical, thermal, and nuclear.

Question 17

first law of thermodynamics

Answer 17

Energy can be transferred and transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed.

Question 18

biomes

Answer 18

a broad, regional type of ecosystem characterized by distinctive climate and soil conditions and a distinctive kind of biological community adapted to those conditions.

Question 19

autotrophs

Answer 19

organisms that make their own food

Question 20

photosynthesis

Answer 20

conversion of light energy from the sun into chemical energy.

Question 21

primary consumers

Answer 21

animals that feed on producers; ex. herbivores

Question 22

secondary consumer

Answer 22

an organism that eats primary consumers

Question 23

food chain

Answer 23

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

Question 24

food web

Answer 24

A community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains

Question 25

detritivores

Answer 25

organisms that eat dead organic matter

Question 26

decomposer

Answer 26

An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms

Question 27

gross primary productivity

Answer 27

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

Question 28

net primary productivity

Answer 28

The energy captured by producers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire

Question 29

trophic pyramid

Answer 29

A representation of the distribution of biomass, numbers, or energy among trophic levels

Question 30

biomes

Answer 30

a broad, regional type of ecosystem characterized by distinctive climate and soil conditions and a distinctive kind of biological community adapted to those conditions.

Question 31

tundra

Answer 31

An extremely cold, dry biome.

Question 32

boreal forest

Answer 32

Dense forest of evergreens located in the upper regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Question 33

woodland/shrubland

Answer 33

a biome characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters

Question 34

temperate grassland/cold desert

Answer 34

A biome characterized by cold, harsh winters, and hot, dry summers.

Question 35

tropical rainforest

Answer 35

a broadleaf evergreen forest found in wet and hot regions near the equator.

Question 36

subtropical desert

Answer 36

A biome prevailing at approximately 30° N and 30° S, with hot temperatures, extremely dry conditions, and sparse vegetation.