Unit 2 List 1 Ecology

Question 1

Abiotic Factors

Answer 1

Non-living factors of an environment

Question 2

Autotrophs

Answer 2

Organisms that make their own food

Question 3

Biotic Factors

Answer 3

Living factors of an environment

Question 4

Bioaccumulation

Answer 4

an increase in the concentration of a chemical in a biological organism over time, compared to the chemical’s concentration in the environment

Question 5

Carbon Sink

Answer 5

anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases

Question 6

Carnivore

Answer 6

an organism that mostly eats meat, or the flesh of animals

Question 7

Commensalism

Answer 7

an association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm

Question 8

Competition

Answer 8

a set of interactions between organisms and species to get a limited resource

Question 9

Consumer

Answer 9

an organism that gets its energy by eating plants or animals

Question 10

Decomposer

Answer 10

any organism that breaks down or eats decaying material for its energy source

Question 11

Ecosystem

Answer 11

a community of organisms and their physical environment interacting together

Question 12

Energy Pyramid

Answer 12

a model that shows the flow of energy from one trophic, or feeding, level to the next in an ecosystem

Question 13

Food Chain

Answer 13

a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another

Question 14

Habitat

Answer 14

the natural home or environment of a plant, animal, or other organism

Question 15

Food Web

Answer 15

all of the food chains in an ecosystem connected

Question 16

Herbivore

Answer 16

an organism that only feeds on plants

Question 17

Heterotrophs

Answer 17

an organism that eats other plants or animals for energy and nutrients

Question 18

Leaching

Answer 18

a process in which water-soluble substances are washed out from the soil

Question 19

Limiting Factor

Answer 19

anything that constrains a population’s size and slows or stops it from growing

Question 20

Mutualism

Answer 20

association between organisms of two different species in which each benefits

Question 21

Niche

Answer 21

the role an organism plays in a communit

Question 22

Ocean Acidification

Answer 22

the lowering of seawater pH and carbonate saturation that result from increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations

Question 23

Omnivore

Answer 23

An organism that feeds on both plants and animals

Question 24

Parasitism

Answer 24

a relationship between the two living species in which one organism is benefitted at the expense of the other

Question 25

Phytoplankton

Answer 25

microscopic marine algae

Question 26

Pioneer Species

Answer 26

the species that first colonize new habitats created by disturbance

Question 27

Population

Answer 27

a group of individuals of the same species living and interbreeding within a given area

Question 28

Predation

Answer 28

one organism kills and consumes another

Question 29

Predator

Answer 29

organisms that hunt and kill other organisms for food

Question 30

Prey

Answer 30

an organism that is caught and eaten by other organisms

Question 31

Primary Succession

Answer 31

type of ecological succession (the evolution of a biological community’s ecological structure) in which plants and animals first colonize a barren, lifeless habitat

Question 32

Producer

Answer 32

an organism that creates its own food or energy

Question 33

Species Overshoot

Answer 33

the growth of a population beyond the environment’s or ecosystem’s ability to support that species

Question 34

Secondary Succession

Answer 34

the ecological succession that occurs after the initial succession has been disrupted and some plants and animals still exist

Question 35

Sustainability

Answer 35

the ability of biological systems to remain healthy, diverse, and productive over time