Unit 2 List 1 Ecology CMH

Question 1

Abiotic Factor

Answer 1

non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment.

Question 2

Autotrophs

Answer 2

an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals.

Question 3

Biotic factors

Answer 3

the living components (organisms) that shape up the environment.

Question 4

Bioaccumulation

Answer 4

an increase in the concentration of a chemical over time in a biological organism 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

a relationship between individuals of two species in which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other without either harming or benefiting the latter.

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 cannot produce its own food and must eat other plants and/or animals to get energy.

Question 10

Decomposer

Answer 10

An organism, often a bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, making organic nutrients available to the ecosystem

Question 11

Ecosystem

Answer 11

is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together to form a bubble of life.

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

Food Web

Answer 14

consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem.

Question 15

Habitat

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Herbivore

Answer 16

an organism that mostly 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

the loss of water soluble plant nutrients from the soil due to rain and irrigation.

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

is all of the environmental factors and interspecies relationships that influence the species.

Question 22

Ocean Acidification

Answer 22

a reduction in the pH of the ocean over an extended period of time, caused primarily by uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

Question 23

Omnivore

Answer 23

an organism that eats plants and animals.

Question 24

Parasitism

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Phytoplankton

Answer 25

microscopic marine algae

Question 26

Pioneer Species

Answer 26

species that are the first to colonize newly created environments or recently disturbed environments

Question 27

Population

Answer 27

the whole number of inhabitants occupying an area

Question 28

Predation

Answer 28

a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey

Question 29

Predator

Answer 29

organisms that hunt and kill other organisms for food.

Question 30

Prey

Answer 30

animals that are killed and eaten by other animals

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

Secondary Succession

Answer 33

happens when a climax community or intermediate community is impacted by a disturbance

Question 34

Species Overshoot

Answer 34

Phenomenon in which populations temporarily exceed carrying capacity of environment.

Question 35

Sustainability

Answer 35

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