Unit 2 List 1 Ecology KS

Question 1

Abiotic Factors

Answer 1

a 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

a living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment

Question 4

Carbon Sink

Answer 4

anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases – for example, plants, the ocean and soil

Question 5

Bioaccumulation

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Carnivore

Answer 6

an organism that only eats meat

Question 7

Commensalism

Answer 7

a relationship between species when one benefits and the other is neither harmed or benefited

Question 8

Competition

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Decomposer

Answer 9

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

Question 9

Ecosystem

Answer 9

a community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in a particular area

Question 10

Consumer

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Food Chain

Answer 11

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

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 Web

Answer 13

a diagram that shows the transfer of energy through multiple different organisms in an area

Question 14

Habitat

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Herbivore

Answer 15

an organism that mostly feeds on plants

Question 16

Heterotrophs

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Leaching

Answer 17

a natural process where substances are dissolved and removed from a solid by a solution, usually water, which is later extracted or deposited

Question 18

Mutualism

Answer 18

association between organisms of two different species in which each benefits

Question 18

Limiting Factor

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Niche

Answer 19

a subset of a habitat where only a particular species lives

Question 20

Ocean Acidification

Answer 20

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 21

Omnivore

Answer 21

organism that eats both animals and plants

Question 22

Parasitism

Answer 22

a relationship between species when one animal benefits and the other is harmed

Question 23

Population

Answer 23

a group of organisms living in the same geographical area at the same time

Question 23

Phytoplankton

Answer 23

microscopic marine algae

Question 24

Pioneer Species

Answer 24

the species that first colonize new habitats created by disturbance

Question 25

Predation

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Predator

Answer 26

an organism that captures and eats another (the prey)

Question 27

Prey

Answer 27

animals that are killed and eaten by other animals

Question 28

Primary Succession

Answer 28

when a new area of land is populated by a group of species for the first time

Question 29

Secondary Succession

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Producer

Answer 30

organisms that make their own food

Question 31

Species Overshoot

Answer 31

local carrying capacity—when that population has not only begun to outstrip its food supply in excess of regeneration, but actually shot past that point, setting up a potentially catastrophic crash

Question 32

Sustainability

Answer 32

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