Unit 2 List 1 PL

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

The living 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. (ex: plants, the ocean, soil)

Question 6

Carnivore

Answer 6

An organism that eats meat, or the flesh of animals.

Question 7

Consumer

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Decomposer

Answer 8

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

Question 8

Commensalism

Answer 8

A relationship between individuals of two species in which one species benefits from the other without harming or benefiting the latter. (Benefits, Neutral)

Question 8

Competition

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Ecosystem

Answer 9

A community of living organisms in a particular area.

Question 9

Energy Pyramid

Answer 9

A model that shows the flow of energy from on trophic level to the next in an ecosystem.

Question 10

Food Chain

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Food Web

Answer 11

Consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem.

Question 12

Habitat

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Heterotrophs

Answer 13

An organism that eats other plants or animals for energy and nutrients.

Question 13

Leaching

Answer 13

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

Question 13

Herbivore

Answer 13

An organism that feeds on plants.

Question 14

Limiting Factor

Answer 14

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

Question 14

Niche

Answer 14

The role an organism plays in a community.

Question 15

Parasitism

Answer 15

A relationship between the two living species in which one organism is benefited at the expense of the other. (Benefit, Harmed)

Question 15

Mutualism

Answer 15

Association between organisms of two different species in which each benefits. (Benefit, Benefit)

Question 16

Ocean Acidifcation

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Omnivore

Answer 17

An organism that eats both plants and animals.

Question 18

Phytoplankton

Answer 18

Microscopic organisms that live in water environments, both salty and fresh.

Question 19

Pioneer Species

Answer 19

A group of species that are the first to colonize a new habitat created by a previous disturbance.

Question 20

Population

Answer 20

A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same geographic area that interbreed with each other.

Question 21

Predation

Answer 21

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

Question 21

Secondary Succession

Answer 21

When an area of land with pre-existing vegetation prior to a disturbance is populated.

Question 22

Predator

Answer 22

Organisms that hunt and kill other organisms for food.

Question 22

Prey

Answer 22

Animals that are killed and eaten by other animals.

Question 23

Primary Succession

Answer 23

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

Question 23

Producer

Answer 23

Organisms that make their own food.

Question 24

Species Overshoot

Answer 24

When the population of a species significantly exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment.

Question 25

Sustainability

Answer 25

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