Unit 2 vocab

Question 1

Abiotic

Answer 1

Nonliving. (air, water, and soil)

Question 2

Adaption

Answer 2

Any genetically controlled structural, physiological, or behavioral characteristic that helps an organism survive and reproduce under a given set of environmental conditions.

Question 3

Assimilation

Answer 3

The absorption and digestion of food or nutrients by the body or any biological system.

Question 4

Biodiversity

Answer 4

The variety of species, the genes they contain, and the ecosystems they live in.

Question 5

Biomass

Answer 5

The dry weight of all organic matter contained in the organism and provides a measure of how much energy is available to the next trophic level.

Question 6

Biotic

Answer 6

Living.

Question 7

Chemosynthesis

Answer 7

Process in which certain organisms (mostly specialized bacteria) extract inorganic compounds from their environment and convert them into organic nutrient compounds without the presence of sunlight.

Question 8

Commensalism

Answer 8

Interaction between organisms of different species in which one benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed.

Question 9

Community

Answer 9

Populations of all species living and interacting in an area at a particular time.

Question 10

Consumers

Answer 10

Organisms that cannot produce their own energy and obtain energy needed by feeding on organisms or their remains.

Question 11

Decomposers

Answer 11

Breaks down organic compounds.

Question 12

Detritivore

Answer 12

Consumer organism that feeds on detritus, parts of dead organisms, and cast-off fragments and wastes of living organisms.

Question 13

Exponential growth

Answer 13

Growth at which some quantity, such as population size or economic output, increases at a constant rate per unit of time.

Question 14

Generalist species

Answer 14

Have broad niches since they have a variety of food sources and demonstrate a wide range of tolerance for environmental conditions.

Question 15

Geographic isolation

Answer 15

Separation of populations of species into different areas for long periods of time.

Question 16

Greenhouse effect

Answer 16

Natural effect that releases heat in the atmosphere near the earth’s surface.

Question 17

Indicator species

Answer 17

Species that can provide an early warning that damage to a community or an ecosystem is occurring.

Question 18

Invasive species

Answer 18

Non-native species introduced intentionally or accidentally to an environment.

Question 19

K-selected species

Answer 19

Organisms that are limited by resources and competition.

Question 20

Keystone species

Answer 20

Species that play roles affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem.

Question 21

Mutualism

Answer 21

Two organisms interact in a manner that is beneficial to both in the same way.

Question 22

Natural selection

Answer 22

Process by which a particular beneficial gene (or set of genes) is reproduced in succeeding generations more than other genes.

Question 23

Population

Answer 23

Group of individual organisms of the same species living in a particular area.

Question 24

Primary productivity

Answer 24

The rate at which primary producers convert solar energy into chemical energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis.

Question 25

Primary succession

Answer 25

The establishment of a biotic community from a previous lifeless terrain.

Question 26

Producers

Answer 26

Self-feeders that acquire nutrients by converting compounds or energy from their environment.

Question 27

R-selected species

Answer 27

Organisms that are capable of rapid exponential growth.

Question 28

Scavengers

Answer 28

Organisms that feed on dead organisms that were killed by other organisms or died naturally.

Question 29

Secondary succession

Answer 29

Where a disturbance in the ecosystem has damaged or removed part of the established community but leaves in place soil or sediments.

Question 30

Specialist species

Answer 30

Have narrow niches and typically feed on only one food source and most likely tolerate only a narrow range of environmental conditions.

Question 31

Transpiration

Answer 31

Process by which water that is absorbed by plants, usually through the roots, evaporates into the atmosphere from the plant surface.

Question 32

Trophic level

Answer 32

Hierarchy of feeding orders based on the organism’s method for acquiring energy and nutrients from the ecosystem.