Unit 9: Ecology

Question 1

A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected

Answer 1

commensalism

Question 2

the group of organisms that live together and interact with each other within an environment or habitat

Answer 2

community

Question 3

Interaction among organisms that vie for the same resource in an ecosystem

Answer 3

competition

Question 4

Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment

Answer 4

ecology

Question 5

describes a single environment and every living (biotic) organism and non-living (abiotic) factor that is contained within it or characterizes it.

Answer 5

ecosystem

Question 6

a species which often forms the major structural portion of the habitat

Answer 6

foundation species

Question 7

plant eater

Answer 7

herbivore

Question 8

A relationship between individuals of two or more species in a community.

Answer 8

interspecific interaction

Question 9

A species that influences the survival of many other species in an ecosystem

Answer 9

keystone species

Question 10

A relationship between two species in which both species benefit

Answer 10

mutualism

Question 11

the practice of living in or on another organism.

Answer 11

parasitism

Question 12

A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

Answer 12

population

Question 13

the ecological process by which energy is transferred from living animal to living animal based on the behavior of a predator that captures and kills a prey before eating it

Answer 13

predation

Question 14

A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species.

Answer 14

symbiosis

Question 15

the circulation of substances through living organisms from or to the environment.

Answer 15

biochemical cycle

Question 16

the series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, the decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels

Answer 16

carbon cycle

Question 17

An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms

Answer 17

consumer

Question 18

An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms

Answer 18

decomposer

Question 19

organism that feeds on plant and animal remains and other dead matter

Answer 19

detrivores

Question 20

A diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web

Answer 20

energy pyramid

Question 21

the series of processes by which nitrogen and its compounds are interconverted in the environment and in living organisms, including nitrogen fixation and decomposition.

Answer 21

nitrogen cycle

Question 22

An organism that can make its own food.

Answer 22

producer

Question 23

They make up the second trophic level. They are also called herbivores. They eat primary producers—plants or algae—and nothing else. For example, a grasshopper living in the Everglades

Answer 23

primary consumer

Question 24

Are largely carnivores that feed on the primary consumers or herbivores. They are heterotrophs, specifically carnivores and omnivores. Carnivores only eat other animals. Omnivores eat a combination of plants and animals.

Answer 24

secondary consumer

Question 25

each step in a food chain or food web

Answer 25

trophic levels

Question 26

the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration.

Answer 26

water cycle

Question 27

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Answer 27

biodiversity

Question 28

refers to the range of different inherited traits within a species

Answer 28

genetic diversity

Question 29

species richness

Answer 29

Species richness (S) is the number of species within a defined region.

Question 30

ecosystem diversity

Answer 30

Ecosystem diversity