Vocab

Question 1

ecology

Answer 1

study of the abundance, distribution, and interactions of organisms in relation to other organisms and environmental conditions

Question 2

ecological systems

Answer 2

biological entities that have their own internal processes and interact with their external surroundings

Question 3

species

Answer 3

a group of organisms that interbreed with each other and produce fertile offspring

Question 4

population

Answer 4

individuals of the same species living in a particular area

Question 5

community

Answer 5

all populations of species living together in a particular area

Question 6

ecosystem

Answer 6

one or more communities of living organisms interacting with their nonliving physical and chemical environments

Question 7

biosphere

Answer 7

all ecosystems on earth functioning as a single entity

Question 8

phenotype

Answer 8

an attribute of an organism, such as its behaviour, morphology or physiology

Question 9

genotype

Answer 9

the set of genes an organism carries

Question 10

evolution

Answer 10

change in the genetic composition of a population over time

Question 11

natural selection

Answer 11

the frequency of genes in a population can change because some phenotypes increase the chances for survival and reproduction

Question 12

fitness

Answer 12

the survival and reproduction of an individual

Question 13

producer

Answer 13

an organism that uses photosynthesis to convert chemical energy into organic compounds (autotrophs)

Question 14

consumer

Answer 14

an organism that obtains its energy from other organisms (heterotroph)

Question 15

mixotroph

Answer 15

an organism that obtains its energy from more than one source

Question 16

predator

Answer 16

an organism that kills and partially or entirely consumes another individual

Question 17

parasitoid

Answer 17

an organism that lives within and consumes the tissues of a living host, eventually killing it

Question 18

parasites

Answer 18

organisms that live and feed in or on another organism, while rarely killing their hosts

Question 19

pathogen

Answer 19

organism that infers illness/disease on another organism

Question 20

herbivore

Answer 20

an organism that consumes producers such as plants and algae

Question 21

competition

Answer 21

an interaction resulting in negative effects between two species that depend on the same limiting resource

Question 22

mutualism

Answer 22

an interaction between two species in which each species in which each species receives benefits from the other

Question 23

symbiotic relationship

Answer 23

when two different types of organisms live in a close physical relationship

Question 24

commensalism

Answer 24

an interaction in which two species live in close association and one species receives a benefit (the other has no benefit or cost)

Question 25

scavenger

Answer 25

an organism that consumes dead animals

Question 26

detrivore

Answer 26

an organism that feeds on dead organic matter and waste products that are collectively known as detritus

Question 27

decomposer

Answer 27

organisms that break down dead organic material into simpler elements and compounds that can be recycled through the ecosystem

Question 28

habitat

Answer 28

the place, or physical setting in which an organism lives

Question 29

niche

Answer 29

the range of abiotic and biotic conditions an organism can tolerate

Question 30

manipulative experiment

Answer 30

a hypothesis is tested by altering a factor hypothesised to be the cause of a phenomenon

Question 31

natural experiment

Answer 31

an approach to hypothesis testing that relies on natural variation in the environment

Question 32

mathematical model

Answer 32

a representation of a system with a set of equations that correspond to hypothesised relationships among the system’s components (relies on future predictions)