Chapter 3 vocab

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

The study of systems that include interactions among organisms and between organisms and their abiotic environment.

Question 2

Biotic

Answer 2

The living environment, includes all organisms

Question 3

Abiotic

Answer 3

Physical surroundings, include living space, temperature, sunlight, soil, wind and precipitation

Question 4

Population

Answer 4

A group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area at the same time.

Question 5

Community

Answer 5

A natural association that consists of all the populations os different species that live and interact within an area at the same time

Question 6

Ecosystem

Answer 6

A community and its physical environment.

Question 7

Landscape

Answer 7

A region that includes several interacting ecosystems.

Question 8

Biome

Answer 8

A large, relatively distinct terrestrial region characterized by a similar climate, soil, plants and animals regardless of where it occurs on Earth; because it is so large in area, a biome encompasses many interacting ecosystems.

Question 9

Biosphere

Answer 9

The parts of Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, land surface, and soil that contain all living organisms.

Question 10

Atmosphere

Answer 10

The gaseous envelope surrounding earth

Question 11

Hydrosphere

Answer 11

Earth’s supply of water, liquid and frozen, fresh and salty

Question 12

Lithosphere

Answer 12

The soil and rock of Earth’s crust.

Question 13

Energy

Answer 13

The capacity or ability to do work

Question 14

Chemical Energy

Answer 14

Energy stored in the bonds of molecules ex: food contains energy

Question 15

Radiant Energy

Answer 15

Energy transmitted as electromagnetic waves; such as radio waves, visible light and X-rays

Question 16

Thermal Energy

Answer 16

Heat that flows from an object with a higher temperature to an object with a lower temperature.

Question 17

Mechanical Energy

Answer 17

Energy in the movement of matter

Question 18

Nuclear Energy

Answer 18

Atomic Nuclei can be converted into it (nuclear energy)

Question 19

Electrical Energy

Answer 19

Energy that flows as charged particles

Question 20

Sound Energy

Answer 20

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Question 21

Potential Energy

Answer 21

Stored energy

Question 22

Kinetic Energy

Answer 22

The energy of a body that results from its motion

Question 23

Closed System

Answer 23

Energy is not exchanged between a closed system and its surroundings. ex: Thermos bottle is a closed system. Closed systems are very rare in nature.

Question 24

Open System

Answer 24

Energy is exchanged between an open system and its surroundings. ex: Earth is an open system because it receives energy energy from the sun and this energy eventually escaped Earth as it dissipates into space.

Question 25

Thermodynamics

Answer 25

The study of energy and its transformations.

Question 26

First law of Thermodynamics

Answer 26

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, although it can change from one form to another.

Question 27

Second law of Thermodynamics

Answer 27

When energy is converted from one form to another, some of it is degraded into heat, a less useable form that disperses into the environment.

Question 28

Entropy

Answer 28

A measure of randomness or disorder of a system.

Question 29

Photosynthesis

Answer 29

The biological process in which light energy from the sun is captured and transformed into the chemical energy of carbohydrate molecules.

Question 30

Aerobic Cellular Respiration

Answer 30

The process by which cells use oxygen to break down organic molecules with the release of energy that can be used for biological work.

Question 31

Hydrothermal vents

Answer 31

a hot spring on the seafloor where a solution of hot, mineral-rich water rises to the surface. Many hydrothermal vents support thriving communities.

Question 32

Chemosynthesis

Answer 32

The biological process by which certain bacteria take inorganic compounds from their environment and use them to obtain energy and make carbohydrate molecules; light is not required for this process.

Question 33

energy flow

Answer 33

the passage of energy in a single direction through an ecosystem

Question 34

Producers/autotrophs

Answer 34

Manufacture organic molecules from inorganic substances using the energy of sunlight.

Question 35

consumers/heterotrophs

Answer 35

use the bodies of other organisms as a source of energy and bodybuilding materials

Question 36

primary consumers/herbivores

Answer 36

consumers that eat producers

Question 37

secondary consumers/carnivores

Answer 37

eat primary consumers

Question 38

omnivores

Answer 38

consumers that eat a variety of organisms, plant and animal

Question 39

hippo-tilapia connection

Answer 39

Hippos have been shot and 90% of the population has decreased. Since that, the amount of tilapia fish that villagers catch has decreased, because the fish rely on the hippos to produce fertilizer for algae, which is then eaten by worms or larvae, which are eaten by the fish.

Question 40

detritivores

Answer 40

consumers that eat animal carcasses, leaf litter and feces

Question 41

decomposers

Answer 41

heterotrophs that break down dead organic material and use the decomposition products to supply themselves with energy.

Question 42

food chain/web

Answer 42

food chains are a representation of the energy flow from one organism to the next. food webs represent the interlocking food chains that connect all organisms in an ecosystem

Question 43

trophic level

Answer 43

an organism's position in a food chain, determined by its feeding relationships

Question 44

krill

Answer 44

herbivores in Antarctica that eat algae

Question 45

causes for collapse of Antarctica Food Web

Answer 45

- Whaling reduced the number of Whales in Antarctica, and since less Whales eat krill, other animals that eat krill have increased in population - the thinning of the ozone layer has damaged the base of the food line in Antarctica, algae, because the the ultraviolet radiation breaks some chemical bonds of important molecules. - Global warming caused the water to warm, causing less pack ice to form during winter months. Since algae are found around the pack ice, krill spawn there. With less ice, there has been less krill spawning, leading to the decline of other animals who usually eat krill but now struggle to find food. - Commercial fisherman have also started harvesting krill, making it even harder for the marine animals

Question 46

ecological pyramids

Answer 46

represent the relative energy values of each trophic level

Question 47

pyramid of biomass

Answer 47

quantitative estimate of the total mass or amount of living material in each successive trophic level.

Question 48

pyramid of energy

Answer 48

energy content of every trophic level

Question 49

pyramid of numbers

Answer 49

number of organisms at each trophic level in a given ecosystem

Question 50

gross primary productivity

Answer 50

the amount in total of photosynthetic energy that plants capture and assimilate in a given period

Question 51

net primary productivity

Answer 51

productivity after respiration losses are subtracted

Question 52

gross secondary productivity

Answer 52

any energy that remains that is used for production of the young after consumers have used energy for cellular respiration

Question 53

net secondary productivity

Answer 53

The rate at which consumer and decomposer biomass is produced in a community

Question 54

Vitousek's and Rojstaczer's reasearch

Answer 54

Humans use 32% of the annual NPP of land based ecosystems

Question 55

Ernst Haeckel

Answer 55

Named the concept of ecology and developed it

Question 56

Findings

Answer 56

The world is full of ecosystems and food webs that all depend on each other, and disturbing any part of it could make it collapse

Question 57

Take- home message

Answer 57

Humans need to stop overwhelming earth's recources and disturbing other animals' food webs, because they inhabit this planet also, and are a vital part of the biosphere.