chapter 5

Question 1

photosynthesis

Answer 1

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy in the form of sugar.

Question 2

producer

Answer 2

Producers: Photosynthesizing organisms. Producers are any kind of green plant. Green plants make their food by taking sunlight and using the energy to make sugar.

Question 3

consumer

Answer 3

Consumer pertains to any of the organisms in most trophic levels in a food chain, except for producers and decomposers.

Question 4

decomposer

Answer 4

Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition,

Question 5

cellular respiration

Answer 5

cellular respiration, the process by which organisms combine oxygen with foodstuff molecules, diverting the chemical energy in these substances into life-sustaining activities and discarding, as waste products, carbon dioxide and water.

Question 6

food chain

Answer 6

food chain, in ecology, the sequence of transfers of matter and energy in the form of food from organism to organism.

Question 7

food web

Answer 7

Food webs describe the relationships — links or connections — among species in an ecosystem, but the relationships vary in their importance to energy flow

Question 8

trophic level

Answer 8

The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food web

Question 9

carbon cycle

Answer 9

The carbon cycle describes the process in which carbon atoms continually travel from the atmosphere to the Earth and then back into the atmosphere.

Question 10

nitrogen fixing bacteria

Answer 10

nitrogen-fixing bacteria, microorganisms capable of transforming atmospheric nitrogen into fixed nitrogen (inorganic compounds usable by plants).

Question 11

nitrogen cycle

Answer 11

The nitrogen cycle is a repeating cycle of processes during which nitrogen moves through both living and non-living things

Question 12

phosphorus cycle

Answer 12

The phosphorus cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere

Question 13

ecological succession

Answer 13

Ecological succession is the gradual process by which ecosystems change and develop over time

Question 14

primary succession

Answer 14

Primary succession occurs when new land is formed or bare rock is exposed, providing a habitat that can be colonized for the first time

Question 15

secondary succession

Answer 15

An example of secondary succession is the development of new inhabitants to replace the previous community of plants and animals that has been disrupted or disturbed by an event

Question 16

pioneer species

Answer 16

The term pioneer is used to describe the species that first colonize new habitats created by disturbance. Although the term is usually applied to plants, microbial and invertebrate pioneer species are also sometimes recognized.

Question 17

climax community

Answer 17

An ecological community in which populations of plants or animals remain stable and exist in balance with each other and their environment.