Chapter 55- Ecosystems and Restoration Ecology

Question 1

auto

Answer 1

self

Question 2

troph

Answer 2

food, nourishment

autotroph: an organism that obtains organic food molecules without eating other organisms

Question 3

bio

Answer 3

life

Question 4

geo

Answer 4

Earth

biogeochemical cycles: the various nutrient circuits that involve both biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems

Question 5

de

Answer 5

from, down, out

denitrification: the process of converting nitrate back to nitrogen

Question 6

detrit

Answer 6

wear off

Question 7

vora

Answer 7

eat

detritivore: a consumer that derives it energy from nonliving organic material

Question 8

hetero

Answer 8

other, different

(heterotroph: an organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms or their by products

Question 9

bioremediation

Answer 9

The use of organisms to detoxify and restore polluted and degraded ecosystems

Question 10

decomposer

Answer 10

An organism that absorbs nutrients from nonliving organic material such as corpses, fallen plant material, and the wastes of living organisms and converts them to inorganic forms; a detritivore

Question 11

ecosystem

Answer 11

All the organisms in a given area as well as the abiotic factor with which they interact; one or more communities and the physical environment around them

Question 12

eutrophication

Answer 12

A process by nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, become highly concentrated in a body of water leading to increased growth of organisms such as algae or cyanobacteria

Question 13

gross primary production (GPP)

Answer 13

The total primary production of an ecosystem

Question 14

law of conservation of mass

Answer 14

A physical law stating that matter can change form but cant be created or destroyed. In a closed system, the mass of the system is constant

Question 15

limit nutrient

Answer 15

An element that must be added for production to increase in a particular area

Question 16

net ecosystem production (NEP)

Answer 16

The gross primary production of an ecosystem minus the energy used by all autotrophs and heterotrophs for respiration

Question 17

net primary production (NPP)

Answer 17

The gross primary production of an ecosystem minus the energy used by the producers for respiration

Question 18

primary consumer

Answer 18

An herbivore; an organism that eat plants or other autotrophs

Question 19

primary producer

Answer 19

An autotroph, usually a photosyntheitic organisms. Collectiely, autotrophs make up the trophic level of an ecosystem that ultimately supports all other levels

Question 20

primary production

Answer 20

The amount of light energy converted to chemical energy (organic compounds) by the autotrophs in an ecosystem during a given time period

Question 21

production efficiency

Answer 21

The percentage of energy store in assimilated food that is not used for respiration or eliminated as waste

Question 22

secondary consumer

Answer 22

A carnivore that eats herbivores

Question 23

secondary production

Answer 23

The amount of chemical energy in consumers’ food that is converted to their own new biomass during a given time period

Question 24

tertiary consumer

Answer 24

A carnivore that eats other carnivores

Question 25

trophic efficiency

Answer 25

The percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next

Question 26

turnover time

Answer 26

The time required to replace the standing crop of a population or group of populations (for example, of phytoplankton), calculated as the ratio of standing crop to production