Ecology

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

Ecology is the study of the interactions between living things (organisms) and between organisms and their environment

Question 2

Biosphere

Answer 2

The biosphere is that part of the planet containing living organisms 

Question 3

An ecosystem

Answer 3

An ecosystem is a group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their environment as a unit

Question 4

A habitat

Answer 4

A habitat is the place where a plant or animal lives

Question 5

A population

Answer 5

A population is all the members of the same species living in an area

Question 6

A community

Answer 6

A community is all the different populations in an area

Question 7

Abiotic factors

Answer 7

Abiotic factors are nonliving factors

Question 8

Biotic factors

Answer 8

Biotic factors are living factors

Question 9

Climatic factors

Answer 9

Climatic factors refer to weather over a long period of time

Question 10

Edaphic factors

Answer 10

Edaphic factors relate to soil

Question 11

Producers

Answer 11

Producers are organisms that carry out photosynthesis

Question 12

Flora

Answer 12

Flora is all the plants in an ecosystem

Question 13

Consumers

Answer 13

Consumers are organisms that take in food from another organism

Question 14

Fauna

Answer 14

Fauna is all the animals in an ecosystem

Question 15

Decomposers 

Answer 15

Decomposers organisms that feed on dead organic matter

Question 16

Detritus feeders

Answer 16

Detritus feeders are organisms that feed on small pieces of dead organic matter

Question 17

Food chain

Answer 17

A grazing food chain as a sequence of organisms in which each one is eaten by the next member in the chain

Question 18

A tropic level

Answer 18

A tropic level is a feeding stage in a food chain

Question 19

A food web

Answer 19

A food web consists of two or more interlinked food chains

Question 20

A pyramid of numbers

Answer 20

Pyramid of numbers represents the number of organisms at each trophic level (or stage) in a food chain

Question 21

Niche

Answer 21

The ecological niche of an organism is the functional role it plays in the community

Question 22

Nutrient recycling

Answer 22

Nutrient recycling Is the way in which elements (such as carbon and nitrogen) are exchanged between the living and nonliving components of an ecosystem

Question 23

Nitrogen fixation

Answer 23

Nitrogen fixation is the conversation of nitrogen gas into ammonia, ammonium or nitrate

Question 24

Nitrification

Answer 24

Nitrification is the conversation of ammonia and ammonium compounds to nitrite and then to nitrate

Question 25

Denitrification 

Answer 25

Denitrification is the conversation of nitrates to nitrogen gas

Question 26

Pollution

Answer 26

Pollution is any harmful addition to the environment 

Question 27

Pollutants

Answer 27

Pollutants are harmful additions to the environment

Question 28

Conservation

Answer 28

Conservation is the wise management of the existing natural resources in an ecosystem, in order to maintain a wide range of habitats and prevent the death of extinction of organisms

Question 29

Competition

Answer 29

Competition occurs when organisms actively struggle for a resource that is in short supply

Question 30

Intraspecific competition

Answer 30

Intraspecific competition takes place between members of the same species

Question 31

Interspecific competition

Answer 31

Interspecific competition occurs between members of different species

Question 32

Contest competition

Answer 32

In contest competition, there is an active physical contest between two individual organisms

Question 33

Scramble competition

Answer 33

In scramble competition, all of the competing individuals get some of the resource

Question 34

Predation

Answer 34

Predation is the catching, killing and eating of another organism

Question 35

A predator

Answer 35

Predator is an organism that catches, kills and eats another organism

Question 36

The prey

Answer 36

The prey is the organism that is eaten by the predator

Question 37

Parasitism

Answer 37

Parasitism occurs when two organisms of different species live in close association and one organism (the parasite) obtains its food from, and to the disadvantage of, the second organism (the host)

Question 38

Symbiosis

Answer 38

Symbiosis occurs when two organisms of different species live (and have to live) in close association and at the least one of them benefits

Question 39

A habitat

Answer 39

A habitat is the place where a plant or an animal lives (and is also the local area of study)

Question 40

A qualitative study

Answer 40

A qualitative study records the presence or absence of organisms

Question 41

A quantitative study

Answer 41

A quantitate study records the numbers of organisms that are present

Question 42

An adaptation

Answer 42

An adaptation is any alteration that improves an organism’s chances of survival and reproduction

Question 43

A key

Answer 43

The key is a means of naming organisms by answering a series of questions with alternative answers 

Question 44

The percentage cover

Answer 44

The percentage cover is an estimate of the amount of ground in a quadrant covered by each species

Question 45

The frequency

Answer 45

The frequency is the chance of finding a named species with any other throw of a quadrat