ecology keywords

Question 1

the study of interrelationships between organisms and their environment. The environment includes both abiotic and biotic factors

Answer 1

Ecology

Question 1

the position an organism fills in its environment, comprising its habitat, the resources it uses and the time at which it occurs there

Answer 1

Ecological niche

Question 2

The highest population that can be maintained for an indefinite period of time by a particular environment

Answer 2

Carrying capacity

Question 2

species which are first to colonise cleared or disturbed ground.

Answer 2

Pioneers species

Question 2

an organism that uses solar energy in photosynthesis to produce carbohydrates

Answer 2

Producers

Question 3

parts of the atmosphere that have very different environmental conditions to each other

Answer 3

Biomes

Question 4

a group of organisms of the same species that live together in the same area at the same time

Answer 4

Population

Question 4

A very simple diagram showing how energy flows through an ecosystem

Answer 4

Food chains

Question 6

the non-living/physical components of the environment (temperature, light, soil pH)

Answer 6

Abiotic factors

Question 7

A living factor that affects a population or a process (predation, competition, parasitism, disease)

Answer 7

Biotic Factors

Question 8

counting the number of organisms in the sample

Answer 8

Abundance

Question 8

competition between members of the same species

Answer 8

Intraspecific competition

Question 9

the energy that remains after the energy used in respiration has been subtracted from the gross primary production

Answer 9

Net primary production

Question 10

conditions that reduce the growth rate of a population

Answer 10

Environmental resistance

Question 10

a diagram showing all the feeding relationships in a single ecosystem or community

Answer 10

Food webs

Question 11

a fertiliser containing organic substances such as, urea.

Answer 11

Organic fertiliser

Question 13

all the populations of different species that live and interact together in the same area at the same time

Answer 13

Community

Question 14

an area within which the organisms interact with each other and their physical environment

Answer 14

Ecosystems

Question 16

when two species are competing for limited resources the one using the resources most effectively will eliminate the other. Two species can?t occupy same niche indefinitely when resources are limiting

Answer 16

Competitive exclusion principle

Question 18

live in the soil (generally) and feed on detritus, dead, decaying organic matter. There are two groups, the detritivores and the saprobionts/saprophytes

Answer 18

Decomposers

Question 19

the rate at which chemical energy is stored in plants

Answer 19

Gross primary production

Question 21

the final community in succession

Answer 21

Climax community

Question 22

A diagram that shows the number of organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem/food chain at a given moment irrespective of size

Answer 22

Pyramid of numbers

Question 22

the position in a food chain at which an organism feeds

Answer 22

Trophic level

Question 23

dead or decaying matter

Answer 23

Detritus

Question 24

an area within a habitat that has specific conditions

Answer 24

Microhabitats

Question 24

succession that occurs on previously uninhabited ground

Answer 24

Primary succession

Question 26

an organism that can trap an inorganic carbon source using energy from light or chemicals

Answer 26

Autotroph

Question 28

a fertiliser containing inorganic ions such as, nitrate, ammonium, potassium and phosphate ions

Answer 28

Inorganic fertiliser

Question 29

animals that regularly feed at both primary and higher trophic level

Answer 29

Omnivores

Question 30

the parts of the earth that support life

Answer 30

Biosphere

Question 31

number of different species found in the sample

Answer 31

Richness

Question 32

A diagram that shows the energy transferred to each trophic level of an ecosystem/food chain in a period of time irrespective of the numbers and biomass.

Answer 32

Pyramid of energy

Question 33

an organism that obtains energy by eating other living things

Answer 33

Consumers

Question 34

the one factor of many that affect a process, that is nearest its lowest value and hence is rate-limiting

Answer 34

Limiting factor

Question 35

microorganisms (fungi and bacteria that feed through extracellular digestion, secreting enzymes onto organic matter and absorbing the soluble products into their body to use in respiration (releases carbon dioxide to the environment again for use in photosynthesis) or to use in assimilation building new cells (biomass)

Answer 35

Saprophytes/saprobionts

Question 36

the process by which a community changes over time, a directional process where organisms affect the environment making it less suitable for themselves and more suitable for the next dominating species

Answer 36

Succession

Question 37

A diagram that shows the total biomass at each trophic level in an ecosystem/food chain, at a given moment, irrespective of the numbers

Answer 37

Pyramid of biomass

Question 38

the place where an organism is found

Answer 38

Habitat

Question 40

competition between members of different species

Answer 40

Interspecific competition

Question 41

organisms that feed on dead or decaying organic matter

Answer 41

Detritivores

Question 42

succession that occurs on in a place where there was some vegetation already present and the area has been disturbed by natural disaster or by deforestation etc.

Answer 42

Secondary succession