Ecology unit

Question 1

Abiotic factor

Answer 1

A non-living, physical factor that may influence an organism or ecosystem

Question 2

Ecosystem

Answer 2

A community of interdependent organisms and the physical environment they inhabit.

Question 3

1st law thermodynamics

Answer 3

Energy (J) can neither be created nor destroyed.

Question 4

Primary consumer

Answer 4

Herbivore (grasshopper, zooplankton)

Question 5

Secondary consumer

Answer 5

Carnivores/omnivores/insectivores (rat, dragonfly)

Question 6

Tertiary consumer

Answer 6

apex predator

Question 7

Decomposer

Answer 7

(bacteria, fungi)

Question 8

Food chain

Answer 8

Shows the sequence of organisms in a habitat that are dependent on the one before it for food

Question 9

Food web

Answer 9

All the interconnected food chains in an ecosystem.

Question 10

Biotic factor

Answer 10

A living, biological factor that may influence an organism or ecosystem

Question 11

Carrying capacity

Answer 11

The maximum number of species that can be sustainably supported by a given environment.

Question 12

Community

Answer 12

A group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat

Question 13

Habitat

Answer 13

The environment in which a species normally lives

Question 14

Mutalism

Answer 14

A relationship between individuals of two or more species in which all benefit and none suffer

Question 15

Niche

Answer 15

A species share of habitat and the resources in it. An organisms’s ecological niche depends not only on where it lives but also on what it does

Question 16

Realized niche

Answer 16

Where it does live without being outcompeted

Question 17

Fundamental niche

Answer 17

Where it could live despite limiting factors

Question 18

Parasitism

Answer 18

A relationship between two species in which one species (parasite) lives in or on another (host), gaining all or much of its food from it

Question 19

Population

Answer 19

A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time, and which are capable of interbreeding

Question 20

Society

Answer 20

An arbitrary group of individuals who share some common characteristic such as geographical location, cultural background, historical timeframe, religious perspective, value system, etc

Question 21

Competition

Answer 21

When resources are limiting, populations compete to survive.

Question 22

Intraspecific competition

Answer 22

within a species

Question 23

Interspecific competition

Answer 23

within a different species

Question 24

Herbivory

Answer 24

Interaction where an animal feeds on a plant

Question 25

Density dependent

Answer 25

Biotic limiting factors that take effect as pop size increases (competition, predation)

Question 26

Density independent

Answer 26

Abiotic limiting factors that take effect regardless of pop size (weather)

Question 27

S-curve

Answer 27

population stabilizes despite limiting factors (equilibrium)

Question 28

J-curve

Answer 28

exponential growth with sudden and rapid decrease

Question 29

Below photic zone

Answer 29

upper 200m

Question 30

Photosynthesis

Answer 30

6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2

Question 31

Respiration

Answer 31

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O

Question 32

Entropy

Answer 32

Measure of disorder of a system. Increase energy = decrease entropy

Question 33

2nd law thermodynamics

Answer 33

The inefficiency and decrease in available energy along a food chain

Question 34

Biomass

Answer 34

The total quantity or weight of organisms in a given area (Jm^-2)

Question 35

Producer

Answer 35

Autotroph (algae, phytoplankton)

Question 36

Pyramid of numbers

Answer 36

the population in terms of individual organisms in each level

Question 37

Pyramid of biomass

Answer 37

Shows biomass of organisms

Question 38

Pyramid of productivity

Answer 38

Production or turnover of biomass at each level

Question 39

10% energy available

Answer 39

Not all food source eaten & 2nd law thermodynamics

Question 40

Bioaccumulation

Answer 40

The buildup of toxins within one organism or trophic level (clover, snail, thrush, sparrowhawk)

Question 41

Biomagnification

Answer 41

The increased concentration of toxins at higher trophic levels (Minamata Bay)

Question 42

Vulnerability of apex predators

Answer 42

competition for mates & prey

Question 43

Productivity calculation

Answer 43

Input-output

Question 44

Biomass

Answer 44

The mass of biological/organic matter

Question 45

Productivity

Answer 45

Production of biomass per unit area per unit time

Question 46

Gross Primary Productivity

Answer 46

GPP

Question 47

Net Primary Productivity

Answer 47

NPP

Question 48

Gross Secondary Productivity

Answer 48

GSP

Question 49

Net Secondary Productivity

Answer 49

NSP

Question 50

N1

Answer 50

Nitrogen Fixation

Question 51

N2

Answer 51

Amonia oxidation

Question 52

N3

Answer 52

Nitrate oxidation

Question 53

N4/2

Answer 53

Annamox

Question 54

N5

Answer 54

Denitrifcation

Question 55

Nitrogen Fixation?

Answer 55

Process converting N2 gas into useable form

Question 56

NH2

Answer 56

Gas form

Question 57

N03

Answer 57

Useable form (oxidized nitrate) in fertilizer

Question 58

Ammonia

Answer 58

NO2-

Question 59

Ammonification?

Answer 59

Decay

Question 60

Denitrification?

Answer 60

Anaerobic process in anoxic zones

Question 61

Anammox?

Answer 61

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation

Question 62

Ammax

Answer 62

bacteria

Question 63

Inorganic (n cycle)

Answer 63

Ammonia, nitrate

Question 64

Organic (n cycle)

Answer 64

Amino & nucleic acids

Question 65

% nitrate in atmosphere

Answer 65

78

Question 66

How do humans obtain N?

Answer 66

Consumption

Question 67

How do plants obtain N?

Answer 67

Soil that has ammax

Question 68

Hosting nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Answer 68

Soil & plants absorb NO3 or plants host bacteria