ecosystems

Question 1

biologically community of interacting organisms and their physical environment

Answer 1

Ecosystem

Question 2

all living organisms in an ecosystem

Answer 2

Biotic Factor

Question 3

all nonliving chemical and physical parts of the environment that effect living organisms and functioning of ecosystems

Answer 3

Abiotic Factor

Question 4

an individual animal, plant or single-celled life form

Answer 4

Organism

Question 5

group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding

Answer 5

Species

Question 6

group of individuals of same species in the same area

Answer 6

Population

Question 7

two or more different species in the same area

Answer 7

Community

Question 8

natural home or environment of organisms

Answer 8

Habitat

Question 9

process which organisms better adapted to environment tend to survive and produce more offspring

Answer 9

Natural Selection

Question 10

the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.

Answer 10

Evolution

Question 11

an organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide.

Answer 11

producers/ autotrophs

Question 12

gets nutrients by eating other animals

Answer 12

consumers/ heterotrophs

Question 13

first animal that eats autotrophs (herbivores)

Answer 13

primary consumer

Question 14

animals that eat the primary consumer

Answer 14

secondary consumer

Question 15

top carnivore eats other carnivores

Answer 15

tertiary consumer

Question 16

only eat plants

Answer 16

herbivores

Question 17

only eat meat

Answer 17

carnivores

Question 18

eat plants and animals

Answer 18

omnivores

Question 19

break down dead and decaying organisms

Answer 19

decomposers

Question 20

1. A succession of organisms in an ecological community that are linked to each other through the transfer of energy and nutrients, beginning with an autotrophic organism such as a plant and continuing with each organism being consumed by one higher in the chain.

Answer 20

food chain

Question 21

a series of organisms related by predator-prey and consumer-resource interactions; the entirety of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.

Answer 21

food web

Question 22

a depiction of the amount of energy in each trophic level of an ecosystem

Answer 22

energy pyramid

Question 23

Ecology. the circulation of carbon atoms in the biosphere as a result of photosynthetic conversion of carbon dioxide into complex organic compounds by plants, which are consumed by other organisms: the carbon returns to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide as a result of respiration, decay by fungi, bacteria, etc., and combustion of fossil fuels.

Answer 23

carbon cycle

Question 24

the continuous sequence of events by which atmospheric nitrogen and nitrogenous compounds in the soil are converted, as by nitrification and nitrogen fixation, into substances that can be utilized by green plants, the substances returning to the air and soil as a result of the decay of the plants and denitrification.

Answer 24

nitrogen cycle

Question 25

process in which phosphorus travels from its main source of rocks through ecosystems to living organisms.

Answer 25

phosphorus cycle

Question 26

observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time.

Answer 26

ecological succession

Question 27

the development of plant and animal life in an area without topsoil; the development of biotic communities in a previously uninhabited and barren habitat with little or no soil

Answer 27

primary succession

Question 28

Secondary succession is the series of community changes which take place on a previously colonized, but disturbed or damaged habitat. Examples include areas which have been cleared of existing vegetation (such as after tree-felling in a woodland) and destructive events such as fires.

Answer 28

secondary succession

Question 29

first to colonize previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems, beginning a chain of ecological succession that ultimately leads to a more biodiverse steady-state ecosystem.

Answer 29

pioneer species

Question 30

a stable mature community in a successive series which has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment

Answer 30

climax community

Question 31

a system, or a group of interconnected elements, formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment.

Answer 31

ecosystem