The Inhabitants of Planet Earth and Their Relationships

Question 1

Ammonification

Answer 1

The production of ammonia or ammonium compounds in the decomposition of organic matter, especially through the action of bacteria

Question 2

Assimilation

Answer 2

The proccess in which plants absorb ammonium (NH3), ammonia ions (NH4^+), and nitrate ions (NO3) through their roots

Question 3

Autotroph

Answer 3

Producers; organisms that can produce their own organic compounds from inorganic compounds; they use energy from the sun or from the oxidation of inorganic substances

Question 4

Bioaccumulation

Answer 4

The accumulation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in various tissues of a living organism

Question 5

Biological Extinction

Answer 5

True extermination of a species; no individuals of this species left on the planet

Question 6

Biomagnification

Answer 6

The process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain

Question 7

Biosphere

Answer 7

The part of the Earth and its atmosphere where living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life

Question 8

Carnivore

Answer 8

An animal that only consumes other animals

Question 9

Chemotroph (chemoautotroph)

Answer 9

An organism, such as a bacterium or protozoan, that obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds, as opposed to photosynthesis

Question 10

Climax Community

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Combustion

Answer 11

The process of burning

Question 12

Commercial or Economic Extinction

Answer 12

A few individuals exist but the effort needed to locate and harvest them is not worth the expense

Question 13

Community

Answer 13

Formed from populations of different species occupying the same geographic area

Question 14

Competitive Exclusion

Answer 14

The process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins

Question 15

Consumer

Answer 15

An organism that must obtain food energy from secondary sources by, for example, eating plant or animal matter

Question 16

decomposer

Answer 16

Bacteria or Fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter, like plant material, the wastes of living organisms, and corpses, and convert these materials into inorganic forms

Question 17

Dentrification

Answer 17

The process by which specialized bacteria (mostly anaerobic bacteria) convert ammonia to NO3, NO2, and N2, which are released back into the atmosphere

Question 18

Detritivore

Answer 18

Organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter, such as dead animals or fallen leaves; Earthworms and many species of fungi are detritivores

Question 19

Ecological Extinction

Answer 19

The condition in which there are so few individuals of a species that the species can no longer perform its ecological function

Question 20

Ecological Succession

Answer 20

The transition in species composition of a biological community, often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in any area virtually barren of life

Question 21

Edge Effect

Answer 21

The condition in which there is greater species diversity and biological density at ecosystem boundaries than there is in the heart of ecological communities

Question 22

Energy Pyramid

Answer 22

The structure obtained if we organize the amount of energy contained in producers and consumers in an ecosystem by kilocalories per square meter, from largest to smallest

Question 23

Evaporation

Answer 23

To convert or change into vapor

Question 24

Evolution

Answer 24

Change in the genetic composition of a population during succesive generations as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals and resulting in the development of new species

Question 25

Extinction

Answer 25

The death of an entire species; permanent inactiviy

Question 26

Food Chain

Answer 26

A succession of organisms in a ecological community that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another as each consumes a lower member and, in turn, is preyed upon by a high member

Question 27

Food Web

Answer 27

A complex of interrelated food chains in an ecological community

Question 28

Gause's principle

Answer 28

States that no two species can occupy the same niche at the same time, and that the species that is less fit to live in the environment will either relocate, die out, or occupy a smaller niche

Question 29

Gross Primary Productivity

Answer 29

The amount of sugar that plants produce in photosynthesis minus the amount of energy the plants need for growth, maintainance, repair, and reproduction

Question 30

Habitat

Answer 30

The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs

Question 31

Habitat Fragmentation

Answer 31

When the size of an organism's natural habitat is reduced, or when development occurs that isolates a habitat

Question 32

Heterotroph

Answer 32

An organism that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition

Question 33

Indigenous Species

Answer 33

Species that originate and live, or occur naturally, in an area or environment

Question 34

Invasive Species

Answer 34

An introduced, nonnative species

Question 35

Keystone Species

Answer 35

A species whose very presence contributes to an ecosystem's diversity and whose extinction would consequently lead to the extinction of other forms of life

Question 36

Law of Conservation of Matter

Answer 36

States that matter can neither be created nor destroyed

Question 37

Mutualism

Answer 37

A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit

Question 38

Natural Selection

Answer 38

The process by which, according to Darwin's Theory of Evolution, only the organisms best adapted to their environmnet tend to survive and transmit their genetic characteristics in increasing numbers to succeeding generations, while those less adapted tend to be eliminated

Question 39

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

Answer 39

The amount of energy that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem

Question 40

Niche

Answer 40

The toal sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment

Question 41

Nitrification

Answer 41

The process in which soil bacteria convert ammonium (NH4^+) to a form that can be used by plants; nitrate, or NO3

Question 42

Nitrogen Fixation

Answer 42

The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds, such as ammonia, by natural agencies or various industrial processes

Question 43

Omnivores

Answer 43

Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers

Question 44

Parasitism

Answer 44

A symbiotic relationship in which one member is helped by the association and the other is harmed

Question 45

Photosynthesis

Answer 45

The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light an as energy source: most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct

Question 46

Pioneer Species

Answer 46

Organisms in the first stages of succession

Question 47

Population

Answer 47

A group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area

Question 48

Predation

Answer 48

When one species feeds on another

Question 49

Predator

Answer 49

A species that feeds on another species

Question 50

Prey

Answer 50

A species that is subject to predation by another species

Question 51

Primary Consumers

Answer 51

Organisms that consume producers (plants and algae)

Question 52

Primary Succession

Answer 52

When ecological succession begins in a virtually lifeless area, such as the area behind a moving glacier

Question 53

Producer

Answer 53

An organism that is capable of converting radiant energy or chemical energy into carbohydrates

Question 54

Realized Niche

Answer 54

When a species occupies a smaller niche than it would in the absence of competition

Question 55

Resevoir

Answer 55

A place where a large quantity of a resource sits for a long period of time

Question 56

Respiration

Answer 56

The process in which animals (and plants!) breathe and give off carbon dioxide from cellular metabolism

Question 57

Residency time

Answer 57

The amount of time a resource spends in a resevoir or an exchange pool

Question 58

Secondary Consumers

Answer 58

Organisms that consume primary consumers

Question 59

Species

Answer 59

Organisms that are capable of breeding with one another and incapable of breeding with other species

Question 60

Species Richness

Answer 60

The number of different species found in an ecosystem

Question 61

Symbiotic Relationships

Answer 61

Close, prolonged associations between two or more different organisms of different species that may, but do not necessarily, benefit the members

Question 62

Tertiary Consumers

Answer 62

Organisms that consume secondary consumers or other tertiary consumers

Question 63

Transpiration

Answer 63

The act or process of transpiring, or releasing water vapor, especially through the stomata of plant tissue or the pores of the skin

Question 64

Trophic Level

Answer 64

Each of the feeding levels in a food chain