Unit 1-The Living World: Ecosystems Vocab

Question 1

Adaptations

Answer 1

1. (climate change)-the pursuit of strategies to protect ourselves from the impacts of climate change.
2. (evolution)-the process by which traits that lead to increase productive success in a given environment evolve in a population through natural selection.

Question 2

Autotrophs

Answer 2

(primary producer)-an organism that can use the energy from sunlight to produce its own food. Includes screen plants, algae, and cyanobacteria.

Question 3

Biogeochemical Cycle

Answer 3

The comprehensive set of cyclical pathways by which a given nutrient moves through the environment.

Question 4

Biome

Answer 4

A major regional complex of similar plant communities; a large ecological unit defined by its dominant plant type and vegetation structure.

Question 5

Boreal Forest

Answer 5

A biome of northern coniferous force that stretches in a broad ban across much of Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Scandinavia. Also known as taiga, boreal forest consists of a limited number of species of Evergreen trees, such as black spruce, that dominate large regions of forest interspersed with occasional bogs and lakes.

Question 6

Carnivores

Answer 6

An organism that consumes animals.

Question 7

Chapparal

Answer 7

A biome consisting mostly of densely thicketed evergreen shrubs occurring in limited small patches. It’s “Mediterranean” climate of mild, wet Winters and warm, dry summers is induced by oceanic influences. In addition to ringing the Mediterranean Sea, chapparal occurs along the coast of California, Chile and Southern Australia.

Question 8

Climatographs

Answer 8

A visual representation of a region’s average monthly temperature and precipitation. Also known as a climate diagram.

Question 9

Commensalism

Answer 9

An association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm.

Question 10

Competition

Answer 10

A relationship in which multiple organisms seek the same limited resource.

Question 11

Competitive Exclusion

Answer 11

An outcome of interspecific competition in which one species excludes another species from resource use entirely.

Question 12

Decomposer

Answer 12

An organism, such as a fungus or bacterium, that breaks down leaf litter and other non-living matter into simple constituents that can be taken up and used by plants.

Question 13

Denitrifying Bacteria

Answer 13

Bacteria that convert the nitrates in soil or water into gaseous nitrogen and release it back into the atmosphere.

Question 14

Desert

Answer 14

The driest biome on Earth, with annual precipitation of less than 25 cm. Because deserts have relatively little vegetation to insulate them from temperature extremes, sunlight readily heats them in the daytime, but daytime heat is quickly lost at night, so temperatures vary widely from day to night and in different seasons.

Question 15

Detritivores

Answer 15

An organism, such as a millipede or soil insect, that scavenges the waste products or dead bodies of other community members.

Question 16

Eutrophication

Answer 16

The process of nutrient enrichment, increased production of organic matter, and subsequent ecosystem degradation in a water body.

Question 17

Feedback Loop

Answer 17

A circular process in which a system’s output serves as input to that same system.

Question 18

Flux

Answer 18

The movement of nutrients among pools or reservoirs in a nutrient cycle.

Question 19

Food Chain

Answer 19

A linear series of feeding relationships. As organisms feed on one another, energy is transferred from lower to higher trophic levels.

Question 20

Fundamental Niche

Answer 20

A full niche(the functional role of a species in a community) of species.

Question 21

Herbivores

Answer 21

An organism that consumes plants.

Question 22

Interspecific Competition

Answer 22

Competition that takes place among members of two or more different species.

Question 23

Intraspecific Competition

Answer 23

Competition that takes place among members of the same species.

Question 24

Keystone Species

Answer 24

A species that has an especially far-reaching effect on a community.

Question 25

Mutualism

Answer 25

A relationship in which all participating organisms benefit from their interaction.

Question 26

Net Primary Productivity

Answer 26

The rate at which net primary production is produced.

Question 27

Nitrification

Answer 27

The conversion by bacteria of ammonium ions (NH4+) first into nitrite ions(NO2-) and then into nitrate ions (NO3-).

Question 28

Nitrogen Fixation

Answer 28

The process by which inert nitrogen gas combines with hydrogen to form ammonium ions(NH4+), which are chemically and biologically active and can be taken up by plants.

Question 29

Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria

Answer 29

Bacteria that live independently in the soil or water, or those that form mutualistic relationships with many types of plants and provide nutrients to plants by converting gaseous nitrogen to a usable form.

Question 30

Nutrient Cycle

Answer 30

The comprehensive set of cyclical pathways by which a given nutrient moves through the environment.

Question 31

Omnivores

Answer 31

An organism that consumes both plants and animals.

Question 32

Pathogens

Answer 32

A parasite that causes disease in its host.

Question 33

Parasitism

Answer 33

The practice of living as a parasite in or on another organism.

Question 34

Permafrost

Answer 34

In tundra, underground soil that remains more or less permanently frozen.

Question 35

Phytoplankton

Answer 35

Microscopic photosynthetic algae, protists, and cyanobacteria that drift near the surface of water bodies and generally form the first tropic level in an aquatic food chain.

Question 36

Pool

Answer 36

A location in which nutrients in a biogeochemical cycle remain for a period of time before moving to another pool. Can be living or nonliving entities. Synonymous with reservoir.

Question 37

Predation

Answer 37

The process in which one species (the predator) hunts, tracks, captures, and ultimately kills its prey.

Question 38

Prey

Answer 38

An organism that is killed and consumed by a predator.

Question 39

Primary Consumers

Answer 39

An organism that consumes producers and feeds at the second tropic level.

Question 40

Producers (autotroph)

Answer 40

An organism that uses energy from sunlight to produce its own food. Includes green plants, algae, and cyanobacteria.

Question 41

Productivity

Answer 41

The rate at which plants convert solar energy (sunlight) to biomass. Ecosystems whose plants convert solar energy to biomass rapidly are said to have high productivity.

Question 42

Realized Niche

Answer 42

The portion of the fundamental niche that is fully realized (used) by a species.

Question 43

Reservoir

Answer 43

1. An artificial water body behind a dam that stores water for human use. 2. See pool.

Question 44

Residence Time

Answer 44

1. In a biogeochemical cycle, the amount of time a nutrient remains in a given pool or reservoir before moving to another. 2. In the atmosphere, the amount of time a gas molecule or a pollutant remains aloft.

Question 45

Resource Partitioning

Answer 45

The process by which species adapt to competition by evolving to use sightly different resources, or to use their shared resources in different ways, thus minimizing interference with one another.

Question 46

Savanna

Answer 46

A biome characterized by a grassland interspersed with clusters of acacias and other trees. Savanna is found across parts of Africa (where it was the ancestral home of our species), South America, Australia, India, and other dry regions.

Question 47

Secondary Consumers

Answer 47

An organism that consumes primary consumers and feeds at the third trophic level.

Question 48

Sink

Answer 48

In a nutrient cycle, a pool that accepts more nutrients than it releases.

Question 49

Source

Answer 49

In a nutrient cycle, a pool that releases more nutrients than it accepts.

Question 50

Symbiosis

Answer 50

A relationship between different species of organisms that live in close physical proximity. People most often use the term "symbiosis" when referring to a mutualism, but symbiotic relationships can be either parasitic or mutualistic.

Question 51

Taiga

Answer 51

A biome of northern coniferous forest that stretches in a broad band across much of Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Scandinavia. Also known as boreal forest, taiga consist of a limited number of species of Evergreen trees, such as black spruce, that dominate large regions of forest interspersed with occasional blogs and lakes.

Question 52

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Answer 52

A biome consisting of midlatitude forests characterized by broad-leafed trees that lose their leaves each fall and remain dormant during the winter. These forests occur in areas where precipitation is spread relatively evenly throughout the year: much of Europe, eastern China, and eastern North America.

Question 53

Temperate Grasslands

Answer 53

A biome whose vegetation is dominated by grasses and features more extreme temperature differences between winter and summer and less precipitation than temperate deciduous forests. Also known as steppe, prairie.

Question 54

Temperate Rainforest

Answer 54

A biome consisting of tall coniferous trees, cooler and less species-rich than tropical rainforest and milder and wetter than temperate deciduous forest.

Question 55

Tertiary Consumers

Answer 55

An organism that consumes secondary consumers and feeds at the fourth tropic level.

Question 56

Trophic Cascade

Answer 56

A series of changes in the population sizes of organisms at different trophic levels in a food chain, occurring when predators at high trophic levels indirectly promote populations of organisms at low trophic levels by keeping species at intermediate trophic levels in check. Trophic cascades may become apparent when a top predator is eliminated from a system.

Question 57

Trophic Levels

Answer 57

Rank in the feeding hierarchy of a food chain. Organisms at higher trophic levels consume those at lower trophic levels.

Question 58

Tropical Deciduous Forest

Answer 58

A biome that consists of deciduous trees and occurs at tropical and subtropical latitudes where wet and dry seasons each span about half a year. Widespread in India, Africa, South America, and northern Australia. Also known as tropical dry forest.

Question 59

Tropical Dry Forest

Answer 59

A biome that consists of deciduous trees and occurs at tropical and subtropical latitudes where wet and dry seasons each span about half the year. Widespread in India, Africa, South America, and northern Australia also known as tropical deciduous forest.

Question 60

Tropical Rainforest

Answer 60

A biome characterized by year-round rain and uniformly warm temperatures. Found in Central America, South America, Southeast Asia, west Africa, and other tropical regions. Tropical rainforests have dark, damp interiors; lavish vegetation; and highly diverse biotic communities.

Question 61

Tundra

Answer 61

A biome that is nearly as dry as desert but is located at the very high latitudes along the northern edges of Russia, Canada, and Scandinavia. Extremely cold winters with little daylight and moderately cool summers with lengthy days characterized this landscape of lichens and slow, scrubby vegetation.

Question 62

Zooplankton

Answer 62

Tiny aquatic animals that feed on phytoplankton and generally comprise the second trophic level in an aquatic food chain.

Question 63

Predator

Answer 63

An organism that hunts, captures, kills, and consumes individuals of another species, the prey.

Question 64

Food Web

Answer 64

A visual representation of a feeding interactions within an ecological community that shows an array of relationships between organisms at different trophic levels.