question

Food Web

answer

a community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains

question

Food Chain

answer

a community of organisms where each member is eaten in turn by another member

question

phytoplankton

answer

floating algae

question

zooplankton

answer

microscopic animals that swim or drift near the surface of aquatic environments

question

trophic level

answer

Each step in a food chain or food web

question

ecological pyramid

answer

shows the relative amounts of energy or matter within each trophic level in a food chain or food web

question

biomass

answer

the total amount of mass of living tissue within a given trophic level

question

explain how energy flows through your food chain

answer

Energy flows from trophic level to trophic level, starting with the producers.

question

What would happen to this food chain if a disturbance caused a serious decline in the population of the top consumer?

answer

The Lion population will decrease, the gazelle population will increase, which will cause plants to die out because the gazelles are are eating it all.

question

Primary consumers always make up the first trophic level in a food web.

answer

False

question

Ecological pyramids show the relative amount of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a given food web.

answer

True

question

On average, about 50 percent of the energy available within one trophic level is transferred to the next level.

answer

False

question

The more levels that exist between a producer and a given consumer, the largest the percentage of original energy from producers is available to that consumer.

answer

False

question

What is a pyramid that best illustrates the relative amount of living organic matter available at each trophic level

answer

ecological pyramid

question

What is a pyramid that best shows the relative number of individual organisms at the trophic levels in an ecosystem

answer

Pyramid of numbers

question

What is a pyramid that shows the relative amount of energy available at the trophic levels of a food chain or food

answer

Biomass pyramid

question

Chemical energy

answer

the part of the energy in a substance that can be released by a chemical reaction

question

Light Energy

answer

how nature moves energy at an extremely rapid rate

question

producer

answer

An organism that can make its own food.

question

first level consumer

answer

can make its own food or produces it form the sun energy

question

second level consumer

answer

something that eats first level consumers (carnivores)

question

third level consumer

answer

can be carnivores or omnivores, obtain energy by eating the second level consumers

question

first level energy amount

answer

10%

question

second level energy amount

answer

1%

question

third level energy amount

answer

.01%

question

primary producers energy amount

answer

100%

question

biochemical cycles

answer

is a pathway by which a chemical substance moves through both biotic and abiotic compartments of Earth.

question

nutrients

answer

a substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life.

question

nitrogen fixation

answer

the process in which certain bacteria convert nitrogen gas into ammonia

question

denitrification

answer

The conversion of nitrates into nitrogen gas which is then released into the atmosphere.

question

limiting nutrient

answer

A factor present in an environment that controls a process, particularly the growth, abundance or distribution of a population of organisms in an ecosystem.

question

Explain why Earth is considered a closed system

answer

because the same cycles happen over and over again

question

How might building a new highway affect the cycles of matter?

answer

Building a highway means clearing out trees, plants, and habitats of organisms, which limits nutrient availability. This prevents the nutrients from being recycled

question

What role do plants play in the water cycle?

answer

they help remove the carbon dioxide from the air through the form of photosynthesis

question

The carbon in coal, oil and natural gas came from

answer

The remains of dead organisms

question

How does most of the carbon in an organism's body return to the environment after the organism dies?

answer

Decomposers break the body down into simpler compounds

question

Human processes mainly contribute to the

answer

Release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

question

List and describe the biological steps in the nitrogen cycle:

answer

Step 1. Nitrogen fixation - bacteria take nitrogen gas from atmosphere and fix (make it stick) it into soil Step 2. Once in soil, plants absorb it into their roots Step 3. Consumers eat producers and reuse the nitrogen to make compounds Step 4. Decomposers release nitrogen from dead organisms into soil Step 5. denitrification Bacteria convert it back to a gas

question

What is atmospheric nitrogen fixation and how does it affect organisms?

answer

When lightning strikes, some atmospheric nitrogen is converted to usable compounds in soil to be used by organisms

question

How do humans add nitrogen to the biosphere?

answer

by adding fertilizers

question

Which part of the phosphorus cycle are geological processes?

answer

marine sediment turned into rock and washes phosphates from rock to ocean

question

If nutrients were in short supply in an ecosystem, how might it affect an organism?

answer

It would limit the organism's growth, or even survival

question

When is a substance a limiting nutrient?

answer

When it is scarce or cycles very slowly and limits an ecosystem's growth

question

(The Nitrogen Cycle) Processes that cause carbon to move into the atmosphere

answer

Respiration- Organisms eat and break down food, releasing CO2 through cellular respiration Volcanic Activity- The release of CO2 and other gases into the atmosphere through vents in Earth's crust.

question

Processes that cause carbon to move out of the atmosphere

answer

Photosynthesis- Plants use of sunlight, water and CO2 to produce carbohydrates Ex: Dissolving, fossil fuels, others- CO2 dissolves in rainwater; animals are decomposed, pressurized and converted to fossil fuels over time

question

What is the greenhouse effect?

answer

Holds the heat of the sun

question

What is the difference between weather and climate?

answer

Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere acts over long periods of time.

question

What is an organism's niche?

answer

A niche is an organism's role in a community. What it eats, Where it eats, When it eats, and its job in that environment.

question

What is symbiosis?

answer

Symbiosis is the interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.

question

What are the three different types of symbiosis?

answer

commensalism, mutualism, parasitism

question

When is primary succession likely to occur?

answer

primary succession will likely occur after when there are no remnants of an older community

question

What is the difference between primary succession and secondary succession?

answer

primary succession will likely occur after when there are no remnants of an older community, second succession is more likely to occur when the area is not completely destroyed

question

What is a climax community?

answer

when an area reached its amount to survive

question

What is an estuary?

answer

An estuary is the tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream.

question

What landforms are not classified into a major biome?

answer

mountain ranges, and polar caps

question

What is the difference between the photic and aphotic zone?

answer

200 meters photic is higher up in the ocean and has photosynthesis, while aphotic zone is dark and has no photosynthesis

question

What does water circulation do for a lake or pond?

answer

it gives heat, oxygen and other nutrients to the lake or pond

question

Other than photic and aphotic zones, what are three divisions (or zones) of marine ecosystems?

answer

interidal zone,coastal zone, and oceanic zone

question

How do ocean currents originate?

answer

it changes in the temperature of the water

question

How do winds originate?

answer

changes in wind temperature

question

What is the competitive exclusion principle?

answer

the competitive exclusion principle states that no two species can coexist if they occupy the same niche at the same time, in the same place, and compete for the same resources. If two species complete one will die, or migrate, or change its niche

question

What are the major biomes from our book?

answer

Tropical Rain Forest, Tropical Dry Forest, Tropical Grassland/Savanna/Shrubland, Desert, Temperate Grassland, Temperate Woodland and Shrubland, Temperate Forest, Northwestern Coniferous Forest, Boreal Forest, Tundra

question

What abiotic factors are most common in differentiating between the biomes?

answer

biomes are on land not on the ocean, the soil, the climate

question

What is Ecology?

answer

how all life lives

question

What does the biosphere contain?

answer

everything

question

How are human economics and ecology linked?

answer

working with money and ecology is the study of organisms

question

Make a diagram that shows the levels of organization in ecology

answer

Organism→ Population→ community→ ecosystem→ biome→ biosphere

question

Explain the relationship between ecosystems and biomes.

answer

an ecosystem describes all the organisms that live in one place, together with their physical environment, and a biome is a group of ecosystems that share similar climates

question

Why might an ecologist set up an artificial environment in a laboratory?

answer

it is easier to experiment with

question

Why are many ecological phenomena difficult to study?

answer

they may be affected by the climate or by the environment which might be hard to reach or get to or It may take a very long time to study

question

Why do ecologists make models?

answer

so they can study and observe the environment, and plan out ways to improve that environment

question

Ecology

answer

Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment

question

biosphere

answer

Consists of all life on Earth and all parts of the Earth in which life exists, including land, water, and the atmosphere.

question

population

answer

A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

question

community

answer

a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other

question

ecosystem

answer

A system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment

question

biome

answer

A group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms

question

biotic factor

answer

Any living part of the environment with which an organism might interact, including animals, plants, mushrooms, and bacteria

question

abiotic factor

answer

are the non-living parts of an organism's habitat, such as sunlight, heat, precipitation, humidity, wind, water currents, soil types, and so on

Biology Test 1 – Flashcards

Unlock all answers in this set

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards