| Question |
Answer |
| Define Ecology |
the study of the interactions between living and non-living things. |
| Define Population |
a group of interbreeding organisms coexisting together |
| Define Community |
a group of populations living and interacting in the same area |
| Define Ecosystem |
an association of living organisms and their physical environment |
| Define Biome |
a group of ecosystems classified by climate and plant life |
| Define Primary Consumers |
an organism that eats producers |
| Define Secondary Consumers |
an organism that eats primary consumers |
| Define Tertiary Consumers |
an organism that eats secondary consumers |
| Define Ecological Pyramid |
a diagram that shows the biomass of organisms at each trophic level |
| Define Biomass |
a measure of the total dry mass of organisms within a particular region |
| Define Transpiration |
evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant |
| Define Watershed |
an ecosystem where all water runoff drains into a single body of water |
| Define Greenhouse Effect |
the process by which certain gases trap heat that would otherwise escape the earth and radiate into space |
| When fruits and vegetables are important into the U.S. from a foreign country, they are always very closely inspected for insects, even though the majority of the insects are not really harmful. Why is the inspection done? |
because it can ruin the balance of the ecosystem |
| Which two trophic levels have the greatest disparity in biomass? |
primary consumers and secondary consumers |
| Between two trophic levels is the smallest amount of energy wasted? |
producer and primary consumers |
| Name the participants in the three new symbiotic relationships that we learned in this module. |
Clownfish and Sea Anemone, Oriental Sweet-lips and blue-streaked wrasse, and Blind Shrimp and Goby |
| What fundamental assumption of macroevolution does mutualism seem to contradict? |
they struggle for survival |
| Why doesn't the ocean lose water? |
because the excess water from land runs into the ocean |
| What does the water cycle accomplish besides balancing the water in an ecosystem? |
it transports the nutrients |
| What is the possible consequence if deforestation occurs in a watershed? |
too many nutrients would flow into the water, causing the ecosystem to become off balance |
| What is the principal means by which oxygen is taken from the air? What is the principal means it is restored to the air? |
respiration; photosynthesis |
| Name the other ways that oxygen is removed from the air. |
ozone formation, rusting of metals and mineral, and fire |
| Name the other ways that oxygen is replenished in the air. |
ozone destruction and water vapor destruction |
| Name the ways carbon dioxide is removed from the air. |
dissolving into the ocean and photosynthesis |
| Name the ways in which carbon dioxide is replenished in the air. |
fuel burning, fire, respiration, and decomposition |
| What human activity worries those who think that global warming is a problem? |
Burning fuel |
| Is human-produced global warming occurring now? |
No |
| What is nitrogen-fixation? What type of organisms perform it? |
It converts nitrogen gas into chemically active molecules that many organisms can use; nitrogen-fixing bacteria |
| What two ways does that nitrogen in organisms get put back in to the environment? |
Waste and Decomposition |
Ch.18 LTI-MA 509
