Question | Answer |
Place in which an organism lives; spends majority of it's lifetime | Habitat |
The presence of interbreeding individuals in one place at a given time | Population |
A group of biological communities that interact with the physical environment | Ecosystem |
Converting nitrogen from a gas to a solid/usable form by bacteria | Nitrogen fixation |
The movement of chemicals on a global scale from abiotic through biotic parts of the environment | Biogeochemical cycle |
Largest level of ecological organization | Biosphere |
Smallest level of ecological organization | Organism |
The wind blowing through branches is what type of factor in that environment? | Abiotic |
The caterpillar eating the trees leaves is what type of factor in that environment? | Biotic |
The process of pollination demonstrates what type of symbiotic relationship? | Mutualistic |
What type of heterotroph is a snake? | Carnivore |
How does ALL energy first enter an ecosystem? | Sun |
Where is the largest concentration of nitrogen on earth found? | Atmosphere |
A group of individual organisms of the same species is known as a(n) | Population |
The study of interactions among organisms and their environment | Ecology |
Collect energy from the sun; storing it for other organisms | Autotrophs |
Act of one organism consuming another | Predation |
Allows a scientist to represent or simulate a process or system | Model |
Close relationship that exists when two or more species live together | Symbiotic relationship |
Group of interacting populations | Biological community |
Large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of communities | Biome |
Living factors in an organisms environment | Biotic factors |
Nonliving factors in an organisms environment | Abiotc factors |
Occurs when more than one organism uses a resource at the same time | Competition |
Portion of the earth that supports life | Biosphere |
Great examples of mutualistic relationships in nature; algae and a fungi | Lichens |
Food chains and food webs represent what kind of data? | Qualitative |
Ecological pyramids represent what kind of data? | Quantitative |
Part of all organic compounds; major component of living things | Carbon |
Inorganic nutrients ___ through the environment due to flow of energy in ecosystems | Cycle |
Nutrient needs by organisms to produce proteins | Nitrogen |
The current in the stream a salmon is swimming up to spawn is what time of factor in its environment? | Abiotic |
Most life on earth is found where? | Northern hemisphere |
Relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is unharmed/unaffected. | Commensalism |
Type of relationship in which one organism benefits at the expense of the other | Parasitism |
Ability to cause change; cannot be created or destroyed, simply transformed | Energy |
Model which shows the many ways energy can flow through organisms | Food web |
Simplified model representing the transfer of energy from organism to organism | Food chain |
Each step in a food web or food chain | Trophic level |
Eat fragments of dead matter int he ecosystem and return nutrients to the soil, air and water | Detritivores |
Release enzymes to digest organic material around them and absorb the simplified nutrients | Decomposers |
Anything that has mass or takes up space | Matter |
Chemical substance that an organism must obtain from it's environment in order to sustain life | Nutrient |
Total mass of living matter at each trophic level; decreases at each level | Biomass |
Studies water processes, such as distribution in nature, water flow in a dam or river, etc. | Hydrologist |
All organisms on earth rely on ___ water | Fresh |
Bacteria in soil convert fixed nitrogen compounds back into nitrogen gas which returns to the atmosphere | Denitrification |
Element that is essential for the growth and development of organisms; may be locked up in short or long term cycles | Phosphorous |