Question | Answer |
1a. Ecology | The study of the interactions between living and nonliving things. |
1b. Population | A group of interbreeding organisms coexisting together. |
1c. Community | A group of populations living and interacting in the same area. |
1d. Ecosystem | An association of living organisms and their physical environment. |
1e. Biome | A group of ecosystems classified by climate and plant life. |
1f. Primary consumer | An organism that eats producers. |
1g. Secondary consumer | An organism that eats primary consumers. |
1h. Tertiary consumer | An organism that eats secondary comsumers. |
1i. Ecological Pyramid | A diagram that shows the biomass of organisms at each trophic level. |
1j. Biomass | A measure of the total dry mass of organisms within a particular region. |
1k. Transpiration | Evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant. |
1l. Watershed | An ecosystem where all water runoff drains into a single body of water. |
1m. Greenhouse effect | The process by which certain gases (principally water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) trap heat that would otherwise escape the earth and radiate into space. |
2. When fruits or vegetables are imported into the U.S. from a foreign country, they are always very closely inspected for insects, even though the vast majority of insects are not really harmful. Why is the inspection done? | Because an insect new to the U.S. could bring an inbalance to the ecosystem. |
3. For the following abbreviated food web, list all possible trophic levels for each organism. | Shark- tertiary, secondary. Sea bass- tertiary, secondary. Sea turtle- secondary, primary. Ocean perch- secondary. Meran- secondary, primary. Zooplankton- primary. Phytoplankton- producer. |
4. Consider the following ecological pyramid:a. Which two trophic levels have the greatest disparity in biomass? b. Between which two trophic levels is the smallest amount of energy wasted? | a. Primary and secondary consumers. b. Tertiary and secondary consumers. |
5. Name the participants in the three new symbiotic relationships that we learned in this module. Briefly describe the roles of each participant. | Clownfish-scares away predators. Sea anemones-stings predators. Blind shrimp-makes tunnels for protection. Goby-Alerts in case of predators. Oriental sweetlips-Provides food for blue-streak wrasse. Blue-streak wrasse-Cleans Oriental sweetlips' teeth. |
6. What fundamental assumption of macroevolution does mutualism seem to contradict? | That species and their instincts change. |
7. In the water cycle of an ocean shore ecosystem, more water evaporates from the ocean than falls back into the ocean in the form of rain. Why doesn't the ocean lose water? | Because surface runoff puts the water back in. |
8. What does the water cycle accomplish besides balancing the water in an ecosystem? | It transports nutrients from one part of an ecosystem to another and between one ecosystem and another. |
9. What is the possible consequence if deforestation occurs in a watershed? | Too many minerals and nutrients will leave the ecosystem. |
10. What is the principal means by which oxygen is taken from the air? What is the principal means by which it is restored to the air? | Respiration. Photosynthesis. |
11. Name the other ways that oxygen is removed from the air. | Fire, ozone formation, and rusting of metals and minerals. |
12. Name the other ways that oxygen is replenished in the air. | Ozone destruction and water vapor destruction. |
13. Name the ways in which carbon dioxide is removed from the air. | Dissolving into ocean and photosynthesis. |
14. Name the ways in which carbon dioxide is replenished in the air. | Fuel burning, fire, respiration, and decomposition. |
15. What human activity worries those who think that global warming is a problem? | Fuel burning. |
16. Is human-produced global warming occurring now? | No. |
17. 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. |
18. What two ways does the nitrogen in organisms get put back into the environment? | Waste and decaying remains. |