Describe the role that producers play in an ecosystem.
Producers, such as plants, algae and some bacteria, capture and convert energy into a form that is usable by other organisms.
100
_________ is an essential component of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, which make up all organisms.
Carbon
100
Describe the role of pioneer species in the process of ecological succession.
They are the first organisms to colonize any newly available area and begin the process of ecological succession.
100
Energy from the sun enters an ecosystem when a plant uses sunlight to make sugar molecules by a process called...
photosynthesis
100
Each step in the transfer of energy through a food chain or food web in an ecosystem is known as a ________ _______.
trophic level
200
Describe how energy is transferred from one organism to another.
Energy is transferred from producers to consumers when consumers eat producers. Consumers also gain energy by eating other consumers. Decomposers gain energy by breaking down dead producers and consumers.
200
Identify one way that humans are affecting the carbon cycle.
burning fossil fuels (cars, factories, power plants, etc.)
200
When farmland is abandoned, grasses and weeds quickly grow and cover the abandoned land. This is an example of secondary succession called...
old-field succession
200
________ is an organism that makes its own food.
producer
200
__________ ____________ is a gradual process of change and replacement of the types of species in a community.
Ecological succession
300
Describe the chemical equation for cellular respiration.
Glucose and oxygen combine to produce carbon dioxide, water, and energy.
300
________-________ bacteria are the only organisms that can fix atmospheric nitrogen into chemical compounds
nitrogen-fixing
300
Compare primary and secondary succession.
primary- occurs on a surface where no ecosystem previously existed
secondary- occurs on a surface where an ecosystem previously existed.
300
A _________ is an organism that gets its energy by eating other organisms.
consumer
300
A _______ _________ is a final and stable community.
climax community
400
Compare energy transfer in a food chain to energy transfer in a food web.
Food chain- linear and represents different trophic levels
Food web- complex and contains many food chains
400
In the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen moves between the __________ and ______ ________.
atmosphere, living things
400
Natural fires caused by lightening are a necessary part of ___________ _________ in some communities.
secondary succession
400
____________ break down dead organisms in an ecosystem and returns nutrients to soil, water, and air.
Decomposers
400
The cells in leaves contain a green chemical called _________. This helps plants trap energy from the sun to produce energy-rich carbohydrates.
chlorophyll
500
Only about ____% of the energy that an organism
consumes is stored and transferred when that organism is
eaten.
a.90 b.80 c.10 d.25
c. 10
500
This cycle is slow and does not normally occur in the atmosphere.
phosphorus cycle
500
Would a newly-formed volcanic island be a site of primary succession or secondary succession?
primary succession
500
________ ___________ is the process of breaking down food to yield energy. Essentially, its equation is the reverse of the equation for photosynthesis.