Environmental Science Final Exam

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What is a keystone species?

Back

A species that plays a critical role in the health, maintenance, growth, or definition of an ecosystem.

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What is a trophic level?

Back

Each step in the transfer of energy and matter within a biological community.

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What is the approximate efficiency of energy transfer from one trophic level to the next?

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10%.

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What does your ecological or carbon footprint represent?

Back

The ratio of the amount of resources you use to the amount of resources available.

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What is a producer in an ecosystem?

Back

An organism that uses an outside source of energy, like the sun, to create energy-rich food molecules.

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Define an invasive species.

Back

A non-native species that spreads widely in a new habitat, often causing harm to the environment, economy, or human health.

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What is a food web?

Back

A complex network of feeding relationships among various organisms in an ecosystem.

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What is the difference between a consumer and a producer?

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Consumers obtain energy by eating other organisms, while producers create their own energy through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.

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What is a decomposer?

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An organism that breaks down dead or decaying organic material, returning nutrients to the ecosystem.

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What is biodiversity?

Back

The variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem, including the number of different species.