| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Angiosperm | flowering plants with seeds which are developed within an ovary |
| Assemblage | a subset of a community |
| Atmosphere | the envelope of gasses that surrounds the earth |
| Autecology | ecological research which focuses on one species |
| Autotrophs | photosynthetic plants that produce chemical energy using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide |
| Biomass | the mass of living material in an ecosystem; generally considered the dried weight of all living matter in a prescribed area |
| Biome | very large areas of the earth's surface that have a similar climate and vegetation |
| Biosphere | all life on the earth |
| C3 Pathway | photosynthetic pathway in which plants convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into a 3-carbon molecule called 3-phosophoglyceric |
| C4 Pathway | photosynthetic pathway in which plants convert carbon dioxide into two 4-carbon molecules, malic and aspartic acid; common in grasses from warm regions |
| Chemosynthesis | process by which bacteria oxidize sulfur from hydrothermal vents to form carbohydrates |
| Class | a taxonomic category that includes groups of related orders |
| Conifer | cone bearing gymnosperms such as pines and spruces |
| Community | all the different populations of organisms that live and interact with each other within a prescribed area |
| CAM (Crassulacean acid metabolism) photosynthesis | plants absorb CO2 at night and store it as malic acid, and conduct C3 photosynthesis during the day; used by cacti |
| Dicotyledon | a class of angiosperms in which the earliest leaf-like structures develop as a pair; also have leaves with net-like venation |
| Ecosystem | all the interacting biological and physical components of a prescribed area |
| Family | a taxonomic category that includes taxonomically similar and related genera |
| Food web | the complex flow of energy between different trophic levels |
| Genus (genera) | a taxonomic category that includes groups of taxonomically similar and closely related species |
| Greenhouse effect | the phenomenon in which carbon dioxide, methane, and certain other gasses in the atmosphere allow the downward transmission of incoming solar light energy and trap outgoing heat energy. Increases in CO2 and other greenhouse gasses due to the burning of fossil fuels and other human actions may lead to significant increases in temperature and global sea level over the next 100 years |
| Guilds | groups of species within a community that have similar forms, habitat, and resource requirements |
| Gymnosperm | seed bearing plants in which the seeds are produced outside of a protective ovule |
| Heterotrophs | non-photosynthetic organisms that depend upon consuming other organisms to acquire energy |
| Hydrosphere | all of the water in the atmosphere, on the surface, and below the surface of the earth |
| Kingdom | a taxonomic category that contains groups of related phyla |
| Lithosphere | the geological structure of the earth, including both the solid rock and liquid forms such as magma |
| Metapopulations | members of the same species that are found in different and separated locations; members of different ones do not interact with others on a regular bases |
| Monocotyledon | a class of angiosperms in which the first leaf-like photosynthetic structures develop as a single shoot, and have leaves with parallel venation |
| Order | a taxonomic category that includes groups of related families |
| Photosynthesis | the process by which plants combine water and carbon dioxide in the presence of sunlight to capture visible light spectrum electromagnetic energy in the sunlight and transform it into chemical energy in the form of simple sugars |
| Phyla | a taxonomic category that contains groups of related classes |
| Population | all individuals of a given species in a prescribed area; members of the same one are assumed to be close enough in proximity to be able to interact and interbreed frequently |
| Primary productivity | the energy fixed in an ecosystem by photosynthesis, sometimes determined by rates of biomass accumulation |
| Respiration | the oxidative chemical reaction that breaks the high-energy bonds of carbohydrates to release energy for an organism's metabolism |
| Soil | the uppermost layer of mineral and organic matter found on the earth's surface |
| Species | includes all individuals that can sexually reproduce with each other and produce fertile offspring |
| Stomata | specialized cells on the surfaces of plants that open to allow the exchange of gasses between the plant interior and the atmosphere |
| Synecology | ecological research which focuses on the interactions between different species in communities |
| Systematics | taxonomic studies that are directed at determining the evolutionary relationship between different groups of organisms |
| Taxon (taxa, taxonomy) | any biological taxonomic category such as family, genus, or species |
| Trophic levels | the hierarchical levels of the food chain through which energy flows from primary producers to primary consumers, secondary consumers and so on |
| Troposphere | the lowest level of the atmosphere where all life exists |
| Littoral zone | shallow margins of the lake where plants can take root and receive sunlight for photosynthesis |
| Profundal zone | deep part of the lake where plants can't take root or reach sunlight |
| oligotrophic lakes | lakes with high oxygen, low nutrients, and low productivity |
| eutrophic lakes | lakes with very low oxygen, high nutrients, and high productivity |
| benthic zone | bottom of lakes and oceans |
| nekton | organisms, such as fish, that can propel themselves through water |
| plankton | organisms that exist by passively floating in the waters of a lake or ocean |
| epilimnion | top layer of a lake, warmest temperature |
| metalimnion | middle layer of a lake, separates the epilimnion and hypolimnion |
| hypolimnion | coldest and deepest layer of a lake |
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