AP BIOLOGY ECOLOGY VOCAB
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saikiran1096 on March 27, 2011
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59 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Abiotic Factors | Nonliving; referring to physical and chemical properties of an environment. |
| Abyssal Zone | The part of the ocean's benthic zone between 2,000 and 6,000 m deep. |
| Acclimation | Physiological adjustment to a change in an environmental factor. |
| Aphotic zone | The part of an ocean or lake beneath the photic zone, where light does not penetrate sufficiently for photosynthesis to occur. |
| Aposematic coloration | The bright coloration of animals with effective physical or chemical defenses that acts as a warning to predators. |
| Batesian Mimicry | A type of mimicry in which a harmless species looks like a species that is poisonous or otherwise harmful to predators. |
| Benthic zone | The bottom surface of an aquatic environment |
| benthos | organisms (plants and animals) that live at or near the bottom of a sea (in benthic zone) |
| biogeography | the study of the past and present distribution of species |
| biome | Any of the world's major ecosystems, often classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment. |
| biosphere | The entire portion of Earth inhabited by life; the sum of all the planet's ecosystems. |
| biotic factors | Pertaining to the living organisms in the environment. |
| canopy | The uppermost layer of vegetation in a terrestrial biome. |
| carrying capacity | largest number of individuals of a population that a given environment can support |
| climate | the average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time |
| community | All the organisms that inhabit a particular area; an assemblage of populations of different species living close enough together for potential interaction. |
| competitive exclusion principle | The concept that when populations of two similar species compete for the same limited resources, one population will use the resources more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the elimination of the other population. |
| cryptic coloration | Camouflage that makes a potential prey difficult to spot against its background. |
| density-dependent factor | a limiting factor that depends on population size |
| density-independent factor | limiting factor that affects all populations in similar ways, regardless of population size |
| detritus | dead organic matter |
| dispersion | The pattern of spacing among individuals within the boundaries of the geographic population. |
| ecological niche | the functional role and position of a species (population) within a community or ecosystem including what resources it uses how and when it uses the resources and how it interacts with other populationsEcotone |
| ecology | The study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment. |
| ecosystem | All the organisms in a given area as well as the abiotic factors with which they interact; one or more communities and the physical environment around them. |
| ectoparasite | a parasite that lives on a host but does not enter the host's body |
| endoparasite | parasite living on the inside of its host |
| estuary | The area where a freshwater stream or river merges with the ocean. |
| eutrophic lake | A highly productive lake, having a high rate of biological productivity supported by a high rate of nutrient cycling. |
| exploitative competition | when two competing individuals have indirect contact and conflict over shared limited resources. |
| exponential population growth | Growth of a population in an ideal, unlimited environment, represented by a J-shaped curve when population size is plotted over time. |
| fercundity | fertility |
| herbivory | An interaction in which an organism eats parts of a plant or alga. |
| individualistic hypothesis | A theory that depicts a plant community as a chance assemblage of species found in the same area simply because they happen to have similar abiotic requirements |
| interactive hypothesis | ADVOCATED BY F.E. CLEMENTS IN EARLY 1900'S, SAW COMMUNITY AS AN ASSEMBLAGE OF CLOSELY LINKED SPECIES ACTING AS SUPERORGANISM |
| interference competition | when two competing individuals have direct contact and conflict, either physical or chemical, over shared limited resources. |
| iteroparity | Reproduction in which adults produce offspring over many years; also known as repeated reproduction. |
| k-selected populations | Selection for life history traits that are sensitive to population density; also called density-dependent selection. |
| limnetic zone | In a lake, the well-lit, open surface waters farther from shore. |
| littoral zone | In a lake, the shallow, well-lit waters close to shore. |
| logistic population growth | Population growth that levels off as population size approaches carrying capacity. |
| mark-recapture method | A sampling technique used to estimate the size of animal populations. |
| mullerian mimicry | evolution of two species, both of which are unpalatable and, have poisonous stingers or some other defense mechanism, to resemble each other |
| oligotrophic lake | A nutrient-poor, clear, deep lake with minimum phytoplankton. |
| pelagic zone | Any water in a sea or lake that is not close to the bottom or near to the shore can be said to be in the pelagic zone |
| permafrost | layer of permanently frozen subsoil in the tundra |
| photic zone | The narrow top layer of an ocean or lake, where light penetrates sufficiently for photosynthesis to occur. |
| population | A localized group of individuals of the same species that can interbreed, producing fertile offspring. |
| primary succession | A type of ecological succession that occurs in an area where there were originally no organisms present and where soil has not yet formed. |
| principle of allocation | the principle that if an organism allocates energy to one function, such as growth or reproduction, it reduces the amount of energy available to other functions, such as defense |
| profundal zone | zone in a freshwater habitat that is below the limits of effective light penetration |
| resource partitioning | The division of environmental resources by coexisting species such that the niche of each species differs by one or more significant factors from the niches of all coexisting species |
| r-selected populations | Density independent selection- maximizes growth rate and occurs in environments in which population densities are well below carrying capacity; characterized by opportunistic species (grasses, insects) that quickly invade a habitat, quickly reproduce and then die |
| secondary succession | A type of succession that occurs where an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil or substrate intact. |
| semelparity | Reproduction in which an organism produces all of its offspring in a single event; also known as big-bang reproduction. |
| survivorship curve | A plot of the number of members of a cohort that are still alive at each age; one way to represent age-specific mortality. |
| territoriality | A behavior in which an animal defends a bounded physical space against encroachment by other individuals, usually of its own species. |
| thermocline | A narrow stratum of rapid temperature change in the ocean and in many temperate-zone lakes. |
| trophic structure | The different feeding relationships in an ecosystem, which determine the route of energy flow and the pattern of chemical cycling |
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