BIOLOGY: Ecology Test.
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78 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Biodiversity | The sum total of the genetically based variety of all organisms in the biosphere |
| Ecosystem Diversity | Variety of habitats, living communities, and ecological processes in the living world |
| Species Diversity | The number of different species in the biosphere |
| Genetic Diversity | The sum total of all the different forms of genetic information carried by all organisms living on Earth today |
| Extinction | When a species disappears from all or part of it's range |
| Endangered Species | A species whose population size is declining in a way that places it in danger of extinction |
| Habitat Fragmentation | Splitting of ecosystems into small fragments |
| Biological Magnification | Increasing concentration of a harmful substance in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain or food web |
| Invasive Species | Plants and animals that have migrated to places where they are not native |
| Conservation | The wise management of natural resources, including the preservation of habitats and wildlife |
| Ozone Layer | Atmospheric layer in which ozone gas is relatively concentrated |
| Global Warming | Increase in the average temperatures on Earth |
| weather | the day-to-day condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place |
| climate | the year-after-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region |
| greenhouse effect | the natural situation in which heat is retained by a layer of greenhouse gases |
| polar zone | the cold areas where the sun's rays strike earth at a very low angle |
| temperate zone | areas between the polar zones and the tropics |
| tropical zone | also known as the tropics, near the equator, between 23.5 North and 23.5 South latitudes |
| biotic factor | the biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem |
| abiotic factor | physical, or non-living, factors that shape and ecosystem |
| habitat | the area where an organism lives |
| niche | the full range of phisical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions |
| resource | any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients, light, food, or space |
| Ecology | The scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment, or surroundings. |
| Biosphere | Contains the combined portions of the planet in which all of life exists, including land, water, and air (atmosphere) |
| Species | Group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring. |
| Population | Group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area. |
| Community | Assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area. |
| Ecosystem | A collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place together with their nonliving, or physical, environment. |
| Biome | Group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities. |
| Autotrophs | Organisms that capture energy from the sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce it's own food from inorganic materials. |
| Producer | Organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce food from inorganic compounds. |
| Photosynthesis | Process by which plants and some other organisms use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and high-energy carbohydrates such as sugars and starches. |
| Chemosynthesis | Process by which some organisms, such as certain bacteria, use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates. |
| Heterotroph | Organism that relies on other organisms for their energy and food supply. |
| Consumer | Heterotrophic organism that feeds on other organisms in a food chain |
| Herbivore | Obtains energy by eating only plants. |
| Carnivore | Eats animals. |
| Omnivore | Eats both plants and animals. |
| Detritivore | Feeds on plants and animal remains (dead matter) |
| Decomposer | Breaks down organic matter. |
| Food Chain | A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten. |
| Food Web | Network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem. |
| Trophic Level | Each step in a food chain or food web. |
| Ecological Pyramid | Diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web. |
| Biomass | The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level. |
| Biogeochemical Cycle | Process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another. |
| Evaporation | The process by which water changes from liquid form to an atmospheric gas. |
| Transpiration | Loss of water from a plant through it's leaves. |
| Nutrient | All the chemical substances that an organism needs to sustain life. |
| Nitrogen Fixation | Process of converting nitrogen gas into ammonia. |
| Denitrification | Conversion of nitrates into nitrogen gas. |
| Primary Productivity | The rate at which organic matter is created by producers in an ecosystem. |
| Limiting Nutrient | Single nutrient that either is scarce or cycles very slowly, limiting the growth of organisms in an ecosystem. |
| Algal Bloom | An immediate increase in the amount of algae and other producers that results from a large input of a limiting nutrient. |
| Competitive Exclusion Principle | a fundamental rule in ecology, stating that no two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time |
| predation | an interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism |
| symbiosis | any relationship in which two species live closely together |
| mutualism | any relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship |
| commensalism | any relationship in which one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed |
| parasitism | any relationship in which one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it |
| ecological succession | a series of predictable changes that occurs in a community over time |
| primary succession | succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists on land |
| pioneer species | the first species to populate an area |
| secondary succession | follows a disturbance where an existing community is disturbed without removing the soil |
| biome | a particular physical environment that contains a characteristic assemblage of plants and animals |
| microclimate | the climate within a small area that differs significantly from the climate around it |
| population density | number of individuals per unit area |
| immigration | the movement of individuals into a population |
| emmigration | the movement of individuals out of a population |
| exponential growth | occurs when the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate |
| logistic growth | occurs when a population's growth slows or stops following a period of exponential growth |
| carrying capacity | largest number of individuals of a population that a given environment can support |
| density-dependent limiting factor | a limiting factor that depends on population size |
| density-independent limiting factor | factors that affect all populations in similar ways, regardless of the population size |
| demography | scientific study of human populations |
| demographic transition | a dramatic change in death and birth rates |
| age-structure diagram | population profiles which graph the numbers of people in different age groups in the population |
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