APES- Chapter 5 Bolded Words
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Created by:
121blumenthalsc on September 11, 2011
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Interactions: environments and Organisms
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53 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 ecology | the study of the ways organisms interact with eachother and with their non living surroundings |
| environment | everything that affects an organism in its lifetime |
| abiotic factors | non living things that influence an organism |
| biotic factors | all forms of life with which it interacts |
| ecological processes | interactions between matter and energy |
| limiting factor | shortage/absence of a factor can restrict the success of a species |
| range of tolerance | degree to which it is able to withstand environmental variation |
| habitat | the space that the organism inhabits/ where it lives |
| niche | the functional role it has in its surroundings (how the organisms interact and modify its physical surroundings) |
| genes | distinct pieces of DNA that determine characteristics an individual explains |
| population | all of the organisms of the same kind found within a specific geographic region |
| species | population of all of the organisms (capable of reproducing naturally among themselves, having offspring that can reproduce) |
| natural selection | determines which individuals within a species will produce and pass their genes to the next generation |
| speciation | production of new species from previously existing species (occurs from a species dividing into two isolated sub-populations-environment that is different, genetic differences, and natural selection will work on the 2 different groups) |
| polyploidy | condition in which the number of set chromosomes in the cell of a plant is increased |
| extinction | loss of an entire species- common feature of the evolution of organisms |
| coevolution | two or more species of organisms can reciprocally influence the evolutionary direction of the other (all organisms are influenced by other organisms so this is a common pattern) |
| predation | when one organism kills and eats another |
| predator | one that kills and eats another |
| prey | organism that is killed and eaten |
| competition | two organisms strive to obtain the same limited resource |
| infraspecific competition | competition between members of the same species |
| interspecific competition | competition between members of different species |
| competitive exclusion principle | no two species can occupy the same ecological niche in the same place at the same time |
| symbiosis | close, long-lasting, physical relationship between two different species |
| parasitism | relationship when one organism (parasite) lives in or on another organism (host) from which it derives nourishment |
| vectors | animals that carry the parasite from one host to another |
| ectoparasites | parasites that live on the surface of their hosts (fleas, lice, mites, molds, mildews) |
| endoparasites | live inside the body (tapeworm, malaria, parasites) |
| mutualism | benefits both species |
| mycorhizae | root fungus |
| community | assemblage of all the interacting populations of different species of organisms in an area |
| ecosystem | defined space in which interactions take place between a community with all its complex interrelationships and the physical environment |
| producers | organisms that are able to use sources of energy to make complex organic molecules from the simple inorganic substances in their enviornment |
| consumers | organisms that require organic matter as a source of food |
| primary consumers | (herbivores) eat producers (plants) |
| secondary consumers | (carnivores) animals that eat other animlas |
| omnivores | eat both plants and animals in their diets |
| decomposers | organisms that use nonliving organic matter as a source of energy and raw materials to build their bodies |
| keystone species | plays a critical role in the maintenance of specific ecosystems bison in prairies |
| trophic level | each step in the flow of energy thru an ecosystem |
| biomass | weight of living material in a trophic level |
| food chain | series of orfganisms occupying different trophic levels thru which energy passes as a result of one organism consuming another |
| detritus | small bits of nonliving organic material |
| food web | when several food chains overlap and intersect |
| biogeochemical cycles | activities of cycling of atoms |
| carbon cycle | the process and pathways involved in capturing inorganic carbon containing molecules |
| nitrogen cycle | cycling of nitrogen atoms bw the abiotic and biotic components and among the organisms in an ecosystem |
| nitrogen fixing bateria | converts nitrogen gas into the soil into ammonia that plants can use |
| free living nitrogen fixing bacteria | bacteria that lives freely in the soil |
| symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria | mutualistic relationship with certain plants and live in molecules in roots of plants (legumes) and certain trees (alders) |
| nitrifying bacteria | converts ammonia to nitrate |
| denitrifying bacteria | converts nitrate to nitrogen gas |
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