dltn_petrysz on March 23, 2009
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
Ecosystems | All the living and non-living things that interect in an area. |
Biotic Factors | Living things in an ecosystem |
Abiotic Factors | Non-living factors including temperature, water, sunlight, wind, rocks and soil |
Levels of ecological organization | Groups of organisms at progressive levels |
Organisms | Any living thing |
Species | Taxonomic group whose members can interbreed |
Population | A group of organisms of the same species populating a given area |
Communities | Different populations that live together in a defined area |
Habitats | Places where animals or plants naturally live and grow |
Invasive Species | Species that enter new ecosystems and multiply, harming native species and their habitats |
Symbiosis | The relation between two different species of organisms that are interdependent |
Mutualism | A close relationship; both species benefit |
Commensalism | A close relationship; one species benefits, the other doesn't benefit but isn't harmed |
Parasitism | A close relationship; one species benefits, the other is harmed |
Potential Niche | The entire range of resource opportunities an organism is potentially able to occupy within an ecostystem |
Fundamental Niche | Niche where an organism is actually able to live |
Photosynthesis | Autotrophs convert light energy into chemical energy |
Producer | Organism that can make their own food |
Consumer | Organisms that take in food material and are above producers on the energy pyramid |
Herbivores | Consumers that eat only plants |
Carnivores | Consumers that eat only animals |
Omnivores | A consumer that eats both plants and animals |
Decomposers | organisms that break down wastes and dead organisms and return raw materials to the environment |
Cellular Respiration | Process that releases energy by breaking down food molecules in the presence of oxygen: |
Food Chain | A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten User- |
Food Web | Shows how food chains are related within an ecosystem |
Trophic Level | Organism in a food chain that represents a feeding step in the passage of energy and materials through an ecosystem |
Carbon Cycle | The organic circulation of carbon from the atmosphere into organisms and back again |
Nitrogen Cycle | The cycle in which nitrogen gas is changed into forms of nitrogen that plants can use |
Phosphorus Cycle | The process by which phosphorus is recycled in the ecosystem |
Ecological Succession | The gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established |
Primary Succession | The series of changes that occur in an area where no ecosystem previously existed |
Secondary Succession | The series of changes that occur after a disturbance of an existing ecosystem |
Pioneer Species | The first species to live in an area of primary succession |
Climax Community | A stable, mature community that undergoes little or no change in species over time. |
Growth Rate | Rate of increase or decrease of a population |
Generation Time | Average time between one generation of offspring and the next |
Exponential Growth | Occurs when the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate |
Carrying Capacity | Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support |
Competition | Interaction in which two or more species use the same limited resource |
Limiting Resource | A short supply of resources restricting the growth of a population |
Reproductive Potential | Rate at which a specices can increase population |
Tundra | Cold and largely treeless across northern North America |
Permafrost | Permanently frozen layer of soil under the surface |
Tropical Forest | Near the equator |
Temperate Forest | Distinct seasons and moderate climate |
Temperate Deciduous Forest | Trees lose their leaves in fall and regrow in spring |
Taiga | A forested biome dominated by coniferous trees |
Grasslands | Prairies, steppes, pampas, veldts; near the equator, characterized by treeless areas and tall grasses. |
Desert | Rainfall less than 9.9 inches per year |
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