| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Ecology | Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment, or surroundings. |
| Biosphere | The regions of the surface and atmosphere of the Earth (or other planet) where living organisms exist. |
| Community | Assembly of different populations that live together in a defined area. |
| Biome | A group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities. |
| Autotrophs | Organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds; also called a producer. |
| Heterotroph | Organism that obtains energy from the foods it consumes; also called a consumer. |
| Decomposer | Organism that breaks down and obtains energy from dead organic matter. |
| Detritivore | Organism that feeds on plant and animal remains and other dead matter |
| Food Chain | Series of steps in an ecosystem 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 | Step in a food chain or food web. |
| Ecological Pyramid | Diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter within each trophic level in a food chain or food web. |
| Biomass | Total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level. |
| Greenhouse Effect | Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases. |
| Habitat | The area where an organism lives, including the biotic and abiotic factors that affect it. |
| Niche | Full range of physical 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. |
| Competitive Exclusion Principle | Ecological rule that states that no two species can occupy the same exact niche in the same habitat at the same time. |
| Symbiosis | Relationship in which two species live closely together. |
| Mutualism | Symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship. |
| Commensalism | Symbiotic relationship in which one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. |
| Population Density | Number of individuals per unit of area. |
| Limiting Factor | Factor that causes the growth of a population to decrease. |
| Density-Dependent Limiting Factor | Limiting factor that depends on population size. |
| Predator-Prey Relationship | Mechanism of population control in which a population is regulated by predation. |
| Density-Independent Limiting Factor | Limiting factor that affects all populations in similar ways, regardless of population size. |
| Demography | Scientific study of human populations. |
| Demographic Transition | Change in a population from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates. |
| Age-Structure Diagram | Graph of the numbers of males and females within different age groups of a population. |
| Ecosystem | Collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their nonliving environment. |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace
!