| carrying capacity | number of organisms that can be supported in a given area under given conditions |
| biological magnification | DDT spayed to kill insects... not biodegradable... stays in ground and in living tissue and can be passed on |
| Benthic | bottom dwellers |
| nekton | swimmers |
| planktonic | free floaters |
| Desert | cacti - hot days, cold nights, low precip - dry, poor soil |
| Tundra | lichen - short cool summer, long cold winter, low precip - shallow permafrost |
| Grasslands | grasses, few trees - dry hot summer, cold winters, irregular precip - rich and deep soil |
| Tropical Rainforest | vines, ferns, large leaf plants - hot humid, constant temp, rainy and dry season - shallow poor nutrients in trees |
| Taiga | pine, conifers - short cool summer, long cold winter, lots of snow and rain - acidic soil |
| Temperate Deciduous forest | deciduous (oak, maple, poplar) - warm summer, cold winter, moderate precip - good, deep soil |
| niche | an organism's role in its environment (who eats it, what it eats, etc...) |
| niche problem | No 2 species can be in the same niche at the same time in the same place |
| symbiotic | Any interrelationship between organisms that are necessary for them to live |
| predation | hunter / hunted (wolves, deer) |
| mutualism | both benefit (rhino, tickbird) |
| commensalism | one benefits, one unaffected (shark, remora) |
| parasitism | one benefits, one harmed (tapeworm) |
| Biome | A combination of many ecosystems which share the same climate and vegetation |
| Ecology | study of biotic and abiotic factors and their interactions |
| How biotic affects abiotic | tree blocks sun from getting to flowers |
| how abiotic affects biotic | sun provides energy for plants |
| Red tide cause | heated water... algal bloom from pyrrophyta... Dinoflagellates (red color)... bioluminescent |
| pyrrophyta produce | neurotoxin (nerve poison) |
| how clams get it | clams filter feed... accumulate algae and neurotoxin |
| organisms effected by redtide | clams, mussels, quahogs, scallops (bivalves) |
| paralytic shellfish poisoning | paralyzes muscles...can't breathe... die |
| water heats by... | power plants, excess pollutants, bacteria release heat as they decompose, warm summer |
| 14 pH | basic |
| 1 pH | acidic |
| 7 pH | neutral |
| R selection | have as many offspring as possible as fast as possible (fish, insects) |
| K selection | Kin... having few offspring and protection them until they reach maturity (man, horse, eagle) |
| masting | have all the offspring at one time |
| Biological control | Using another species or population to control the growth rate of a particular population |
| hibernate | metabolic rate change |
| mammals that hibernate | jumping mouse, little brown bat, woodchuck |
| physiological adaptation | how the body works internally |
| physiological examples | deer metabolism, hibernate, estivate, dormancy, shiver, countercurrent exchangers |
| Morphological adaptation | outward body structure |
| Morphological examples | jack rabbit ears (large) vs. hare ears (small)... they lose heat through ears, fur growth/loss, antlers, tree lose leaves, color change chameleon, fat buildup in bears |
| density | number of organisms per area |
| demographics | the characteristics of a population with respect to age, race, and gender. |
| s-curve | pionneer to climax community growth |
| exponential curve | human population |
| sine curve | predator/prey |
| lag phase | 1 in s-curve |
| exponential phase | 2 in s-curve |
| stabilization phase | 3 in s-curve |
| population | a group of organisms of the same kind in a particular place and time |
| density independent factors | factors which effect a population the same regardless of population size (fire, pH, temperature) |
| density dependent factors | factors, both abiotic and biotic, which effect a population differently depending upon how crowded it is (food, shelter, disease, predation |
| percolation test | how easily water can flow through a medium |
| dune plants importantcy | prevent erosion |
| denitrification | NO3 (nitrate) becomes N2 (gas) and goes into atmosphere |
| nitrification | NO2 (nitrate) becomes NO3 (nitrate), usable by plants |
| nitrogen fixation | N2 (gas) becomes NO3 (nitrate) and can be taken in by plants |
| ammonification | waste/urine and dead organic matter converted from NH3 (ammonia) into NH4 (also converts N2 to NH4) |
| Legumes | Plant organisms involved in getting nitrogen gas into NO3 |
| nitrogen fixing bacteria | Organisms in a mutual relationship with the plants above in getting nitrogen into a usable form |
| bacteria | Kind of organisms in the soil involved in every step of the nitrogen cycle |
| decomposing | major niche of bacteria |
| assimilation (eating) | how the animals get nitrogen |
| Carson | United States biologist remembered for her opposition to the use of pesticides that were hazardous to wildlife (1907-1964) (book - "silent spring") |
| Darwin | English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection (1809-1882) |
| NO2 | nitrate |
| DDE | prevents calcium in eggshells... birds crush eggs when incubating... endangered species |
| CFC's | creating holes in ozone |
| C02 | carbon dioxide from power plants, cars, etc... |
| trophic level | eating level |
| autotroph (producer) | makes own food (grass, algae) |
| heterotroph | must take in food |
| herbivore | eats producers (usually plants) (rabbit, guppy) |
| carnivore | meat eater (wolf, bass) |
| primary carnivore | eats herbivors |
| secondary carnivore | meat eater that eats a meat eater |
| scavenger carnivore | eats already dead meat (vulture, lobster) |
| omnivore | all eater (plants and animals) (man, bear) |
| parasite | lives off of living things (tape worm, tick) |
| decomposer | breaks down (recycles) dead organisms into original nutrients (bacteria, fungi, maggots, earthworms) |