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AP Bio chapter 45
Community and Ecosystems Ecology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| acid deposition | The return to Earth in rain or snow of sulfate or nitrate salts of acids produced by commercial and industrial activities |
| autotroph | Organism that can capture energy and synthesize organic molecules from inorganic nutrients. |
| biogeochemical cycle | Circulating pathway of elements such as carbon and nitrogen involving exchange pools, storage areas, and biotic communities. |
| biomass | The number of organisms multiplied by their weight. |
| camouflage | Process of hiding from predators in which an organism’s behavior, form, and pattern of coloration allow it to blend into the background and prevent detection. |
| carnivore | Consumer in a food chain that eats other animals. |
| character displacement | Tendency for characteristics to be more divergent when similar species belong to the same community than when they are isolated from one another. |
| climate change | The change in global climate patterns apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards, attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. |
| climax community | In ecology, community that results when succession has come to an end. |
| coevolution | Mutual evolution in which two species exert selective pressures on the other species. |
| commensalism | Symbiotic relationship in which one species is benefited, and the other is neither harmed nor benefited. |
| community | Assemblage of species interacting with one another within the same environment. |
| competitive exclusion principle | Theory that no two species can occupy the same niche in the same place and at the same time. |
| consumer | Organism that feeds on another organism in a food chain generally; primary consumers eat plants, and secondary consumers eat animals. |
| decomposer | Organism, usually a bacterium or fungus, that breaks down organic matter into inorganic nutrients that can be recycled in the environment. |
| denitrification | Conversion of nitrate or nitrite to nitrogen gas by bacteria in soil. |
| detritivore | Any organism that obtains most of its nutrients from the detritus in an ecosystem. |
| ecological niche | Role an organism plays in its community, including its habitat and its interactions with other organisms. |
| ecological pyramid | Visual depiction of the biomass, number of organisms, or energy content of various trophic levels in a food web—from the producer to the final consumer populations. |
| ecological succession | The gradual replacement of communities in an area following a disturbance (secondary succession) or the creation of new soil (primary succession). |
| ecosystem | Biological community together with the associated abiotic environment; characterized by a flow of energy and a cycling of inorganic nutrients. |
| eutrophication | Enrichment of water by inorganic nutrients used by phytoplankton. Often, overenrichment caused by human activities leads to excessive bacterial growth and oxygen depletion |
| food chain | The order in which one population feeds on another in an ecosystem, thereby showing the flow of energy from a detritivore (detrital food chain) or a producer (grazing food chain) to the final consumer. |
| food web | In ecosystems, a complex pattern of interlocking and crisscrossing food chains. |
| global warming | Predicted increase in the Earth’s temperature due to human activities that promote the greenhouse effect. |
| greenhouse effect | Reradiation of solar heat toward the Earth, caused by an atmosphere that allows the Sun’s rays to pass through but traps the heat in the same manner as the glass of a greenhouse. |
| greenhouse gas | Gases in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, ozone, and nitrous oxide that are involved in the greenhouse effect. |
| habitat | Place where an organism lives and is able to survive and reproduce. |
| herbivore | Primary consumer in a grazing food chain; a plant eater. |
| heterotroph | Organism that cannot synthesize needed organic compounds from inorganic substances and therefore must take in organic food. |
| host | Organism that provides nourishment and/ or shelter for a parasite. |
| island biogeography model | Proposes that the biodiversity on an island is dependent on its distance from the mainland, with islands located a greater distance having a lower level of diversity. |
| mimicry | Superficial resemblance of two or more species; a survival mechanism that avoids predation by appearing to be noxious. |
| mutualism | Symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit in terms of growth and reproduction. |
| N2 (nitrogen) fixation | Process whereby free atmospheric nitrogen is converted into compounds, such as ammonium and nitrates, usually by bacteria. |
| nitrification | Process by which nitrogen in ammonia and organic compounds is oxidized to nitrites and nitrates by soil bacteria. |
| omnivore | Organism in a food chain that feeds on both plants and animals. |
| parasite | Species that is dependent on a host species for survival, usually to the detriment of the host species. |
| pioneer species | Early colonizer of barren or disturbed habitats that usually has rapid growth and a high dispersal rate. |
| predation | Interaction in which one organism (the predator) uses another (the prey) as a food source. |
| predator | An organism that lives by preying on other organisms |
| prey | Organism that provides nourishment for a predator. |
| producer | Photosynthetic organism at the start of a grazing food chain that makes its own food—e.g., green plants on land and algae in water. |
| resource partitioning | Mechanism that increases the number of niches by apportioning the supply of a resource such as food or living space between species. |
| species diversity | Variety of species that make up a community. |
| species richness | Number of species in a community. |
| symbiosis | Relationship that occurs when two different species live together in a unique way; it may be beneficial, neutral, or detrimental to one or both species. |
| transfer rate | Amount of a substance that moves from one component of the environment to another within a specified period of time. |
| trophic level | Feeding level of one or more populations in a food web. |
| water (hydrologic) cycle | Interdependent and continuous circulation of water from the ocean, to the atmosphere, to the land, and back to the ocean. |
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arincon1
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