click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Biology
Vocabulary and Slides
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Ecology | The study of the interactions between organisms and the living and non-living environment. It recognizes the plans and animals do not exist in isolation – but have an effect and are affected by their surroundings. |
Biotic | living component in an ecosystem |
Abiotic | non-living component in an ecosystem |
Photosynthesis | Occurs in chloroplasts - See slides for process/formula |
Cellular Respiration | How organisms use food - See slides for process/formula |
Autotroph | Organism that obtains its energy from abiotic sources, such as sunlight or inorganic chemicals |
Heterotroph | Organism that obtains its energy and nutrients by consuming other organisms |
Habitat | Combined biotic and abiotic factors found in the area where an organism lives |
Biosphere | All organisms and the part of the earth where they exist |
Ecosystem | All the organisms as well as the climate, soil, water, rocks and other nonliving things in a given area. |
Community | Group of different species that live together in one area |
Population | Group of the same species that lives in one area |
Organism | Individual living thing |
Producers | Organism that obtains its energy from abiotic sources, such as sunlight or inorganic chemicals |
Consumers | Organism that obtains its energy and nutrients by eating other organisms |
Herbivores | Organism that eats only plants |
Carnivores | Organisms that obtains energy by eating only animals |
Omnivores | Organism that eats both plants and animals |
Detritivores | Organism that eats dead organic matter |
Decomposers | Detritivore that breaks down organic matter into simpler compounds, returning nutrients back into ecosystem |
Food Chain | Model that links organisms by their feeding relationships |
Food Web | Model that shows the complex network if feeding relationships within an ecosystem |
Trophic Level | Level of nourishment in a food chain |
Energy Pyramid | Diagram that compares energy used by producers, primary consumers and other trophic levels. |
Biome | Major regional or global community of organisms |
Niche | All the Physical, chemical and biological factors that a species needs to survive, stay healthy and reproduce. “How” it lives within its habitat. |
Generalist | Consumers that have a varying diet. Example – wolf may eat elk, moose, deer, mice. |
Specialist | Consumer that primarily eats one specific organism or a very small number of them. |
Symbiosis | Close ecological relationship between two or more organisms of different species that live in direct contact with one another. |
Predation | Process in which one organisms captures and feeds upon another organisms. (Example – snake eating mouse) |
Parasitism | Relationship in which one organism benefits while the other is harmed, but a parasite keeps its host alive for days or years. (Example – tape worm) |
Competition | When two organisms fight for the same limited resources. |
Competition - Interspecific | when two different specifics are competing. Example – in a lawn when weeds and grace compete for nutrients and water. |
Competition - Intraspecific | when individuals of same species compete. Example – male bird will not allow another male of same species in his area during breeding season. |
Mutualism | Interspecies interaction in which both organisms benefit from one another. (Example – “good” bacteria in the human digestive system benefits the human and keeps bacteria alive) |
Commensalism | Relationship between two organisms in which one receives an ecological benefit from another, while the other neither benefits or is harmed. (Example – a spider builds a web in a tree for protection, which neither helps nor hurts the tree) |
How do energy and matter move through and ecosystem? | Energy flows; matter cycles |
Biotic factors are living things, such as... | plants, animals and bacteria. For example – bird, tree, dragonfly |
Abiotic factors are non-living things, such as.... | moisture, temperature, wind, sunlight and soil. |
Compare and contrast producers (autotrophs) and consumers (heterotrophs) | All organisms must have a source of energy to survive. Autotrophs get their energy from nonliving resources, meaning they make their own food. Heterotrophs get their energy by eating other living or once-living resources, such as plants and animals. |
Why are decomposers important? | They break down organic matter into simpler compounds and are important to the stability of an ecosystem because they return vital nutrients back into the environment. For example – fungi, bacteria |
Why do ecosystems usually only contain a few trophic levels and why are food chains so short? | Food chains rarely consist of more than four steps (trophic levels) because a lot of energy is lost at each step. |
Explain a food chain: | A food chain links species by their feeding relationships. The consumer is getting the energy/benefit from the producer... GRASS --- Grasshopper --- Snake --- Hawk |
Explain a food web: | A food web is a model that shows the complex network of feeding relationships and the flow of energy within and sometimes beyond an ecosystem. It shows the interconnection of many food chains. |