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Unit 6 Ecology
Ecology vocabulary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| abiotic factor | A physical factor of the environment such as water, light, temperature, soil, air. |
| aquatic | Of or pertaining to water. |
| autotroph | An organism that can use the energy from the Sun or chemical reactions to make organic nutrients from inorganic materials. |
| biodiversity | Differences and variety in the organisms and their roles in an ecosystem. |
| biomass pyramid | A diagram in the shape of a pyramid, showing the relative mass of organisms. The mass is greatest at the producer level and lessens as it goes to the higher consumer levels. |
| carnivore | An organism that eats other animals. |
| carrying capacity | The maximum number of organisms that an ecosystem can support without deteriorating |
| community | All the plant and animal populations in a given area. |
| conifer | A plant that bears cones and has needle-like leaves. |
| consumer | A heterotroph; an organism that cannot make its own food and must ingest (eat) organic nutrients. |
| deciduous trees | Trees that loose their leaves. |
| decomposers | Organisms of decay which convert organic compounds into inorganic compounds |
| dynamic equilibrium | A balanced state of the body or a system; for example, homeostasis or a predator-prey relationship. |
| ecosystem | The interaction of living things and their nonliving environment. |
| energy pyramid, pyramid of energy | A diagram in the shape of a pyramid that shows the relative amount of available energy at each feeding level as you move from producers to decomposers in an ecosystem. |
| evolution | The process of change in living things through time. |
| feedback | A mechanism that responds to change by causing a response |
| food chain | A series of organisms, starting with a producer, through which food energy is passed in an ecosystem. |
| food web | A series of interconnecting food chains in an ecosystem. Arrows show the direction that energy is moving in. |
| herbivore | A heterotroph that only feeds on plants |
| heterotroph | An organism that cannot make its own food and therefore must ingest (eat) organic nutrients. |
| hibernation | A state of lowered metabolic rate experienced by some animals, usually during cold weather. The animal survives on stored body fat |
| inorganic | A compound that does not contain both carbon and hydrogen |
| lichen | |
| limiting factor | A nonliving, physical factor that limits the type of organisms that can exist in a particular ecosystem |
| organic compound | A compound that contains the elements carbon and hydrogen. |
| population | All the members of the same species living together in a given region and capable of interbreeding |
| producers | Organisms that can use the energy from the Sun or chemical reactions to make organic nutrients from inorganic materials |
| recycling | The process of reusing materials rather than throwing them away. |
| scavenger | A carnivore that feeds on dead animals it finds. |
| secondary consumers | In a food chain, carnivores that eat primary consumers or herbivores |
| speciation | The process by which one species can evolve into two or more species because of geographic isolation |
| species | A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring |
| succession | The replacement of one type of community by another until the stable climax community is reached, which remains in place until it is destroyed by some catastrophe. |
Created by:
Dr. Lamont