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J.Sills Ecology
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| population | group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time |
| community | several interacting populations living in an area at the same time |
| ecosystem | all of the populations in a community and the abiotic factors affecting them |
| biosphere | portion of Earth that supports life |
| species | organisms that live in the same area and interbreed in nature to produce fertile offspring |
| aquatic | water environment |
| terrestrial | land environment |
| autotroph | organism that makes its own food; producer; plants and some bacteria |
| photosynthesis | using sunlight to make food |
| chemosynthesis | using inorganic compounds to make food |
| heterotroph | organism that must eat other organisms for food; consumer |
| ecology | study of organisms and their interactions with the environment. |
| nitrogen fixation | the process by which atmospheric nitrogen is converted into a usable form during the nitrogen cycle. |
| herbivore | eats only plants; (deer, rabbits, etc.) |
| omnivore | eats plants and animals;( people, bears, etc.) |
| carnivore | eats only animals; ( lions, tigers, etc) |
| decomposer | breaks down decaying matter; ( bacteria and fungi) |
| scavenger | feeds on already dead organisms; ( buzzards, crabs etc.) |
| sun | ultimate source of energy on Earth |
| food chain | shows one direct feeding relationship |
| food web | shows all interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem |
| trophic level | feeding relationship or position in a food chain |
| primary consumer | feeds directly on producers; herbivore |
| secondary consumer | feeds on primary consumers |
| biomass | the amount of living matter available at different trophic levels |
| mutualism | symbiotic relationship where both species benefit |
| commensalism | symbiotic relationship where one species is helped and the other is unaffected |
| parasitism | symbiotic relationship where one species lives and feeds off of another |
| predation | one organism kills and eats another organism |
| habitat | where an organisms lives |
| niche | an organism's role or "job" in the ecosystem |
| succession | the order in which life appears in a given area. |
| pollution | the action or process of making land, air, water, etc. contaminated, unsafe or unusable |
| biotic factors | living factors; plants and animals |
| abiotic factors | nonliving factors; wind, sun, soil, rain, fog, clouds, etc. |
| deforestation | to cut or clear away trees or forests from the environment |
| urbanization | the process by which towns and cities are formed and become populated |
| acid rain | rainfall made acidic by air pollution and contamination |
| fossil fuels | natural fuels (coal, oil, gas, etc.) formed in the earth by the remains of once-living organisms |
| global warming | the gradual increase in global temperatures due to increased greenhouse gases |
| transpiration | evaporation of water from the leaves of plants |
| Biodiversity | differences and variety of life within an ecosystem or on Earth |
| Ecology | the study of organisms and their interactions with the environment |
| symbiosis | a close, permanent relationship between 2 different species |
| mutualism | type of symbiosis where both species benefit (bees/flowers) |
| commensalism | one species benefits and the other is not affected (bird nesting in a tree) |
| parasitism | one species lives in or on another species; harms it but doesn't kill it (flea/tick on an animal) |
| predator/prey (predation) | one species kills and eats another (lion kills and eats a zebra) |
| Evolution | change in species over a long period of time |
| Adaptation | any trait or characteristic that gives an organism a better chance of survival |
| Natural Selection | those with the best traits, survive to reproduce and pass on those traits - "survival of the fittest" |
| Primary Succession | where no life has been before |
| Secondary Succession | regrowth of an area after a disaster or clearing |
| Carrying Capacity | the largest population that an environment can support indefinitely |
| Competition | two different species fighting for the same resources (food, shelter, space, mates) |
| Histogram | a chart that shows basic information about data |
| Invasive species | any organism that invades an ecosystem it isn't native to, and harms that ecosystem |
| Limiting Factor | Any biotic or abiotic factor that limits the size or distribution of a population |
| deforestation | the purposeful clear-cutting of a forested land |
| Favorable traits | traits that allow an organism to be successful in a particular environment. |
| Climate | long -term weather conditions that are typical in a given area, such as temperature and rainfall. |
| Greenhouse gases | gases in the Earth's atmosphere that trap heat. |
| Geographic isolation | occurs when two populations are separated by barriers such as rivers, mountains, or bodies of water. |
| Carbon sink | anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases. |
| Earth's systems | geosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere- all interact to produce environments we are familiar with. |
| Allopatric speciation | speciation by geographic isolation |
| Ocean acidification | the reduction in the pH of the ocean over an extended period of time, caused by absorbing too much CO2 from the atmosphere. |
| Ocean currents | the continuous, predictable, directional movement of seawater, driven by gravity, wind and water density. |
Created by:
jsills
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