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Apologia Biology M3
Apologia Exploring Creation with Biology Module 3
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ecology | The study of the interactions between living and nonliving things |
| Population | A group of interbreeding organisms coexisting together |
| Community | A group of populations living and interacting in the same area |
| Ecosystem | An association of living organisms and their physical environment |
| Biome | A group of ecosystems classified by climate and plant life |
| Biosphere | The sum of all of Earth's ecosystems in land, water, or air |
| Species | One or more populations of individuals that can reproduce under normal conditions, produce fertile offspring, and are reproductively isolated from other such populations |
| Biotic Factors | Any living part of an environment |
| Antibiotic Factors | The nonliving physical and chemical conditions affecting organisms |
| Producers | Organisms that produce their own food |
| Consumers | Organisms that eat living producers and/or other consumers for food |
| Decomposers | Organisms that break down the dead remains of other organisms |
| PrimaryConsumer | An organism that eats producers |
| Secondary Consumer | An organism that eats primary consumers |
| Tertiary Consumer | An organism that eats secondary consumers |
| Quaternary Consumer | An organism that eats tertiary consumers |
| Food Chain | A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten |
| Food Web | Links all food chains in an ecosystem together |
| Biomass | A measure of the total dry mass of organisms (living tissue) within a trophic level in an ecosystem |
| Primary Productivity | Rate at which producers in an ecosystem build biomass |
| Ecological Pyramid | Pyramid shaped diagrams that show the amount of energy or matter at each trophic level in an ecosystem. There are 3 types, energy pyramid, biomass pyramid, and pyramid of numbers. |
| Transpiration | Evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant |
| Greenhouse Effect | The process by which certain gases (principally water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) trap heat that would otherwise escape the earth and radiate into space |
| Symbiosis | A close relationship between two or more species where at least one benefits |
| Habitat | The specific environment of an organism both biotic and abiotic |
| Niche | An organism's role in its ecosystem, including its habitat, physical requirements (light, water, food sources), the time of day it is active, its place on the food chain, and when and how it reproduces |
| Mutualism | A symbiotic relationship between two or more organisms of different species where all benefit from the association |
| Commensalism | A symbiotic relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited |
| Parasitism | A symbiotic relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed |
| Exponential Growth | Population growth that is unhindered because of the abundance of resources for an ever-increasing population |
| Logistic Growth | Population growth that is controlled by limited resources or the presence of predators or both |