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Ecology
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| abiotic factor | -any of several nonliving, physical conditions that affect the survival of an organism in its environment -temperature, water, salinity, etc. |
| acid precipitation | a phenomenon in which there is thought to be an interaction between atmospheric moisture and the oxides of sulfur and nitrogen that results in rainfall with low pH values (acid rain) |
| air pollution | the addition, due to technological oversight, of some unwanted factor (for example, chemical oxides, hydrocarbons, particulates) to our air resources |
| aquatic biome | an ecological biome composed to many different water environments |
| biocide use | the use of pesticides that eliminate one undesirable organism but that have, due to technological oversight, unanticipated effects on beneficial species as well |
| biological controls | the use of natural enemies of various agricultural pests for pest control, thereby eliminating the need for biocide use -a positive aspect of human involvement with the environment |
| biomass | the total mass of living material present at the various trophic levels in a food chain |
| biome | a major geographical grouping of similar ecosystems, usually named for the climax flora in the region (for example, Northeast Deciduous Forest) |
| biotic factor | any of several conditions associated with life and living things that affect the survival of living things in the environment |
| carnivore | a heterotrophic organism that consumes animal tissue as its primary source of nutrition |
| climax community | a stable, self-perpetuating community that results from an ecological succession |
| community | a level of biological organization that includes all of the species populations inhabiting a particular geographic area |
| competition | a condition that arises when different species in the same habitat attempt to use the same limited resources |
| conservation of resources | the development and application of practices to protect valuable and irreplaceable soil and mineral resources -a positive aspect of human involvement with the environment |
| consumer | any heterotrophic animal organism that needs to consume its nutrients |
| cover cropping | a proper agricultural practice in which a temporary planting (cover crop) is used to limit soil erosion between seasonal plantings of main crops |
| decomposer | any saprophytic organism that derives its energy from the decay of plant and animal tissues (for example, bacteria of decay, fungus) -final stage of a food chain |
| fauna | the animal species comprising an ecological community |
| flora | the plant species comprising an ecological community |
| food chain | a series of nutritional relationships in which food energy is passed from producer to herbivore to carnivore to decomposer -a segment of a food web |
| food web | a construct showing a series of interrelated food chains and illustrating the complex nutritional interrelationships that exist in an ecosystem |
| global warming | a phenomenon characterized by a gradual increase in the average temperature of Earth that is thought to be the result of the addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere through industrialization and other human technologies |
| greenhouse gases | any of a number of gases in Earth's atmosphere that have the effect of trapping solar radiation in the form of heat (e.g. carbon dioxide, methane) |
| habitat | the environment or set of ecological conditions within which an organism lives |
| herbivore | a heterotrophic organism that consumes plant matter as its primary source of nutrition |
| host | an organism harmed in a parasitic relationship |
| lichen | a symbiosis of alga and fungus that frequently acts as a pioneer species on bare rock |
| limiting factor | any abiotic or biotic condition that places limits on the survival of organisms and on the growth of species populations in the environment |
| mutualism | a type of symbiosis beneficial to both organisms in the relationship |
| niche | the role that an organism plays in its environment |
| omnivore | a heterotrophic organism that consumes both plant and animal matter as sources of nutrition |
| overgrazing | the exposure of soil to erosion due to the loss of stabilizing grasses when it is overused by domestic animals -a negative aspect of human involvement with the environment |
| overhunting | a negative aspect of human involvement with the environment in which certain species have been greatly reduced or made extinct by uncontrolled hunting practices |
| parasitism | a type of symbiosis from which one organism in the relationship benefits, while the other (the host) is harmed, but not ordinarily killed |
| pioneer species | in an ecological succession, the first organisms to inhabit a barren (empty, bare) environment |
| pollution control | the development of new procedures to reduce the incidence of air, water, and soil pollution -a positive aspect of human involvement with the environment |
| population | all the members of a particular species in a given geographical location at a given time |
| population control | the use of various practices to slow the rapid growth in the human population -a positive aspect of human interaction with the environment |
| producer | any autotrophic organism capable of trapping light energy and converting it to the chemical bond energy of food (for example, green plants -the organisms forming the basis of the food chain |
| pyramid of energy | a construct used to illustrate the fact that energy is lost at each trophic level in a food chain is most abundant at the producer level |
| secondary consumer | any carnivorous animal that derives its food energy from the primary consumer level (for example, a snake) -The third level of a food chain |
| succession | a situation in which an established ecological community is gradually replaced by another until a climax community is established |
| symbiosis | a term that refers to a variety of biotic relationships in which organisms in which organisms of different species live together in close physical association |
| terrestrial biome | a biome that comprises primarily land ecosystems, the characteristics of which are determined by the major climate zone of the earth |
| water pollution | a type of technological oversight that involves the addition of some unwanted factor (for example, sewage, heavy metals, heat, toxic chemicals) to our water resources |
| water cycle | the mechanism by which water is made available to living things in the environment through the processes of precipitation, evaporation, runoff, and percolation |
Created by:
LFeldmann
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