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Ecology Vocabulary
Biology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Species | a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals with common characteristics capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding |
| Speciation | the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution |
| Population | a community of animals, plants, or humans among whose members interbreeding occurs |
| Community | a group of interdependent organisms of different species growing or living together in a specified habitat |
| Ecosystem | a group of living organisms that live and interact with each other in a specific environment |
| Biome | a major community of living organisms, such as plants and animals, that have a similar life forms and environmental conditions (temperature, soil type, amount of light, water, niche, etc) |
| Habitat | a place where an organism or community of organisms lives, including living and nonliving factors or conditions of the surrounding environment |
| Niche | a position or role taken by a particular king of organism within its community (Including competition, predation, parasitism, and mutualism) |
| Mutualism | an interaction between two different organisms in which each organism benefits |
| Parasitism | a relationship between two species or plants or animals in which one benefits at the expense of the other, sometimes without killing the host organism |
| Symbiosis | signs and/or units that represent compounds, quantities, calculations, organisms and/or different types of genes |
| Courtship | the suite of behaviors displayed by an individual to attract and eventually reproduce with an individual of the opposite sex |
| Competition | the rivalry between or among a group of organisms/living things for territory, resources, goods, mates, etc |
| Host | an organism, either living animal or plant, that has a parasite living on or in |
| Predator | when an animal hunts and kills another animal for food |
| Prey | an animal that has been killed and eaten by another animal |
| Pheromones | chemical signals that are known to be carriers of information between individuals within a species |
| Eggs | the female sex cell or gamete |
| Seeds | a mature ovule that comprises an embryo or a miniature undeveloped plant and food reserves, which is enclosed within a protective seed coat |
| Spores | a cell that a certain fungi, plants and bacteria produce;a reproductive cell that is capable of developing a new individual without fusion with another reproductive cell |
| Estivation | when animals slow their activity for the hot, dry summer months |
| Pfiesteria | a genus of dinoflagellates that is found in waters along the middle and southern Atlantic coast of the U.S.; produces a toxin that causes skin lesions in fish and if eaten by a human, it causes skin lesions and memory loss |
| Exponential growth | an accelerating pattern of increasing population size |
| Carrying capacity | a species average population size in a specific habitat |
| Habituation | when animals are exposed to the same stimuli repeatedly, and eventually stop responding to that stimuli |
| Imprinting | a type of innate learning in animals immediately after birth or hatching to recognize their caregiver for food and protection |
| Innate behavior | behavior that is genetically hardwired in an organism which can be performed in response to a cue without any past experience |
| Learned behavior | behavior that an organism develops as a result of experience |
| Classical conditioning (behavior) | a part of behaviorism theory which describes learned involuntary responses through association |
| Trial and error leanring | a response that is learned through a performance that depends on whether that response is followed by reinforcement |
| Abiotic factor | a non-living element that influences the ecosystems functions, like sunlight, water, temperature, etc |
| Biotic factor | a living organism within an ecosystem, like animals, plants bacteria, etc |
| Nitrogen fixation | a biological process in which the nitrogen gas is converted into a usable form for plants and other microbes |
| Decomposition | the process of decaying or breaking down a dead organic into an simpler organic or inorganic matter |
| Photosynthesis | the process by which green plants and certain other organisms transform light energy into chemical energy |
| Cellular respiration | the process by which a series of chemical reactions break down glucose to produce energy or ATP |
| Food chain | a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another |
| Food web | a web made up of all the food chains in a single ecosystem |
| Radiant energy | energy that is transmitted without the movement of mass |
| Producers/Autotrophs | an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide and other chemicals |
| Consumers/Heterotrophs | an organism that eats other plants or animals for energy and nutrients |
| Decomposer | an organism that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter |
| Biomass | the mass of living biological organisms in given area or ecosystem at a given time |
| Energy pyramid | a graphical representation of energy found within the trophic levels of an ecosystem |
| Trophic levels | the position of an organism in the food chain |
| Biodiversity | the variety of all living things and their interactions within the Earth's levels |
| Active immunity | results when exposure to a disease organism triggers the immune system to produce antibodies to that disease |
| Passive immunity | when a person is given antibodies to a disease rather than producing them through their own immune system |
| Vaccines | a biological preparation formulated to stimulate the bodies immunity response for a specific disease |
| Acid rain | rain caused by a chemical reaction that begins when compounds like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released into the air |
| Greenhouse effect | the process through which heat is trapped near Earth's surface by substances known as greenhouse gases |
| Habitat destruction | the elimination or alteration of the condition necessary for animals and plants to survive |
| Waste lagoons | a lined earthen basin used to treat raw organic waste, and store treated solids and liquids |
| Climate change | a change in the average conditions - such as temperature and rainfall - ina region over a long period of time |
| Global warming | the long-term heating of Earth's surface observed due to human activities which increased heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth's atmosphere |
| Deforestation | the destruction or removal of forests and their undergrowth |
| Pesticides | a chemical that kills, repels, or controls forms of animal and plant life considered to damage or be a nuisance in agriculture and domestic life |
| Bioaccumulation | the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals, in an organism |
| Fossil fuels | compound mixtures made of fossilized plant and animal remnants from million of years ago |
| Urbanization | the concentration of human populations into discrete areas |
| Ozone layer | the common term for the high concentration of ozone that is found in the stratosphere;it covers the entire planet and protects life on Earth by absorbing the harmful ultraviolet-B radiation from the sun |
| CFCs | chlorofluorocarbons; nontoxic, nonflammable chemicals containing atoms of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine |
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