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Elizabeth M bio
61 flashcards
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Species | A group of similar organisms that can reproduce with each other and create fertile offspring |
| Specification | The process in which cells and genes belonging to a particular species develop from their initial stages to the point where they can form specific functions |
| Population | All the organisms of the same group/species that live in a specific area and are capable of breeding among themselves. |
| Community | An interacting group of various species in a shared/common location |
| Ecosystem | A geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life. Contains biotic and abiotic factors. |
| Biome | The community of plants and animals that occur naturally in an area - often sharing characteristics specific to that area |
| Habitat | The natural home/environment of a plant, animal, or other organism |
| Niche | The role an organism plays in a community |
| Mutualism | Association between organisms of two different species in which each benefits |
| Parasitism | A relationship between the two living species in which one organism is benefited at the expense of the other. |
| Symbiosis | A relationship or interaction between two different organisms that share similar habitat. There are three types of behaviors observed in symbiotic relationships – Mutualism, Commensalism and Parasitism. |
| Courtship | A collection of behaviors displayed by a individual to attract and eventually reproduce with an individual of the opposite sex |
| Competition | A relationship between organisms that strive for the same resources in the same place |
| Host | A living animal or plant on or in which a parasite lives |
| Predator | Organisms that hunt and kill other organisms for food |
| Prey | Animals that are killed and eaten by other animals |
| Pheromones | Chemical signals, that is, carriers of information between individuals within a species |
| Eggs | The female sex cell, or gamete |
| Seeds | The fertilized, matured ovule that contains an embryonic plant, stored material and a protective coat or coats |
| Spores | A unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. |
| Estivation | When animals slow their activity for the hot, dry summer months |
| Pfiesteria | A microscopic organism that sometimes behaves like a plant and sometimes like an animal |
| Exponential Growth | Accelerating pattern of increasing population size |
| Carrying Capacity | A species' average population size in a particular habitat |
| Habituation | A simple form of learning in which an animal stops responding to a stimulus, or cue, after a period of repeated exposure |
| Imprinting | A rapid learning process that takes place early in the life of a social animal (such as a goose) and establishes a behavior pattern (such as recognition of and attraction to its own kind or a substitute) |
| Innate Behavior | Behavior that's genetically hardwired in an organism and can be performed in response to a cue without prior experience |
| Learned Behavior | One that an organism develops as a result of experience |
| Classical Conditioning | A behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent physiological stimulus (e.g. food) is paired with a neutral stimulus |
| Trial and Error Learning | Learning in which an animal comes to associate particular behaviours with the consequences they produce. This tends to reinforce the behaviour (i.e. the behaviour is likely to be repeated if the consequences are pleasant, but not if they are unpleasant) |
| Abiotic Factors | A non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment |
| Biotic Factors | The living components (organisms) that shape up the environment. |
| Nitrogen Fixation | The process of converting free nitrogen into more-reactive nitrogen compounds such as ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites |
| Decomposition | Breaking down of living matter |
| Photosynthesis | The process by which plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy in the form of sugar |
| Cellular Respiration | The process of converting sugars into energy by cells using oxygen or other electron acceptors |
| Food Chain | The sequence of transfers of matter and energy in the form of food from organism to organism |
| Food Web | A detailed interconnecting diagram that show the complex feeding relationships between organisms in a particular ecosystem |
| Radiant Energy | Energy traveling as electromagnetic waves |
| Producers/Autotrophs | An organism that can create organic molecules from inorganic carbon sources, such as carbon dioxide |
| Decomposer | An organism that decomposes, or breaks down organic materials such as the remains of dead organisms |
| Biomass | The total amount of living organisms or organic material produced by living things in a given area of habitat |
| Energy Pyramid | A graphical representation of the flow of energy at each trophic level in an ecosystem |
| Trophic Levels | A level or a position in a food chain, a food web, or an ecological pyramid |
| Biodiversity | The variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems |
| Active Immunity | 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 his or her own immune system |
| Vaccines | When a person is given antibodies to a disease rather than producing them through his or her own immune system |
| Acid Rain | Any form of precipitation with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid that fall to the ground from the atmosphere in wet or dry forms |
| Greenhouse Effect | A process that occurs when gases in Earth's atmosphere trap the Sun's heat |
| Habitat Destruction | The elimination or alteration of the conditions 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 | Significant changes in global temperature, precipitation, wind patterns and other measures of climate that occur |
| Global Warming | The rise in global temperatures due mainly to the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere |
| Deforestation | Destruction or removal of forests and their undergrowth |
| Pesticides | Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest |
| Bioaccumulation | An increase in the concentration of a chemical in a biological organism over time, compared to the chemical's concentration in the environment |
| Fossil Fuels | Compound mixtures made of fossilized plant and animal remnants from millions 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 around 15–30km above the earth's surface |
| CFCs | Nontoxic, nonflammable chemicals containing atoms of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine |
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