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Ecology Terms
Ecology Terms and definitions for grade 9.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ecology | Study of how organisms interact with eachother and the environment. |
| Abiotic | Non living things, physical things such as minerals, air or things measured such as temperature, hours of daylight, salt concentration. |
| Biotic | living, these factors are organisim such as plants, animals, mushrooms, bacteria, algae, etc. |
| Ecosytem | Any network of interacting living and non-living factors. |
| Natural Ecosystem | A natural ecosystem is neither planned nor maintained by people with each other and their environments in a system. |
| Artificial ecosystem | Artificial ecosystem is planned and maintained by people. Examples are cities, zoos, Aquarium, Farms. |
| Species | Similar organisms in an ecosystem that can reproduce with each other. |
| Population | A group of members of the same species that live in the same area. |
| Community | Population of different species that live and interact in the same area. These species compete for resources within that area. |
| Niche | All the interactions of a given species with its ecosystem. |
| Biome | Large geographical region that contains similar ecosystems. |
| Terrestrial | Land-based, animals, plants, or ecosystems. |
| Aquatic | Water based, animals, plants, or ecosystems. |
| Biosphere | A part of our planet, includng water, land and air, where life exists. Biomes combine to form this.. |
| Herbivores | An animal that eats only plants. |
| Carnivores | An animal that eats mostly meat. |
| Omnivores | An animal that eats both plants and meat. |
| Predators | Animals that catche and feed off of other live animals |
| Scavengers | An animal that mostly eats decaying bones. |
| Parasites | Obtains their food by feeding off other organism which continues to live. |
| Detrivores | A consumer that feeds on organic matter. |
| Decomposers | A special group of consumers that break down organic matter and release the nutrients back into the ecosystem. |
| Autotroph | Organsisms that can make their own food from basic nutrients and sunlight. eg, greent plants, algee, etc. |
| Heterotroph | Organisms that must feed on other organisms to obtain energy. |
| Food Chains | Shows a step-by-step sequence of who eats whom in an ecosystem & the one-way flow of energy from the producer to the top level consumer. |
| Photosynthesis | The process plants use to produce carbohydrates from carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight. |
| Biodiversity | Number and range of different organisms in an area |
| Toxins | |
| Bioaccumulation | Gradual build-up of chemicals in an organisms body. |
| Respiratation | |
| Extirpated | A species that no longer exists in a particular region but still occurs elsewhere. |
| Amphibious | Born in water, breathing with gills but can live on land or water |
| Carrying Capacity | Maximum number of individuals that an ecosytem can support without reducing its ability to support future generations of the same species. |
| Commensalism | Type of smbiosis in which one species benefits from a relationship without helping or harming the other species. |
| Mutualism | A type of symbiosis in which both species benefit from the symbiotic partnership. |
| Symbiosis | Close interaction between two different species lives in on or near members of another species |
| Enviroment | All living things and nonliving things that exist on Earth. |
| Habitat | The natural home or enviroment of an animal, plant, or another organism. |
| Food Webs | A pictorial representation of the feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem. |