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Ecology Terms
grade 9 ecology terms and definitions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ecology | study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment in a system. |
| Abiotic | non living things, physical things such as, minerals, air or things measured such as temperature, hours of daylight, salt. |
| biotic | living, these factors are organism such as plants, animals, mushrooms, bacteria and algae. |
| ecosystem | any network of interacting living vs non living factors. |
| natural ecosystem | a natural ecosystem is neither planned nor maintained by people. |
| artificial ecosystem | artificial ecosystem is planned and maintained by people. examples city, zoo, aquarium, farms. |
| species | a group of 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 | all the interactions of different species that live and interact in the same area. |
| niche | all the interactions of a given species with its ecosystem. |
| Biome | large geographical region that contains similar ecosystems. |
| Terrestrial | land-based |
| aquatic | water based |
| biosphere | a part of our planet, including 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 catches and feeds off other live animals |
| scavengers | an animal that mostly eats decaying biomass |
| parasites | obtain their food by feeding off another organism which continues to live |
| detritivores | 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 | organisms that can make their own food from basic nutrients and sunlight ext. green plants, algae |
| heterotroph | organisms that must feed on other organisms to obtain energy |
| food chains | show 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. (CO2+H20→ sugar + O2) |
| biodiversity | number and range of different organisms in an area |
| bioaccumulation | gradual build of of chemicals in an organisms body |
| extirpated | species that no longer exist in a particular region but still occurs elsewhere |
| amphibious | born in water, breathing with gills but can live on land or in water |
| carring capacity | maximum number of individuals that an ecosystem can support without reducing its ability to support future generations of the same species |
| Commensalism | type of symbiosis 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 in which members of one species lives in on or near members of another species |
| Environment | all living things and nonliving things that exist on Earth |
| Habitat | The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism. |