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Ecology
Biology Honors Unit 7
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| biodiversity | the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem |
| carrying capacity | the largest population that an area can support |
| deforestation | the removal of trees faster than forests can replace themselves |
| ecological succession | series of gradual changes that occur in a community following a disturbance |
| fossil fuels | a natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms |
| invasive species | species that enter new ecosystems and multiply, harming native species and their habitats |
| limiting factors | any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence, numbers, reproduction, or distribution of organisms |
| secondary succession | type of succession that occurs in an area that was only partially destroyed by disturbances |
| primary succession | succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists |
| nonrenewable resource | something produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans |
| renewable resource | a natural resource that can be replaced at the same rate at which the resource is consumed |
| pollution | the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects |
| water cycle | the continual movement of water among Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surface through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation |
| sustainable | the use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future |
| abiotic factors | nonliving parts of an ecosystem |
| biotic factors | living parts of an ecosystem |
| aquatic | relating to water |
| biome | a group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms |
| biosphere | the part of Earth where life exists |
| ecosystem | a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment |
| community | all the different populations that live together in an area |
| population | group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area |
| species | a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding |
| ecology | branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings |
| terrestrial | relating to the land |
| climate change | a change in global or regional climate patterns |
| autotroph | an organism that makes its own food; also called a producer |
| heterotroph | organism that obtains energy from the foods it consumes; also called a consumer |
| biogeochemical cycle | the exchange of matter through the biosphere |
| carbon cycle | the movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back |
| carnivore | a consumer that eats only animals. |
| decomposer | organism that breaks down and obtains energy from dead organic matter |
| food chain | series of steps in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten |
| food web | a community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains |
| herbivore | organism that obtains energy by eating only plants |
| omnivore | a consumer that eats both plants and animals |
| primary producer | first producer of energy-rich compounds that are later used by other organisms |
| trophic level | feeding level shown in food chain, food web, or energy pyramid |
| energy pyramid | a diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web |
| sustainability | practices that support ecological, human, and economic health and vitality |
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