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Chapter 5
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Evolution | in general terms, change over time |
| gene | a sequence of DNA that codes for a particular trait |
| Mutations | A change in DNA |
| genetic drift | biological evolution that occurs by chance |
| Natural selection | the process by which traits that improve an organism's chances for survival and reproduction are passed on more frequently to offspring than those that do not |
| Fitness | the degree to which an organism can reproduce successfully in its environment |
| Adaption | a heritable trait that increases the likelihood of an individual's survival and reproduction |
| Artificial selection | a human-controlled process to produce individuals with certain traits |
| speciation | the process by which new species are generated |
| extinction | the disappearance of a species from Earth |
| niche | an organism's habitat, resource use, and fundamental role in a community |
| Tolerance | the ability to survive and reproduce under changing environmental conditions |
| resource partitioning | a process that allows different species to share common resources |
| Predation | the process by which individuals of one species the predators hunt, capture, and feed on individuals of another species (the prey |
| Coevolution | the process by which two species evolve in response to changes in each other |
| Parasitism | a relationship between two organisms from different species in which one organism |
| symbiosis | a long-term and physically close relationship between two organisms from different species in which at least one organism benefits |
| herbivory | the act of feeding on a plant |
| mutualism | a relationship between two organisms from different species in which both organisms benefit |
| commensalism | a relationship between two organisms from different species in which one benefits and the other is unaffected |
| primary producers | an organism that can capture energy from the sun or from chemicals and store it; also called autotroph |
| Photosynthesis | the process by which primary producers use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars, releasing oxygen, |
| chemosynthesis | the process by which bacteria use energy stored in bonds of hydrogen sulfide to convert carbon dioxide and water into 142 sugars |
| consumers | an organism that relies on other organisms for energy and nutrients; also called heterotroph |
| Cellular respiration | the process by which organisms use oxygen to release the chemical energy of sugars, producing carbon dioxide and water |
| herbivors | an organism that eats plants |
| carnivors | an animal that kills and eats other animals |
| omnivors | an animal that eats both plants and animals |
| Detritivores | an organism a millipede or soil insect that scavenges the waste products or dead bodies of other community member |
| Decomposers | an organism a fungus or bacterium that breaks down nonliving matter into simple parts that can then be taken up and reused by primary producers |
| trophic level | a rank in a feeding hierarchy |
| biomass | the total amount of living tissue in a trophic |
| food chain | a linear series of feeding relationships |
| food web | a diagram of feeding relationships and energy flow showing the paths by which nutrients and energy pass from organism to organism as one consumes another |
| keystone species | a species that has a strong or wide- ranging impact on a community |
| succession | a somewhat predictable series of changes over time in a community |
| primary succesion | the somewhat predictable series of changes in a community that follows a disturbance so severe that no vegetation or soil life remains |
| pioneer species | one of the first species to colonize newly exposed land, |
| Secondary succesion | the somewhat predictable series of changes in a community that follows a disturbance, a fire, logging, or farming that dramatically alters the community but does not destroy all vegetation or soil life |
| invasive species | a nonnative species that spreads widely in a community |