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MARINE BIOLOGY
marine bio
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ecology | the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment |
| parasitism | the type of symbiosis in which one partner,the parasite, derives benefit from the other, the host |
| abiotic | a non-living component of the environment |
| exponential growth | Unrestricted population growth where the population grows at a faster rate with each successive generation |
| limiting resource | an essential factor whose short supply limits the growth of a population |
| resource partitioning | The sharing of resources by specialization |
| coevolution | the process in which one species evolves in response to another |
| mutualism | the type of symbiosis in which both partners benefit from the relationship |
| biotic | A living component of an environment |
| competition | the interaction that results when a resource is in short supply and one organism uses the resources at the expense of another |
| ecological niche | the full range of ecological characteristics of a species, like its feeding habits, specific habitat, and reproductive energy |
| benthic | organisms that live on the bottom |
| subtidal zone | the bottom above the continental shelf |
| intertidal zone | the area between the highest and lowest tide |
| abyssal zone | the bottom from a depth of approximately 4,000 m to 6,000 m |
| food chain | the steps of transfer of energy from primary producers through consumers |
| trophic pyramid | the pyramid like relationship found in the pyramids of biomass, energy, and numbers of organisms in a food chain |
| trophic level | each of the steps in a food chain |
| biomass | the total mass of living organisms |
| food web | all of the interconnecting feeding relationships in a community |
| detritus | particles of dead organic matter |
| gross primary production | the total amount of organic carbon manufactured by primary producers |
| denitrification | the conversion of fixed nitrogen back to nitrogen gas |