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Stack #4679110
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Autotroph | are organisms that produce their own food using sunlight (photosynthesis) or chemical energy (chemosynthesis), acting as primary producers in an ecosystem, such as plants, algae, and certain bacteria. |
| Heterotroph | organisms that cannot produce their own food and must consume other organisms—plants, animals, or organic matter—for energy, including animals, fungi, and bacteria |
| Organism | An individual living thing. |
| Habitat | The specific place or natural environment where an organism lives and obtains the resources it needs to survive. |
| Biotic factor | Any living component of an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. |
| Abiotic factor | The non-living physical and chemical components of an ecosystem, such as sunlight, temperature, water, soil, and air. |
| Species | A group of similar organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring in nature. |
| Population | A group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area. |
| Community | All the different populations of various species that live and interact together in a specific area. |
| Ecosystem | A biological community of interacting organisms (biotic) and their physical, non-living environment (abiotic). |
| Ecology | The branch of biology that studies how organisms interact with each other and their environment |
| Immigration | The movement of individuals into a population. |
| Emigration | The movement of individuals out of a population. |
| Population density | The number of individuals of a species per unit area. |
| Limiting factor | An environmental resource or condition (e.g., food, water, space) that restricts the growth or distribution of a population. |
| Carrying capacity | The maximum number of individuals of a specific species that an environment can support over the long term. |
| Natural selection | The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. |
| Adaptation | An inherited trait (structural, functional, or behavioral) that improves an organism's chance of survival and reproduction |
| Niche | The unique functional role, position, or "job" of a species within an ecosystem, including its use of resources and interactions with other species. |
| Competition | An interaction where organisms fight or compete for the same limited resources (food, water, space, light). |
| Predation | A biological interaction where one organism (predator) hunts, kills, and feeds on another (prey). |
| Mutualism | A symbiotic relationship where both species involved benefit. |
| Commensalism | A symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed. |
| Parasitism | A symbiotic relationship where one organism (parasite) lives on or inside another (host) and harms it. |
| Parasite | The organism that benefits by feeding on another organism, often causing harm but not immediately killing it. |
| Host | The organism that is harmed, fed upon, or inhabited by a parasite. |
| Succession | The series of predictable changes that occur in a community over time. |
| Primary succession | The series of changes that occur in an area where no soil or organisms exist (e.g., after a lava flow). |
| Pioneer species | The first species to populate an area during primary succession (e.g., lichens, mosses). |
| Secondary succession | The series of changes that occur in an area where an ecosystem has been disturbed, but soil and some organisms still exist |
| Producer | An autotroph; an organism that makes its own food, usually through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. |
| Consumer | A heterotroph; an organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms. |
| Herbivore | A consumer that feeds directly on producers (plants/algae). |
| Carnivore | A consumer that feeds on other animals. |
| Omnivore | A consumer that feeds on both plants and animals. |
| Scavenger | A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms. |
| Decomposer | Organisms (like bacteria and fungi) that break down dead organic matter and waste, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem. |
| Food chain | A linear series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten. |
| Food web | A complex network of interconnected food chains showing all feeding relationships in an ecosystem. |
| Energy pyramid | A diagram showing the relative amount of energy or matter available at each trophic level (energy decreases as you move up). |
| Nitrogen fixation | The process of converting nitrogen gas (\(N_{2}\)) from the atmosphere into nitrogen compounds that plants can use (often by bacteria) |
| Biome | A large, regional group of ecosystems characterized by specific climate conditions, plants, and animals. |
| Climate | The average, long-term weather patterns of a region over a long period. |
| Desert | A biome characterized by very low precipitation and sparse vegetation. |
| Rain forest | A biome with high temperatures and high precipitation, containing high biodiversity. |
| Emergent layer | The top layer of the rain forest, consisting of the tallest trees. |
| Canopy | The dense "roof" of leaves and branches formed by trees in a forest. |
| Understory | The layer of a forest beneath the canopy, characterized by shade-tolerant plants. |
| Grassland | A biome dominated by grasses rather than large shrubs or trees, often with distinct wet and dry seasons. |
| Savanna | A type of tropical grassland with scattered trees, experiencing a warm climate and a distinct dry season. |
| Deciduous tree | A tree that sheds its leaves annually (e.g., maple, oak). |
| Boreal forest | A biome dominated by coniferous trees (taiga) that stretches across the northern hemisphere. |
| Coniferous tree | A tree that produces cones and has needles instead of leaves (e.g., pine, spruce). |
| Tundra | A cold, dry biome with little vegetation and permanently frozen subsoil. |
| Permafrost | Permanently frozen soil found in the tundra. |
| Estuary | A coastal ecosystem where freshwater from rivers mixes with saltwater from the ocean. |
| Intertidal zone | The coastal area that is submerged during high tide and exposed during low tide. |
| Neritic zone | The shallow part of the ocean, extending from the low-tide mark to the edge of the continental shelf. |
| Biogeography | The study of the past and present geographical distribution of species. |
| Continental drift | The gradual movement of the continents across the Earth's surface over geological time |
| Dispersal | The movement of organisms (animals, plants, fungi) from their birth site to a new breeding site, or the movement of seeds/propagules away from the parent organism, which aids in colonizing new areas and reducing competition. |
| Exotic species | A species introduced (intentionally or accidentally) by humans into an ecosystem in which it did not evolve, also known as non-native or alien species. |
| Point source | A single, identifiable, and confined source of pollution, such as a pipe, ditch, ship, or factory smokestack. |
| Nonpoint source | Pollution that comes from many diffuse sources rather than one specific location, usually carried into waterways by runoff from rain or snowmelt (e.g., agricultural fertilizer runoff or urban stormwater). |
| Biodegradable | The capability of a material to be broken down naturally by microorganisms (bacteria, fungi) into non-toxic components like water, carbon dioxide, and organic matter. |
| Natural resource | Materials and components found in nature that are useful to humans, such as sunlight, water, land, minerals, vegetation, and wildlife. |
| Soil conservation | Methods and practices used to protect soil from degradation, erosion, and loss of fertility, such as reduced tillage or cover cropping. |
| Crop rotation | The practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons to improve soil health, manage nutrients, and break pest cycles. |
| Contour plowing | Farming practice of plowing and planting across a slope following its elevation contour lines, rather than up and down, to create water breaks that reduce erosion. |
| Conservation plowing | A tillage method that leaves at least 30 percent of the soil surface covered with crop residue after planting to reduce soil erosion and moisture loss. |
| Biodiversity | The variety and variability of all life on Earth, encompassing species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecosystem diversity. |
| Keystone species | A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its ecosystem relative to its abundance; its removal causes drastic changes to the ecosystem. |
| Endangered species | A species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. |
| Threatened species | A species that is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future. |
| Extinction | The complete disappearance of a species from Earth, occurring when the last individual dies. |
| Habitat destruction | The process by which natural habitats are rendered unable to support the species that inhabit them, primarily due to human activities like deforestation and urbanization. |
| Habitat fragmentation | The process where a large, continuous habitat is divided into smaller, isolated patches, often by roads or development, restricting species movement. |
| Poaching | The illegal hunting, capturing, or harvesting of wild animals or protected plants in violation of local or international conservation laws. |
| Captive breading | The process of breeding endangered species in controlled environments (zoos, specialized centers) to increase population numbers, with the goal of reintroducing them into the wild. |
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