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Biology Ch 1-5
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| biology | the study of life that seeks to provide an understanding of the natural world |
| organism | anything that possesses all the characteristics of life; all organisms have an orderly structure, produce offspring, grow, develop, and adjust to changes in the environment |
| organization | orderly structure of cells in an organism; a characteristic of all living things |
| reproduction | production of offspring by an organism |
| species | group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring in nature |
| growth | increase in the amount of living material and formation of new structures in an organism |
| development | all of the changes that take place during the life of an organism |
| environment | biotic and abiotic surroundings to which an organism must constantly adjust |
| stimulus | anything in an organism's internal or external environment that causes an organism to react |
| response | an organism's reaction to a change in its internal or external environment |
| homeostasis | organism's regulation of its internal environment to maintain conditions suitable for survival |
| scientific method | procedures that biologists use ti gather information and answer questions; observing, hypothesizing, experimenting, interpreting results |
| experiment | procedure that tests a hypothesis by collecting information under controlled conditions |
| control | in an experiment, the standard against which results are compared |
| independent variable | in an experiment, the condition that is tested because it affects the outcome of the experiment |
| dependent variable | in an experiment, the condition that results from changes in the independent variable |
| safety symbol | symbol that warns you about a danger that may exist from chemicals, electricity, heat, or experimental procedures |
| data | information obtained from experiments, sometimes called experimental results |
| theory | explanation of natural phenomenon supported by a large body of scientific evidence obtained from many different investigations and observations |
| ecology | scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environments |
| biosphere | portion of the earth that supports life; extends from high in the atmosphere |
| abiotic factor | nonliving parts of an organism's environment; air currents, temperature, moisture, light, and soil |
| biotic factor | all the living organisms that inhabit an environment |
| population | group of organisms all of the same species which interbreed and live in the same place at the same time |
| biological community | a community made up of interacting populations in a certain area at a certain time |
| ecosystem | interactions among populations in a community's physical surroundings, or abiotic factors |
| habitat | place where an organism lives out its life |
| niche | role or position a species has in its environment; includes all biotic and abiotic interactions as an animal meets its needs for survival and reproduction |
| symbiosis | permanent, close association between two or more organisms of different species |
| commensalism | symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither harmed nor benefited |
| mutualism | a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit |
| parasitism | symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits at the expense of another, usually another species |
| autotroph | organisms that use energy from the sun or energy stored in chemical compounds to manufacture their own nutrients |
| heterotroph | organisms that cannot make their own food and feed on other organisms for energy and nutrients |
| decomposer | organisms such as fungi and bacteria that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms |
| food chain | simple model that shows how matter and energy more through an ecosystem |
| trophic level | organism that represents a feeding step in the movement of energy and materials through an ecosystem |
| food web | model that shows all the possible feeding relationships at each trophic level in a community |
| biomass | the totall mass or weight of all living matter in a given area |
| limiting factor | any biotic or abiotic factor that restrics the existance, numbers reproduction, or distribution of organisms |
| tolerance | the ability of an organism to withstand fluctuations in biotic and abiotic environmental factors |
| succession | or deny, natural changes, and species replacements that take place in communities of an ecosystem over time |
| primary succession | colonization of barren land by pioneer organisms |
| climax community | a stable, mature community, that undergoes little or no change in species over time |
| secondary succession | sequence of changes that take place after a community is disrupted by natural disasters or human actions |
| biome | group of ecosystems with the same climax communities; terrestrial and aquatic biomes |
| photic zone | portion of marine biome that is shallow enough for sunlight to penetrate |
| aphotic zone | deep water that never receives sunlight |
| estuary | coastal body of water, partially surrounded by land, in which fresh water and salt water mix |
| intertidal zone | portion of the shoreline that lies between high and low tide lines |
| plankton | small organisms that drift in water of photic zone; includes autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms, their eggs, and juvenile stages of many marine animals |
| tundra | biome that surrounds the north and south poles; treeless land with long summer days and short periods of winter sunlight, characterized by permafrost |
| taiga | biome just south of the tundra; boreal or northern coniferous forest composed of larch, fir, hemlock, and spruce trees and acidic mineral-poor topsoils |
| desert | region with sparse to almost nonexistent plant life; driest biome, usually receives less than 25cm of precipitation annually |
| grassland | biome, large communities, rich soil, grasses and similar plants; 25-27cm precipitation annually |
| temperate/deciduous forest | biome; forests of broad-leaved hardwood trees that lose their foliage annually |
| tropical rain forest | ciome near the equator; warm temperatures, wet weather, lush plant growth, 200cm rain annually. contains more species than any other biome |
| exponential growth | growth pattern where a population grows faster as it increases in size; graph of a exponentially growing population resembles a J-shaped curve |
| carrying capacity | number of organisms of one species that an environment can support indefinetly; populations below carrying capacity tend to increase; those above carrying capacity tend to decrease |
| life-history pattern | an organism's pattern of reproduction; may be rapid or slow |
| density-dependent factor | limiting factors such as disease, parasites, or food availability that affect growth of a population |
| density-independent factor | factor such as temperature, storms, floods, drought, or habitat disruption that affects all populations |
| demography | study of population characteristics such as growth rate, age structure, and geographic distribution |
| birth rate | number of live births per 1000 population in a given year |
| death rate | number of deaths per 1000 population in a given year |
| doubling time | time needed for a population to double in size |
| age structure | proportions of a population that are at different age levels |
| biodiversity | variety of life in an area; usually measured as the number of species that live in that area |
| extinction | the disappearance of a species when the last of its members dies |
| endangered species | a species in which the number of individuals falls so low that extinction is possible |
| habitat fragmentation | separation of wilderness areas from eachother; may cause problems for organisms that need larger areas for food or mating |
| threatened species | when the population of a species is likely to become endangered |
| edge effect | different environmental conditions that occur along the boundaries of an ecosystem |
| habitat degradation | damage to a habitat by air, water, and land pollution |
| acid precipitation | rain, snow, sleet, or fog, with a Ph below 5.6; causes the deterioration of forests, lakes, statues and buildings |
| ozone layer | layer of the atmosphere that helps to protect living organisms on the earth's surface from damaging/ultraviolet radiation from the sun |
| exotic species | nonnative species in an area; may take over niches of native species in an area and eventually replace them |
| conservation biology | field of biology that studies methods and implements plans to protect biodiversity |
| natural resources | parts of the environment that are useful for necessary for living organisms |
| habitat corridors | natural strips of land that allow the migration of organisms from one wilderness area to another |
| sustainable use | philosophy that promotes letting people use resources in wilderness areas in ways that will not damage the ecosystem |
| reintroduction programs | programs that release organisms into an area where their species once lived in hopes of reestablishing naturally reproducing populations |
| captivity | when members of a species are held by people in zoos or other conservation facilities |
| hydrosphere | portion of the biosphere pertaining to water and the water cycle, not a drop of liquid water can be found anywhere else in the solar system. 70% of earth's surface |
| lithosphere | the outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle, approximately 100 km (62 mi.) thick. |
| primary consumer | herbivore, feeds only on plants |
| secondary consumer | carnivores, kill and eat only other animals |
| saprophytes | break down and release nutrients from dead organisms |
| producers | use light and energy in chemical compounds to make energy |
| entropy | measure of the disorder of a system |
| First law of thermodynamics | energy cannot be created or destroyed |
| metabolism | all of the chemical reactions that occur within an organism |
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