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Ecology Vocab
Flashcards for Ecology
| Definition | Word |
|---|---|
| a group of individuals all of the same species living in the same area | population |
| a group of populations living in the same area | community |
| the interrelationships between the organisms in a community and their physical environment | ecosystem |
| all the regions of the earth that contain living things | bioshpere |
| the type of place where an organism usually lives | habitat |
| all the biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) resources in the environment used by an organism | niche |
| the total number of individuals in the population | size |
| the total number of individuals per area or volume occupied | density |
| how individuals in a population are distributed; they can be clumped, uniform, or random | dispersion |
| a description of the abundance of individuals of each age | age structure |
| describe how mortality of individuals in a species varies during their lifetimes | survivorship curves |
| describe species in which most individuals survive to middle age | type i curves |
| describe organisms in which the length of survivorship is random (the likelihood of death is the same at any age) | type ii curves |
| describe species in which most individuals die young; only a few survive to reproduce | type iii curves |
| the maximum growth rate of a population under ideal conditions (with unlimited resources and without any growth restrictions) | biotic potential |
| the maximum number of individuals of a population that can be sustained by a particular habitat | carry capacity |
| elements that prevent a population from attaining its biotic potential | limiting factors |
| agents whose limiting effect becomes more intense as the population density increases | density-dependent factors |
| factors occur independently of the density of the population | density-independent factors |
| occurs whenever the reproductive rate is greater than zero | exponential form |
| formed on a graph where population size is plotted against time and exponential growth rises quickly | j-shaped curve |
| occurs when limiting factors restrict the size of the population to the carrying capacity of the habitat | logistic growth |
| formed on a graph of logistic growth; the size of the population increases and its reproductive rate decreases until the reproductive rate is zero and the population size stabilizes | s-shaped curve |
| fluctuations in population size in response to varying effects of limiting factors | population cycles |
| a species that exhibits rapid growth (j-shaped curve) | r-selected species |
| species that quickly invade a habitat, quickly reproduce, and then die | opportunistic species |
| one whose population size remains relatively constant | k-selected species |
| (gause's principle) when two species compete for exactly the same resources, one is likely to be more successful; as a result, one species outcompetes the other and the second species is eliminated | competitive exclusion species |
| dividing up the resources by pursuing slightly different resources or securing their resources in slightly different ways | resource partitioning |
| selection for certain characteristics that may enable individuals to obtain resources in their partitions more successfully which reduces competition with individuals in other partitions and leads to a divergence of features | character displacement |
| where a niche overlap is absent between competing species; they do not compete for the same resources | realized niche |
| the niche that an organism occupies in the absence of competing species | fundamental niche |
| another form of community interaction | predation |
| kills and eats another animal | true predator |
| spends most (or all) of its life living on another organism (the host) obtaining nourishment from the host by feeding on its tissues | parasite |
| an insect that lays its eggs on a host (usually an insect or spider); the host eventually dies but not until the larvae complete their development and begin pupation | parasitoid |
| an animal that eats plants | herbivore |
| two species that live together in close contact during a portion (or all) of their lives | symbiosis |
| a relationship in which both species benefit (+, +) | mutualism |
| one species benefits, while the second species is neither helped nor harmed (+, 0) | commensalism |
| the parasite benefits from the living arrangement, while the host is harmed (+, -) | parasitism |
| toxic chemicals produced in plants that discourage would-be herbivores | secondary compounds |
| any color, pattern, shape, or behavior that enables an animal to blend in with its surroundings | camouflage (cryptic coloration) |
| a conspicuous pattern or coloration of animals that warns predators that they sting, bite, taste bad, or are otherwise to be avoided | aposematic coloration (warning coloration) |
| when two or more species resemble one another in appearance | mimicry |
| occurs when several animals, all with some special defense mechanism, share the same coloration | mullerian mimicry |
| occurs when an animal without any special defense mechanism mimics the coloration of an animal that does posses a defense | batesian mimicry |
| the change in the composition of species over time | ecological succession |
| a final successional stage of constant species composition | climax com |
| occurs on substrates that never previously supported living things | primary succession |
| begins in habitats where communities were entirely or partially destroyed by some kind of damaging event | secondary succession |
| autotrophs that convert sun energy to chemical energy | primary producers |
| eat primary producers | primary consumers (herbivores) |
| eat primary consumers | secondary consumers (primary carnivores) |
| eat secondary consumers | tertiary consumers (secondary carnivores) |
| consumers that obtain their energy by consuming dead plants and animals | detritivores |
| smallest detritivores | decomposers |
| used to show the relationship between trophic levels | ecological pyramids |
| the proportion of energy represented at one trophic level that is transferred to the next level | ecological efficiency |
| a linear flow chart of who eats whom | food chain |
| an expanded, more complete version of a food chain | food web |
| the groups plants and animals are organized into which reflects their main energy source | trophic levels |
| describe the flow of essential elements from the environment to living things and back to the environment | biogeochemical cycles |
| regions of the biosphere that exhibit common environmental characteristics | biomes |
| characterized by high temperature and heavy rainfall | tropical rain forests |
| plants that live commensally on other plantsgrasslands with scattered trees; subject to high temperatures but less water than rain forests | savannas |
| receive less water and are subject to lower temperatures than savannas | temperate grasslands |
| occupy regions that have warm summers, cold winters, and moderate precipitation | temperate deciduous forests |
| hot and dry | deserts |
| coniferous forests winters are cold and precipitation is in the form of snow | taigas |
| subject to winters so cold that the ground freezes | tundras |
| deeper soil that remains permanently frozen (in tundras) | permafrost |
| include estuaries (where oceans meet rivers), intertidal zones (where oceans meet land), continental shelves ( the relatively shallow oceans that border continents), coral reefs (masses of corals that reach the ocean surface), and the pelagic (deep) ocean | marine biomes |
| global temperatures rising due to the burning of fossil fuels and forests, which increases co2 in the atmosphere; warmer temperatures could raise sea levels (by melting more ice) and decrease agriculture output (by affecting weather patterns) | global climate change |
| the ozone breaks down due to various air pollutants which allows uv radiation to penetrate and reach the surface of the earth | ozone depletion |
| areas of major ozone thinning; appear regularly over antarctica, the arctic, and northern eurasia | ozone holes |
| air pollutants that react with water vapor to produce sulfuric acid and nitric acid | acid rain |
| overgrazing of grasslands that border deserts transform the grasslands into deserts | desertification |
| clear-cutting or burning of forests causes the soil of some rain forests to lose nutrients stored in vegetation, so the soil can only support agriculture for 1 or 2 years | deforestation |
| air, water, and land pollution contaminate the materials essential to life | pollution |
| as one organism eats another, the toxins from pollution become more and more concentrated | biological magnification |
| massive growths of algae and other phytoplankton; stimulated by abundant nutrients | algal blooms |
| the process of nutrient enrichment in lakes & the subsequent increase in biomass | eutrophication |
Created by:
KarenPat
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