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Ecology Kamalski
Science flashcards
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| 3.1 Ecology | The scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and thier environment, or surroundings. |
| 3.1 Biosphere | Part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere. |
| 3.1 Species | A group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring. |
| 3.1 Population | Group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area. |
| 3.1 Community | An assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area. |
| 3.1 Ecosystem | A collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with thier nonliving, or physical, environment. |
| 3.2 Autotroph | Organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds; also called a producer. |
| 3.2 Heterotroph | Organisms that rely on other organisms for thier energy and food supply. |
| 3.2 Food Web | Network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem. |
| 3.2 Trophic Level | Each step in a food chain or food web. |
| 3.2 Biomass | The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level. |
| 3.3 Biogeochemical Cycle | Process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another. |
| 3.3 Limiting Nutrient | Single nutrient that either is scarce or cycles very slowly, limiting the growth of organisms in an ecosystem. |
| 4.1 Weather | The day-to-day condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place. |
| 4.1 Climate | The average , year-after-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region. |
| 4.1 Green House Effect | Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases. |
| 4.2 Biotic Factors | The biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem. |
| 4.2 Abiotic Factors | Physical, or nonliving factors that shape ecosystems. |
| 4.2 Niche | The full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organisms lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions. |
| 5.1 Logistic Growth | Occurs when a population's growth slows or stops following a period of exponential growth. |
| 5.1 Carrying Capacity | Largest number of individuals of a population that a given environment can support. |
| 5.3 Demography | |
| 5.3 Demographic Transition | Change in a population from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates. |
| 6.1 Green Revolution | The development of highly productive crop strains and the use of modern agricultural techniques to increase yields of food crops. |
| 6.2 Renewable Resource | Resource that can regenerate quickly and that is replaceable. |
| 6.2 Pollutant | Harmful material that can enter the biosphere through the land, air, or water |
| 6.3 Biodiversity | The sum total of the variety of organisms in the biosphere |
| 6.3 Biological magnification | Increasing concentration of a harmful substance in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain or food web. |