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Chpt18_Ecology
Vocabulary from Chapter 18 of Holt Modern Biology
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Ecology | The study of the interactions between organisms and the living and nonliving components of their environment |
| Interdependence | The dependence of organisms on interactions with other organisms in their surroundings and with the nonliving portion of their environment |
| Ecological models | Models that represent or describe the components of an ecological system |
| Biosphere | The broadest, most inclusive level of organization that includes the thin volume of Earth and its atmosphere that supports life |
| Ecosystem | All of the organisms and the nonliving environment found in a particular place |
| Community | All the interacting organisms living in an area |
| Population | All the members of a single species that live in one place at one time |
| Biotic factors | The living components of an environment |
| Abiotic factors | The nonliving factors or physical and chemical characteristics of an environment |
| Habitat | The place where an organism lives |
| Tolerance curve | A graph of performance versus values of an environmental variable, such as temperature |
| Acclimation | The process in which organisms adjust their tolerance to abiotic factors |
| Dormancy | A longer-term survival strategy where the organism enters into a state of reduced activity |
| Migration | A survival strategy in which organisms move to a more favorable habitat |
| Niche | The specific role or way of life of a species within its environment |
| Producers | Organisms that capture energy and use it to make organic molecules; also known as autotrophs |
| Chemosynthesis | A process in which they use energy stored in inorganic molecules to produce carbohydrates |
| Gross primary productivity | The rate at which producers in an ecosystem capture the energy of sunlight by producing organic compounds |
| Biomass | Organic material that has been produced in an ecosystem |
| Net primary photosynthesis | The rate at which biomass accumulates; calculated by subtracting the rate of respiration in producers from gross primary productivity |
| Consumers | Organisms that obtain energy by consuming organic molecules made by other organisms |
| Herbivores | Organisms that eat ONLY producers |
| Carnivores | Organisms that eat other consumers |
| Omnivores | Organisms that eat both producers AND consumers |
| Detritivores | Consumers that feed on the "garbage" of an ecosystem such as dead organisms, fallen leaves, and animal waste |
| Decomposers | Detritivores that cause decay by breaking down complex molecules into simpler molecules |
| Trophic level | An organism's positino in a sequence of energy transfers |
| Food chain | A single pathway of feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem that results in energy transfer |
| Food web | Interrelated food chains in an ecosystem |
| Biogeochemical cycles | The passing of various substances like water, carbon, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorous between living and nonliving worlds |
| Groundwater | Water in the soil or in underground formations of porous rock |
| Water cycle | The movement of water between various reservoirs |
| Transpiration | The process by which water evaporates from the leaves of plants in terrestrial ecosystems |
| Carbon cycle | The movement of carbon in the environment; in the short term formed by photosynthesis and cellular respiration |
| Nitrogen cycle | The complex pathway that nitrogen follows in an ecosystem |
| Nitrogen fixation | The process of converting N2 gas to nitrate |
| Nitrogen-fixing bacteria | Bacteria that transform nitrogen gas into a usable form |
| Ammonification | The process by which decomposers break down material and release nitrogen as ammonia |
| Nitrification | The process by which bacteria take up ammonium and oxidize it into nitrates and nitrites |
| Phosphorus cycle | the movement of phosphorus from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment |
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