Term | Definition |
Biotic | Living things, such as plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria |
Abiotic | Nonliving factor in ecosystem |
Producer | Organism that obtains its energy from abiotic sources |
Primary Consumer | Herbivores because they r first consumer above trophic level |
Secondary Consumer | Carnivores, eat herbivores |
Tertiary Consumer | Carnivores that eat secondary consumers |
Herbivore | organisms that eat only plants |
Carnivore | eat only animals |
Omnivore | eat plants and animals |
Detritivore | eat detritus or dead organic matter |
Decomposer | detritivores that break down organic matter into simpler compounds |
Generalist | consumers that have varying diets dont rely on single food source |
Specialist | consumer that primarily eats 1 specific organism or feeds on very small number of organisms |
Autotrophic | get energy from nonliving resources make own food |
Heterotrophic | get energy by eating other living or once living resources such as plants and animals |
Keystone Species | species that has an unusually large effect on its ecosystems |
Natural Selections | mechanism by which individuals that have inherited veneficial adaptations produce more offspring on average than do other individuals |
Adaptation | inherited trait that is selected for overtime because it allows organisms to better survive in their environment |
Niche | all physical, chemical, and biological factors that species need to survive, stay healthy and reproduce |
Competition | ecolofical relationship in which two organisms attempt to obtain the same resource |
Predation | process by which one organism hunts and kills another organism for food |
Symbiosis | ecological relationship between memers of at least 2 different species that libe in direct contact with one another |
Parasite | species that directly harms a host |
Host | organism fed on by parasite |
Mutualism | ecological relationsjip between two spevies in which each species gets a benefit from the interaction |
Commensalism | ecological relationship in which one species recieves a venefit but the oter species is not affected one way or another |
Parasitism | ecological relationship in which one organism benefits by harming another organism |
Habitat | combined biotic and aviotic factors found in the area where an organism lives |
Competitive exculsion | theory that states that no two spevies can occupy the same niche at the same time |
ecological equivalent | organisms that share a similar niche but live in different geographical regions |
Population Density | measure of individuals living in a defines area |
Population Dispersion | way in which individuals of a population are spread out over an area or volume |
Survivorship Curve | graph showing the surviving memvers of ech age group of a population over time |
Immigration | movement of individuals INTO a population |
Emigration | mocement of individuals OUT of a population |
Exponential growth | dramtic increase in population over a short period of time |
Logistic Growth | population growth that is characterized by a period of slow growth, followed by a period of exponential growht, followed by a period of almost no growth |
Carrying Capacity | number of individuals that the resources of an environment can normally and persistently support |
Population crash | dramatic decline in the size of a population over a short period of time |
Limiting factor | environmental factor that limits the growth and size of a population |
density-dependent limiting factor | environmental resistnace that affects a population that has become overly crowded |
density-independent limiting factor | environmental resistance that affects a population regardless of population density |
succession | sequence of biotic changes that regenerate a damged community or start a community in a previously uninhavited are |
primary succesion | establishment and development of an ecosysten in an area that was previously uninhavited |
pioneer species | first to live in new ecosystem |
secondary succession | reestablishment of a damged ecosystem in an area where the soil was left intact |
who is the awesomest person ever? | Jordan McElroy |