Term | Definition |
Carrying Capacity | Largest number of individuals of a particular species that can survive over long periods of time in a given enviroment, this level depends on the effect of the limiting factors. |
Cellular Respiration | A series of metabolic processes that take place within a cell in which biochemical energy is harvested from organic substance (e.g. glucose) and stored as energy carriers (ATP) for use in energy-requiring activities of the cell. |
Chemical equations | A symbolic representation of what happens when chemicals come in contact with one another. A balanced chemical equation shows how many of what molecules react, how many of what molecules result, and sometimes the state of the substances. |
Climax community | An ecological community in the final stage of succession, in which the species composition remains relatively stable until a disturbance such as fire occurs. |
Commensalism | A form of symbiosis between two organisms of different species in which one of them benefits from the association whereas the other is largely unaffected or not significantly harmed or benefiting from the relationship. |
Consumer | An organism that generally obtains food by feeding on other organisms or organic matter due to lack of the ability to manufacture own food from inorganic sources; a heterotroph. |
Cyclic growth | Amount of population, food is very high, so the population explodes. When the population eats all the food there is a massive die off leaving only the most fit or most lucky alive. |
Decomposer | An organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material. |
Density-dependent factors | Density-dependent factors are factors where the effects on the size or growth of a population vary with the density of the population itself. |
Density-independent factors | Both living and non-living things can influence the size of a population of organisms. Some things that happen to populations such as disease and parasites depend on the size of the population to be successful at causing destruction. |
Ecological succession | Ecological succession is the observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. |
Energy flow | The movement of energy around an ecosystem by biotic and abiotic means. |
Exponential growth | Growth whose rate becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number or size. |
Logistic growth | Logistic population growth occurs when the growth rate decreases as the population reaches carrying capacity. Carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals in a population that the environment can support. |
Mutualism | A symbiotic relationship between individuals of different species in which both individuals benefit from the association. |
Parasitism | A form of symbiosis in which one organism (called parasite) benefits at the expense of another organism usually of different species (called host). The association may also lead to the injury of the host. |
Photosynthesis | The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. |
Pioneer species | Pioneer species are hardy species which are the first to colonize previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems, beginning a chain of ecological succession that ultimately leads to a more biodiverse steady-state ecosystem. |
Population | All the inhabitants of a particular town, area, or country. |
Producer | An autotrophic organism capable of producing complex organic compounds from simple inorganic molecules through the process of photosynthesis (using light energy) or through chemosynthesis (using chemical energy). |
Products | Anything that is produced, whether as the result of generation, growth, labour, or thought, or by the operation of involuntary causes; as, the products of the season, or of the farm; the products of manufactures; the products of the brain. |
Pyramid of energy | An energy pyramid is a graphical model of energy flow in a community. The different levels represent different groups of organisms that might compose a food chain. |
Reactants | A substance taking part in a chemical reaction. |
Steady state | A dynamic equilibrium. |
Symbiosis | The relationship between two different species of organisms that are interdependent; each gains benefits from the other. A relationship between different species where both of the organisms in question benefit from the presence of the other. |