Term | Definition |
carrying capacity | the number of living organisms that a region can support without environmental degradation |
cellular respiration | what cells do to break up sugars into a form that the cell can use as energy |
chemical equation | a balanced chemical equation shows how many of what molecules react, how many of what molecules result |
climax community | ecological community that has reached the final stage of ecological succession |
commensalism | relationship between two organisms in where one benefits and the other is neither benefited nor harmed |
consumer | an organism that generally obtains food by feeding on other organisms or organic matter |
cyclic population growth | occurs when there is a low amount of population, food is very high, & the population explodes |
decomposer | an organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that breaks down organic material |
density-dependent factors | where effects on size and growth of population vary with the population density |
density-independent factors | where effects on size and growth of population are not influenced by population density |
ecological succession | gradual process where ecosystems change and develop over time; nothing remains the same and habitats are constantly changing |
energy flow | movement of energy around an ecosystem by biotic & abiotic means |
exponential growth | where the population keeps growing and growing (no limiting factors) |
logistic growth | where the population is limited by limiting factors such as food shortage and shortage of shelter and space |
mutualism | symbiotic relationship that is beneficial to both organisms involved |
parasitism | non-mutual symbiotic relationship between species, where one species, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host |
photosynthesis | process where green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water |
pioneer species | durable species who are the first to colonize previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems, beginning a chain of ecological succession |
population | all the organisms of the same group or species, which live in the same geographical area (ability to interbreed) |
producer | organisms that make their own energy through biochemical processes |
products | something manufactured by an organelle |
pyramid of energy | graphical model of energy flow in a community |
reactants | substance taking part in a chemical reaction |
steady state | state where matter is flowing and all components remain at a constant concentration |
symbiosis | relationship between two different species of organisms that are interdependent; each benefits from the other |