Term | Definition |
Aquatic Ecosystem | Interaction of living and non-living things in a water environment. |
Terrestrial Ecosystem | Interaction of living and non-living things in a land environment. |
Ecosystem | A system made up of all the interactions between biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) things of a certain place. |
Biotic | Living things |
Abiotic | Non-living things |
Ecology | The study of the connections between everything (living and non-living) on Earth. |
Food Web | A model that describes how energy in an ecosystem is transferred through two or more food chains. |
Photosynthesis | Process in plant, algae cells, and some bacteria that converts light energy from the Sun into stored chemical energy that can be used by other living things
Light energy + Carbon Dioxide + Water ======> Glucose (sugar) + Oxygen |
Cellular Respiration | A process in cells of living things that converts the energy stored in chemical compounds into usable energy.
Glucose (sugar) + Oxygen ======> Usable energy + Carbon Dioxide + Water |
Food Chain | A model that describes how the energy stored in food is transferred from one living thing to another. |
Consumer | A living thing that gets its energy by eating producers or other consumers. |
Producer | Living thing that gets the energy it needs by making its own food through photosynthesis. |
Nutrients | Chemicals that living things need to live and grow. |
Decomposers | Organism that obtains energy by consuming/feeding on dead plants and animal matter. |
Nutrient Cycle | Continuous pattern that use and reuse nutrients. |
Predation | An organism (predator) feeds on another organism (prey) to obtain nutrients. |
Symbiosis | Interactions between two different species.
3 types: mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism |
Inter-species Competition | Interaction between the species of DIFFERENT organisms for the SAME resources in a habitat. |
Intra-species Competition | Interaction between the SAME species for the SAME resources in a habitat. |
Commensalism | Interaction where ONE species benefits without any harm or benefit to the other species. |
Parasitism | Interaction where ONE species benefits by causing harm to the other species. |
Limiting Factor | Ab abiotic and/or biotic environmental factor that limits the size of a population. |
Population | A group of members of the SAME species that live in the SAME area. |
Habitat | Where a species lives |
Community | A population of DIFFERENT species that live and interact in an area. |
Species | A group of similar organisms in an ecosystem that can reproduce with one another. |
Carrying Capacity | The largest population size that an ecosystem can sustain to be healthy. |
Mutualism | Interactions where BOTH species benefit in the partnership. |
Watershed | An area of land that drains into a body of water. |
Introduced Species | Any species brought into an ecosystem where it is not usually found. |
Species Diversity | The number and variety of species of living things in an area. |
Sustainability | Maintaining an ecosystem so that populations can get the resources needed without affecting future populations/resources. |
Biodiversity | All the different species that live in an ecosystem, plus all the other different ecosystems. |
Equilibrium | A stable, balanced system. |
Endangered | Living in the Ontario wild but is facing extinction or extirpation. |
Threatened | Live in the wild in Ontario, is likely to become endangered if steps are not taken to address the problem. |
Special Concerns | Lives in the wild in Ontario, they are not endangered/threatened, but may become endangered/threatened. |
Extirpated | Used to live in the wild of Ontario but can be found in other locations in the world. |