Question | Answer |
The study of how living things relate to their environments. | ECOLOGY |
Non-living parts of an environment | ABIOTIC FACTORS |
Examples are temperature, water, light, soil, Ph, pollutants, oxygen | ABIOTIC FACTORS |
Living or previously living parts of an environment. | BIOTIC FACTORS |
Examples are predation, availability of prey, parasites, available mates, competition, diseases, feces | BIOTIC FACTORS |
A community of organisms and their abiotic environment | ECOSYSTEM |
All the population of different species that live and interact in an area. | COMMUNITY |
A group of individuals of the same species that live together in the same area at the same time. | POPULATION |
A single living thing | ORGANISM |
A living thing (plant or algae) that can make its own food | PRODUCER |
These organisms must EAT producers or other organisms for energy. They do NOT photosynthesize. | CONSUMER |
These organisms eat only plants | HERBIVORES |
These organisms eat only other animals | CARNIVORES |
These organisms eat either plants or other animals | OMNIVORE |
These organisms break down dead things and return the nutrients to the soil - i.e. fungi or bacteria | DECOMPOSERS |
These animals eat dead or dying animals. They do NOT return the nutrients to the soil. i.e. vultures | SCAVENGERS |
This can determine the type and number of organisms an environment can support. It limits a population's size. | LIMITING FACTOR |
The process where plants (and some algae) produce their own food | PHOTOSYNTHESIS |
CO2 | CARBON DIOXIDE |
O2 | OXYGEN |
H20 | WATER |
C6H12O6 | GLUCOSE |
An animal that hunts and eats other animals | PREDATOR |
An animal that is eaten by the predator | PREY |
A single pathway that energy and nutrients may follow in an ecosystem; arrows point the direction energy flows. | FOOD CHAIN |
A complex of interrelated food chains | FOOD WEB |
Any inherited trait that increases an organism's chance of survival | ADAPTATION |
Large regions with a specific climate and specific types of plants and animals. | BIOMES |
The set of orderly and predictable changes an ecosystem goes through as it develops or regrows. | SUCCESSION |
The type of succession where an ecosystem WAS NOT present before. Ex: no soil...bare rock | PRIMARY SUCCESSION |
A typical plant which is the first species seen in primary succession | LICHENS |
The type of succession where an ecosystem WAS present before. ex: soil is present | SECONDARY SUCCESSION |
The first species of organisms to grow in an area undergoing ecological succession. | PIONEER SPECIES |
Typical plants which are the first species seen in secondary succession | FAST GROWING WEEDY PLANTS |
Coldest biome, little precip, ice, snow, permafrost, no trees, reindeer, polar bears | TUNDRA |
Biome with conifer forests, fir, pines, few small plants, poor soil, moose, wolf lynx. Hibernators | TAIGA/CONIFEROUS FORESTS/BOREAL FOREST |
Biome with trees that drop their leaves in the autumn. Fertile soil, 4 distinct seasons. Warm/cold blooded animals. Deer, squirrel, raccoon, oak and apple trees. Broad leaf trees | DECIDUOUS FOREST |
Biome with light rain, fertile, but dry soil. No forests! Small grasses, plants, wheat rye, corn, zebra, bison, cheetah, elephant depending on the latitude. | GRASSLAND - SAVANNAH- PRAIRIE |
Driest biome. Less than 10 inches rain a year. Rocky, sandy, cacti, scorpion | DESERT |
Wettest biome with over 400 inches rain a year. Most biodiverse, 81 degrees all day/all year. Banana trees, palms, monkeys, python, kmodo dragons | TROPICAL RAIN FOREST |