Ecology and Taxonomy Word Scramble
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Term | Definition |
Linnaeus | Swedish Botanist, Father of Taxonomy, laid foundation for binomial nomenclature |
Taxonomy | branch of biology that deals with the classification and naming of living things |
Systematics | process of determining evolutionary relationships between groups of organisms |
Phylogeny | evolutionary history of organisms |
Binomial System | ease of classification and recognition (use of two names) Genus and species, Genus is capitalized and species is lower case, when typed is italicized |
Genus vs species | Genus=general, species=specific |
Common Name vs Scientific Name | no confusion with scientific, same in every geographical area |
Species Name | Latin by binomial nomenclature, always italicized or underlined, first is Genus, second is species |
Species | set of individuals closely related by decent of a common ancestor, group of organisms that produce fertile offspring in nature and interbreed freely |
Information used for Classification | structure biochemical cytological embryological behavioral fossil |
Producer | autotrophic organism as a source of food for other organisms in a food chain, plants |
Consumers | decomposers, scavengers, carnivores, herbivores, omnivores |
Food Chains/Food Webs | a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food. |
Population | all the organisms of the same group or species, which live in a particular geographical area, and have the capability of interbreeding. |
Community | interacting group of various species in a common location |
Ecosystem | community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment |
Biosphere | total sum of living organisms (the "biomass" or "biota" as referred to by biologists and ecologists) |
Symbiosis | the living together of two dissimilar organisms |
Parasitism | non-mutual symbiotic relationship between species, where one species, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host |
Commensalism | a relationship between individuals of two species in which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other without either harming or benefiting the latter |
Mutualism | the way two organisms of different species exist in a relationship in which each individual benefits from the activity of the other |
Cycles in Nature | water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, phosphorus cycle |
Climax Communities | An ecological community in the final stage of succession, in which the species composition remains relatively stable until a disturbance such as fire occurs. |
Pioneer Community | group of organisms that invade a new area in the process of biological succession |
Primary Succession | one of two types of biological and ecological succession of plant life, occurring in an environment in which new substrate devoid of vegetation and other organisms usually lacking soil, is deposited |
Secondary Succession | series of community changes which take place on a previously colonized, but disturbed or damaged habitat |
Niche | a populations role in its community |
Habitat | a place where organisms live; an environmental situation in which an organism |
Abiotic | physical or nonliving factors that shape ecosystems (climate, energy, wind) |
Biotic | living component of a biological community; an organism or a factor pertaining to an organism or organisms |
Pyramids | multiplicative loss of energy in trophic levels |
Taiga | the sometimes swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia and North America |
Tundra | treeless biome characterized by extreme cold, wind, and permafrost (continuously frozen subsoil) |
Grasslands | drier, tropical areas and come nontropical areas characterized by the savannah with scattered trees |
Desert | driest of all terrestrial biomes, characterized by low and unpredictable rainfall, desertification is a significant environmental problem |
Tropical Rain Forest | experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall, mostly around the equator |
Temperate Deciduous Forest | grow where there is sufficient moisture to support the growth of large trees, most in North America have been drastically altered by agriculture and urban development |
Pelagic | open ocean, supports highly mobile animals such as fish, squids and marine mammals, phytoplankton and zooplankton drift in this zone |
Benthic | ocean bottom, supports a variety of organisms based upon water depth and light penetration |
Intertidal Zones | wetland at the edge of an estuary or ocean where water and land meet, salt marshes/sand and rocky beaches/tide pools, flooded by high tides and dry during low tides |
Photic | portion of the ocean into which light penetrates, photosynthesis occurs here |
Aphotic | vast and dark region of the ocean, most extensive part of the biosphere, no light but diverse and dense population inhabits this zone |
10% Rule for Ecological Pyramids | during the transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next only ten percent of the energy matter is stored as flesh, the remaining is lost during transfer, broken down in respiration, or lost to incomplete digestion by higher trophic levels |
Invasive (Exotic) Species | an organism (plant, animal, fungus, or bacterium) that is not native and has negative effects on our economy, our environment, or our health |
Endangered Species | a species of animal or plant that is seriously at risk of extinction |
Created by:
jchase1117
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