ecology science
Terms
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- Birth Rate
- number of births
- Emigration
- species moving out of an ecosystem
- Predation
- the action of eating prey
- Cellular Respiration
- The process in which oxygen is used by organisms and then converted to carbon dioxide and released into the air
- Energy
- the capacity to do work
- Exponential Growth
- a j-curved graph that shows when a population increases rapidly
- Top Carnivore
- carnivore on top of the food chain; highest
- Population
- a group of organisms of one species that interbreed and live in the same place at the same time
- Food Chain
- a simple model that scientists use to show how matter and energy move through an ecosystem
- Mutualism
- symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit
- Herbivore
- heterotrophs that feed only on plants
- Producer
- an organism that uses photosynthesis (and thus, energy from the sun) to obtain its energy
- Photosynthesis
- the process plants use to create glucose and oxygen from converting sunlight (energy), carbon dioxide and water
- Phosphorus Cycle
- the cycle in which phosphurus is passed all throughout the ecosystems so that organisms can use it
- Density Independent
- limiting factors that affect the population, regardless of the size(abiotic)
- Density Dependent
- limiting factors that affect the population depending on the size (biotic)
- Carbon Cycle
- the cycle in which carbon is passed all throughout the ecosystems so that organisms can use it
- Food Web
- expresses all possible feeding relationships at each trophic level in a community; more realistic than a food chain as most organisms depend on more than one species for food
- Organism
- an individual living thing
- Nutrients
- ______ are needed for organisms to survive, this are cycled through out the soil.
- Predator
- species that feeds on animals
- Competition
- compete for space, food, water and shelter
- Autotroph
- organisms that use energy (from the sun or that is stored in chemical compounds) to manufacture their own nutrients
- Consumer
- an organism that eats producers or other consumers to obtain its energy
- Carrying Capacity
- the amount of organisms an ecosystem can support
- Heterotroph
- organisms that cannot make their own food and must feed on other organisms
- Global Warming
- the raise of temperature in the biosphere caused by the excess effects of the greenhouse effect.
- Death Rate
- number of deaths
- Decomposer
- organisms that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms; break down the complex compounds of dead and decaying plants and animals into simpler molecules that can be more easily absorbed
- Biotic
- all living organisms of an organism's environment
- Omnivore
- heterotrophs that eat both plant and animal material
- Immigration
- species moving into an ecosystem
- Parasitism
- symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits at the expense of the others
- Commensalism
- symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither harmed nor benefited
- Ecology
- branch of biology developed from natural history; scientific study of interactions among organisms and their environments
- Trophic Level
- a feeding step representing the passage on energy and materials in a food chain; each level/step represents an organism in the food chain
- Growth Rate
- the rate a species grows
- Nitrogen Cycle
- the cycle in which nitrogen is passed all throughout the ecosystems so that organisms can use it
- Prey
- species being eaten
- Nitrogen Fixation
- how nitrogen is converted into a compund so that it can be used by organisms. This occurs by lightning and bacteria fixing it into the soil
- Equilibrium
- when a species reaches stability, balance
- Community
- collection of interacting populations
- Zero Population Growth
- same amount of births, immigration and deaths, emmigration
- Abiotic
- non-living parts of an organism's environment
- Species
- a group of the same types of organisms
- Ecosystem
- interaction among the populations in a community and the community's physical surroundings (biotic and abiotic factors)
- Biomass
- Renewable organic matter
- Carnivore
- heterotrophs that feed only on other animals
- Greenhouse Effect
- the effect that keeps the earth warm by allowing some sunlight heat rays to stay inside the atmosphere