Ecology Review
Terms
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- biodiversity
- the variety of life in an area.
- introduced species
- any organism that was brought to an ecosystem as a result of human actions. it can pose a threat to native species and threaten the stability of an ecosystem. like kudzu.
- trophic level
- level of nourishment in a food chain
- secondary succession
- sequence of community changes that take place after a community is disrupted by natural disasters or human actions.
- carnivore
- a consumer of animals
- climax community
- a stable, mature community that undergoes little or no change.
- heterotroph
- (consumer) can't make own food, consumes
- generalist
- a consumer that eats more than one type of organism
- Pyramid of Numbers
- population size decreases at each trophic level
- Greenhouse effect
- when carbon dioxide, water, and methan molecules absorb energy reradiated by the Earth's surface and slow the release of this energy from the atmosphere.
- interspecific competition
- when two different species compete for a resource
- immigration
- the movement into a population
- biotic factors
- factors that are living, such as plants and animals.
- pollution
- any undesirable factor, or pollutant, that is added to the air, water, or soil.
- four factors of population growth
- birth, death, emigration, immigration
- commensalism
- a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is unaffected.
- community
- group of different species that live in same area
- nonrenewable resource
- a resource that is used faster then it forms, like coal or oil.
- carrying capacity
- the maximum number of individuals of a particular species that the environment can normall and consistently support
- exponential growth (J-curve)
- populations that grow unchecke and have an abundant amount of resources exhibit this type of growth.
- acid rain
- a type of precipitation produced when pollutants in the water cycle cause rain pH to drop below normal levels
- organism
- an individual living thing
- intraspecific competition
- when individuals from the same species compete for a resource.
- food web
- model that shows the complex network of feeding relationships within an ecosystem
- clumped distribution
- the pattern of dispersion in which organisms are grouped closely.
- logistic growth
- populations that face limited resources exhibit this type of growth.
- primary succession
- the colonization of new sites by communites, starting from scratch. this takes longer.
- renewable resource
- a resource that cannot be used up or can replenish itself over time, like water or wind energy
- Global Warming
- the trend of increasing temperatures because of increased levels of greenhouse gases like CO2, H2O, and methane. two results are flooding and natural disasters.
- herbivore
- a consumer of only plants
- detritivore
- a consumer of dead organic matter
- omnivore
- a consumer of plants and animals
- randomly spaced
- the pattern of dispersion in which the organisms are randomly spaced.
- abiotic factors
- non living factors, such as weather, dirt, water, and natural disasters
- emigration
- the movement out of a population
- uniform distribution
- the pattern of dispersion in which organisms are evenly spaced.
- food chain
- feeding relationships, shows how energy moves through an ecosystem
- succession
- the orderly natural changes that take place in an ecosystem.
- pioneer species
- the first species in an area, ususally moss or lichen.
- ecology
- The study of interactions among living things, and between living things and their surroundings.
- density independent
- factors that affect the population growth regardless of size.
- biome
- major global and regional community
- density dependent
- factors affected by the number of individulals, such as food, competition, or space.
- Pyramid of Energy
- loss of energy at each trophic level
- autotroph
- (a producer) it makes its own food by 2 ways: energy from sun (plants, photosynthesis), and energy from chemical compounds (in deep sea vents, chemosynthesis)
- mutualism
- a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefits.
- smog
- a type of air pollution caused by the interaction of sunlight with pollutants produced by fossil fuel emissions.
- parasitism
- one species benefits, the other is harmed.
- Pyramid of Biomass
- weight of living material
- population density
- the amount of people that live in a given area. it is studied to determine if it is a result in environmental factors or normal variation.
- ecosystem
- includes all organisms and nonliving things in the same area
- decomposer
- detritivore that breaks down organic matter into simpler compounds, returning nutrients back to ecosystem
- ways humans have modified their environment
- agriculture, transportation, medical advances, and sanitation.
- niche
- the role and position an organism has in their environment. Factors include food, abiotic conditions, and behavior.
- specialist
- consumer that eats only one type of organism
- population
- a group of the same species living in the same area.