Biology from Chapter 3: Ecology
Terms
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- ecology
- the scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environments
- biosphere
- part of Earth in which life exists including lands, water, and air or atmoshphere
- species
- a group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring
- population
- group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area
- community
- assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area
- ecosystem
- collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place, together with their nonliving enviornment
- biome
- group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities
- autotroph
- organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds; also called a producer
- producer
- organism that can capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds; also called an autotroph
- photosynthesis
- process by which plants and some other organisms use light energy to power chemical reactions that convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and high-energy carbs like glucose
- chemosynthesis
- process by which some organisms use chemical energy to produce carbs
- heterotroph
- organism that obtains energy from the foods it consumes; also called a consumer
- consumer
- organism that obtains energy from the foods it consumes; also called a heterotroph
- herbivore
- organism that obtains energy by eating only plants
- carnivore
- organism that obtains energy by eating animals
- omnivire
- organism that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals
- detritivore
- organism that feeds on plant and animal remains and other dead matter
- decomposer
- organism that breaks down and obtains energy from dead organic matter
- food chain
- series of steps in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
- food web
- network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem
- trophic level
- step in a food chain or food web
- ecological pyramid
- diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter within each trophic level in a food chain
- biomass
- total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level
- weather
- condtion of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place
- climate
- average, year-after-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region
- greenhouse effect
- natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases
- polar zone
- cold climate zone where the sun's rays strike Earth's at a very low angle
- temperate zone
- moderate climate zone between the polar zones and the tropics
- tropical zone
- warm climate zone that receives direct or nearly direct sunlight year round
- biotic factor
- biologic influence on organisms within an ecosystem
- abiotc factor
- physical, or nonliving, factor that shapes an ecosystem
- habitat
- the area where an organism lives, including the biotic and abiotic factors that affect the organism
- niche
- full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions
- resource
- any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients, light, food and space
- competitive exclusion principle
- ecologic rule that states no two species species can occupy the exact same niche in the same habitat at the same time
- predation
- interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organisms
- symbiosis
- relationship in which two species live closely together
- mutualism
- symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship
- commensalism
- A symbiotic relationship between two organisms of different species in which one derives some benefit while the other is unaffected
- parasitism
- symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives in or on another organism by feeding on it
- ecological succession
- gradual change in living communities that follows a disturbance
- primary succession
- sucession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists
- pioneer species
- first species to populate an area during primary succession
- secondary species
- succession that follows a disturbance that destroys a community without destroying the soil
- microclimate
- climate within a small area that differs significantly from the climate of the surrounding area
- canopy
- dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rain trees
- understory
- layer in a rain forest formed by shorter trees and vines
- deciduous
- trees that sheds its leaves during a particular season each year
- coniferous
- trees that produce seed-bearing cones and have thin leaves shaped like needles
- humus
- material formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter
- photic zone
- well-lit upper layer of the oceans
- permafrost
- layer of permanently frozen subsoil in the tundra
- plankton
- tiny, free-floating, weakly-swimming organisms that occur in aquatic enviornments
- zooplankton
- tiny animals that form part of the plankton
- wetland
- ecosystem in which water either covers the soil, or is present at or near the surface of the soil for at least part of the year
- estuary
- wetlands formed where rivers meet the ocean
- detritus
- particles of organic material that provide food for organisms at the base of an estuary's food web
- salt marsh
- temperate-zone estuary dominated by salt-tolerant grasses above the low-tide line and by seagrasses under water
- mangrove swamp
- coastal wetland dominated by mangroves, salt-tolerant woody plants
- aphotic zone
- permanently dark layer of the oceans below the photic zone
- zonation
- prominent horizontal banding of organisms
- coastal ocean
- marine zone that extends from the low-tide mark to the end of the continental shelf
- kelp forest
- coastal ocean community named for its dominant organism - kelp
- coral reef
- diverse and productive enviornment named for the coral animals that makes up its primary structure
- benthos
- organisms that live attached to or near the ocean floor
- cell
- basic unit of all forms of life
- cell theory
- idea that all living things are composed of cells, cells are the basic units of structure and function in living things, and new cells are produced from existing cells
- cell membrane
- thin, flexible barrier around the cell
- cell wall
- strong layer around the cell membrane
- nucleus
- structure within the cell that contains the genetic material and controls the cell's activity
- cytoplasm
- material inside the cell membrane (excluding the nucleus)
- prokaryote
- single-celled micro-organism with no defined nucleus
- eukaryote
- cells that do contain a defined nucleus
- organelle
- specialized structures in a cell that perform certain cellular function
- chromatin
- granular material visible within the nucleus; consists of DNA tightly coiled around proteins
- chromosome
- threadlike structure within the nucleus containing the genetic info that is passed from generation of cells to the next
- nucleolus
- small, dense region within most nuclei in which the assembly of ribosomes begins
- nuclear envelope
- double-membrane layer that surrounds the nucleus of a cell
- cytoskeleton
- network of protein filaments within some cells that helps the cells maintain its shape and is involved in many forms of cell movement
- microtubule
- hollow tubes of protein that maintains cell shape and can also serve as a "track" along which organelles are moved
- microfilament
- long, thin fiber that functions in the movement and support of the cell
- ribosome
- small particle in the cell on which proteins are assembled
- endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
- structure in which components of the cell membrane are assembled and some proteins are modified
- Golgi apparatus
- stack of membranes in the cell in which enzymes attach carbs and fats to proteins
- lysosome
- cell organelle filled with enzymes needed to break down certain materials in the cell
- vacuole
- organelle that stores materials such as water, salts, proteins and carbs
- chloroplast
- organelle found in cells of plants some other organism that uses energy from sunlight to make energy-rich food molecules by photosynthesis
- mitochondrion
- organelle that releases energy from stores food molecules
- lipid bilayer
- double layered sheet that forms the core of all cell membranes
- concentration
- the mass of a solute in a given volume of a solution
- diffusion
- the process of molecules moving from an area of higher concentration to an area of low concentration
- selective permeability
- a membrane that allows some materials to pass through, but not allowing others
- osmosis
- the diffusion of water
- facilitated diffusion
- movement of molecule across a membrane through protein channels
- active transport
- the process of molecules moving from an area of low concentration to an area of high concentration
- endocytosis
- process of taking materials into a cell using in-foldings or pockets of membrane
- phagocytosis
- process of engulfing large particles and taking into the cell
- exocytosis
- process of removing large amounts of materials from a cell
- cell specialization
- separate roles for each type of cell in a multicellular organism
- tissue
- group of similar cells performing a particular function
- organ
- many groups of tissues working together
- organ system
- group of organs that work together to perform certain cellular functions
- adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
- one of the principal chemical compounds that livng things use to store energy
- pigment
- light-absorbing colored molecule
- chlorophyll
- principal pigment of plants and other photosynthetic organisms; captures light energy
- thylakoid
- saclike body in chloroplasts made of photosynthetic membranes that contain photosystems
- stroma
- region outside the thylakoid membranes in chloroplasts
- NAPD+
- one of the carrier molecules that transfers high-energy electrons from chlorophyll to other molecules
- light-dependent reactions
- reactions of photosynthesis that use energy from light to produce ATP and NADPH
- ATP synthase
- large protein that uses energy from H+ ions to bind ADP and a phosphate group together to produce ATP
- Calvin cycle
- reactions of photosynthesis in which energy from ATP and NADPH is used to build high-energy compounds such as sugars