Ecology 2nd
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Developed Countries
- countries that include all of the world's modern industrialized countries, such as the great USA, Japan, Germany, France, United kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Russia; more educated countries
- carbon cycle
- process in which carbon is cycled through the biosphere
- age structure
- the distribution of individuals among different ages in a population
- chemosynthesis
- they produce carbs by using energy from inorganic molecules
- ground water
- water found in the soil or in underground formations of parous rock
- biogeochemical cycle
- the proccess by which materials nexxessary for organisms are circulated through environment
- consumers
- obtain energy by taking in organic molecules by other organisms
- carnivores
- eat other consumers
- taiga
- a forested biome dominated by cone-bearing evergreen trees, such as pines, firs, hemlock, and spruce
- food web
- shows how some organisms in an ecosystem might relate to each other
- Hunter-Gathering Lifestyle
- a lifestyle in which people obtain food by hunting animals and gathering roots, herbs, nuts, shellfish, and fruits
- nitrification
- the process in nitrogen cycle by which nitrites and nitrates are produced
- nitrogen-fixing bacteria
- bacteria that live in the roots of legumes and convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia
- climax community
- stable point in a growing community
- temperate grassland
- dominated by grasses, usually in the interior of continents
- logistic growth
- population growth in which birth and death rates vary with population size and are equal at the carrying capacity
- survivorship curves
- the graph of a species' mortality-rate data
- Agriculture Revelation
- A dramatic change in trend of lifestyle that effect every area of life typically
- savanna
- tropical or subtropical grasslands with scattered trees and shrubs
- inbreeding
- mating with close relatives
- tundra
- a cold and largely treeless biome that forms a continuous belt across Northern America, Europe, and Asia
- secies-area affect
- a pattern of species destribution in which larger areas contain more species than smaller areas
- life expectancy
- how long on average an indiviual is expected to live
- succession
- the predictable, sequential replacement of populations in an ecosystem
- exponential growth
- population growth in which the birth and death rates are constant
- nitrogen-fixation
- process by which gasous nitrogen in the air is converted into amonia
- gross primary productivity
- the rate at which producers in an ecosystem capture energy
- secondary seccession
- the sequential replacement of populations in a disrupted habitat
- logistic model
- an expansion of the exponential model that takes into account limiting factor such as fluctuating birth and death rates
- devitrification
- a final step in nitrogen cycle, during which nitrogen gas is returned to the atmosphere
- deispersion
- is the spatial distribution of individuals within a population
- water cycle
- the movement of water between the ground, atmosphere and bodies of water
- stability
- an indication of a community resistance of change
- mortality/death rate
- the ratio between lives lost and living individuals in a specified population and time
- species diversity
- relates to the number of species in the community to the relative abundance of each species
- limiting factor
- biotic or abiotic factor that restrains the growth of a population
- immigration
- the movement of individuals into a population
- decomposers
- cause decay by breaking down the complex molecules in dead tissues and wastes into simpler molecules
- birth rate
- the ratio between the number of indivuduals born and total individuals in a specified population and time
- detritivores
- consumers that feed on the "garbage" of an ecosystem, such as organisms that have recently died
- ammonification
- in the nitrogen cycle, the formation of amonia compounds
- epiphyte
- small plants which live on branches of trees in order to get
- producers
- capture energy and use it to make organic compounds; most use photosynthesis
- tropical rainforest
- characterized by tall trees, found near the equator
- Density Independent Factor
- a variable that affects population size regardless of population density
- net primary productivity
- the rate at which biomass accumulates; typically expressed in units of energy per unit area per year or in units of mass per unit area per year=gross primary productivity- the rate of respiaration of producers
- species richness
- the number of species in a community
- transpiration
- the evaporation of water through stomata
- Carrying capacity
- the number of individuals of a species that an ecosystem is capable of supporting
- Developing Countries
- a category that includes most countries in Asia and all of the countries in central and South America and Africa; there counries are poorer than developed countries
- canopy
- continuous layer of tree tops that provide shade to the forest
- permafrost
- permanently frozen layer of soil under the surface
- exponential model
- a model of population ggrowth that describes a population that increases rapidly after only a few generations
- Density Dependent Factor
- a variable related to the number of individuals in a population in a given area that affects population size
- Emmigration
- the movement of individuals out of a population
- herbivores
- eat producers
- nitrogen cycle
- pathway that nitrogen cycles within an ecosystem
- growth rate
- the amount by which a population's size changes at a given time
- population density
- the number of individuals in a given area at a given time
- trophic level
- indicates the organisms position in the sequence of energy transfer
- biome
- very large terrestrial ecosystem that contain a number of smaller but related ecosystems within them
- pioneer species
- the first species to colonize a new habitat
- temperate decidous forest
- characterized by trees that lose all of their leaves in the fall
- primary succession
- the process of sequential replacement of populations in an area that has not previously supported life
- omnivores
- eat both producers and consumers
- desert
- areas that recieve an average of less than 25cm of rainfall per year
- food chain
- a single pathway of feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem; that results in energy transfer
- biomass
- organic material in an ecosystem