Ecology Study Guide - Mr. Hanek
Terms
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- the scientific study of interactions among orgamisms and between organisms and their environment or surroundings
- ecology
- things that use energy from the environment to feul the assembly of simple inorganic compounds into complex organic molecules
- autotroph
- organisms that rely on other orgamisms for their energy and food supply
- heterotroph
- another word for autotroph, makes their own food
- producer
- another word for heterotroph, relies on other organisms for food
- consumer
- organism that only eats plants
- herbivore
- orgamism that only eats other animals
- carnivore
- organism that eats both plants and animals
- omnivore
- bacteria, fungi, etc. that break down organic matter
- decomposers
- the process of using light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy-rich carbohydrates
- photosynthesis
- the process when orgamisms use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates
- chemeosynthesis
- a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
- food chain
- this links all of the food chains in an ecosystem together
- food web
- each step in a food chain or food web
- trophic level
- an Ecological pyramid that shows the total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level
- Biomass pyramid
- and Ecological pyramid that shows the relative number of individual organisms at each tropic level
- Numbers pyramid
- an Ecological pyramid that shows the relative amounts of energy contained within each trophic level
- Energy pyramid
- the rate at which organic matter is created by producers in an ecosystem
- primary productivity
- a substance that causes an ecosystem's cycle to go slowly
- limiting nutrient
- when an aquatic ecosystem recieves a large input of a limiting nutrient
- algal bloom
- the day-to-day condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place
- weather
- the average year-to-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region
- climate
- the natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by a layer of gases
- greenhouse effect
- the living components of the environment
- biotic
- the nonliving factors of the environment
- abiotic
- the area where an orgamism lives
- habitat
- an orgamism's place in the environment
- niche
- resources that can regenerate or be replenished by biochemical cycles
- renewable resources
- resouces that cannot be replenished by natural processes
- nonrenewable resources
- when populations become crowded, organisms compete for food, water space, sunlight, and other essentials
- competition
- no two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time
- competitive exclusion principle
- one organism captures and feeds on another organism
- predation
- any relationship in which two species live closely together
- symbiosis
- both species benefit from the relationship
- mutualism
- one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed
- commensalism
- one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it
- parasitism
- succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists
- primary succession
- when succession occurs after a fire or other natural events and soil already exists
- secondary succession
- the movement of individuals into an area
- immigration
- the movement of individuals out of an area
- emigration
- the largest number of individuals that a given environment can support
- carrying capacity
- the warming of Earth's atmosphere
- global warming