.... Flashcards
Species
A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.
Population
Group of individuals of the same species that lives in the same area.
Community
assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area.
Ecology
Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment.
Ecosystem
All the organisms that live in a place together with their nonliving environment.
Biome
A group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms.
Abiotic Factor
Physical or nonliving factor that shapes an ecosystem.
Autotroph
organism that is able to capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds; producer
Primary Producer
First producer of energy rich compounds that are later used by other organisms.
Photosynthesis
process used by plants and other autotrophs to capture light energy and use it to power chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water to oxygen and carbohydrates.
Heterotroph
Organism that obtains food by consuming other living things; consumer.
Consumer
Organisms that relies on other organisms for its energy and food supply.
Carnivore
Organism that obtains energy by eating animals.
Herbivore
Organism that obtains energy by eating plants.
Scavenger
Animal that consumes the carcasses of other animals.
Omnivore
Organism that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals.
Parasitism
Symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it.
Commensalism
Symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed.
Ecological succession
Series of gradual changed that occur in a community following a disturbance.
Primary succession
Succession that occurs in an area in which no trace of a previous community is present.
Pioneer species
First species to populate an area during succession.
Secondary succession
Type of succession that occurs in an area that was only partially destroyed by disturbances.
Heterotroph
Organism that obtains food by consuming other living things; consumer
Autotroph
Organism that is able to capture energy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds; producer
Photosynthesis
Process used by plants and other autotrophs to capture light energy and use it to power chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water to oxygen and carbohydrates.
Pigment
Light-absorbing molecule used by plants to gather the sun’s energy.
Chlorophyll
Principal pigment of plants and other photosynthetic organisms.
Thylakoid
Saclike photosynthetic membranes found in chloroplasts.
Stroma
Fluid portion of the chloroplast; outside the thylakoids.
Light-Dependent Reactions
Set of reactions in photosynthesis that use energy from light to produce ATP and NADPH.
Light-Independent Reactions
set of reactions in photosynthesis that do not require light energy from ATP and NAPTH is used to build high energy compounds such as sugar; Calvin cycle.
Vestigial structure
Structures that are inherited from ancestors but have lost much or all of their original function.