Biology Flashcards
Organism
A living thing: plants, animals, and bacteria
Food web
A food web consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem. Each living thing in an ecosystem is part of multiple food chains. Each food chain is one possible path that energy and nutrients may take as they move through the ecosystem. All of the interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web.
Adaptation
Adaptations are characteristics that assist organisms to survive and reproduce. Adaptations help organisms to get food and water, protect themselves, build homes and reproduce.
Food chain
The food chain is a linear sequence of organisms where nutrients and energy is transferred from one organism to the other.
Habitat
A place where an organism lives
Environment
The surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates
Biotic factors
Biotic factors are living factors that include partners for mating, organisms to eat, and organisms they may compete with for food and shelter.
Abiotic factors
Abiotic factors are non-living factors that include water, light, wind, soil and temperature. The number of organisms of the same type, living in the same habitat, will vary over time depending on the availability of food, water, living
space and mating partners.
Ecosystem
A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Structural
Structural adaptations are physical features of an organism that enable them to survive in their environment.
Behavioural
Behavioural adaptations are changes in an organism’s behaviour that help it survive in a new environment.
Physiological
A metabolic or physiological adjustment within the cells or tissues of an organism in response to an environmental stimulus resulting in the improved ability of that organism to cope with its changing environment.
Symbiotic relationships
Interactions between two species that can benefit either one or both species
Mutualism
Both species benefit from the relationship.
Commensalism
Commensalism is a type of symbiotic relationship in which one species benefit from another without harming it.
Parasitism
Benefits on species while the other is harmed.
Predator
An organism that naturally preys on other organisms.
Prey
An organism that is hunted and killed by another for food.
Predator-prey relationship
The predator-prey relationship involves the interactions between two species and their effects on each other. In this relationship, one species feeds on the other. The prey species is the animal being fed on, and the predator is the animal doing the feeding.
Producers
An organism that produces organic compounds from simple substances such as water and carbon dioxide
Consumer
An organism that derives the organic compounds and energy it needs from the consumption of other organisms.
Primary consumer
An organism that feeds on primary producers, such as plants or algae, and occupies the second trophic level within a food chain. It is also known as a herbivore or omnivore and holds a critical position as the link between producers and higher trophic levels.
Secondary consumer
A secondary consumer is an organism that consumes primary consumers for energy. Primary consumers are always herbivores, which are organisms that only eat autotrophic plants. Secondary consumers can either be carnivores or omnivores. Carnivores only eat other animals, while omnivores consume both plant and animal matter. Secondary consumers are positioned at the higher levels of the food chain.
Tertiary consumer
A tertiary consumer is an animal that obtains its nutrition by eating primary consumers and secondary consumers. It is usually a carnivorous predator, although it may also be an omnivore. Tertiary consumers are at the top of the food chain and feed on both primary and secondary consumers.
Decomposer
An organism, particularly a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that breaks down organic matter.
Omnivores
An organism or individual that consumes a wide variety of foods from both plant and animal sources.
Carnivores
An organism that consumes other organisms for energy
Herbivores
An organism that consumes plants for energy
Ecology
The study of the interactions between living things and their environment is called ecology. Ecologists are scientists who study these interactions.
Classification
Classification is the process of putting things into groups.
Apex predator
A predator that has no natural predators except for humans
Monera
Monera is a kingdom in biology that comprises prokaryotes, which are single-celled organism that have no true nucleus.
Protista
Protista refers to a group of loosely connected, mostly unicellular eukaryotic organisms. These organisms are not plants, animals, or fungi. They are placed under a separate kingdom called Protista. The term is used to describe eukaryotes that lack a multicellular stage.
Multicellular heterotrophs
Multicellular heterotrophs are organisms that cannot manufacture their food by carbon fixation and instead derive their nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter. They include animals, fungi, and many bacteria.
Autotrophs
An organism that can form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide.
