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Env > Ch 2 > Flashcards

Ch 2 Flashcards

1
Q

A group of plants or animals that have a high degree of similarity and can generally only interbreed among themselves.

A

species

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2
Q

The sum total of all of Earth’s ecosystems.

A

biosphere

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3
Q

One of many distinctive types of ecosystems determined by climate and identified by the predominant vegetation and organisms that have adapted to live there.

A

biome

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4
Q

All of the organisms in a given area plus the physical environment in which, and with which, they interact.

A

ecosystem

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5
Q

The living (organic) components of an ecosystem, such as the plants and animals and their waste (dead leaves, feces).

A

biotic

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6
Q

The nonliving components of an ecosystem, such as rainfall and mineral composition of the soil.

A

abiotic

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7
Q

All the individuals of a species that live in the same geographic area and are able to interact and interbreed.

A

population

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8
Q

All the populations (plants, animals, and other species) living and interacting in an area.

A

community

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9
Q

Movement of life’s essential chemicals or nutrients through an ecosystem.

A

matter cycles

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10
Q

The one-way passage of energy through an ecosystem.

A

energy flow

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11
Q

Abiotic or biotic components of the environment that serve as storage places for cycling nutrients.

A

sinks

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12
Q

The range, within upper and lower limits, of a limiting factor that allows a species to survive and reproduce.

A

range of tolerance

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13
Q

The chemical reaction performed by producers that uses the energy of the Sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen.

A

photosynthesis

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14
Q

An organism that converts solar energy to chemical energy via photosynthesis.

A

producer

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15
Q

An organism that obtains energy and nutrients by feeding on another organism.

A

consumer

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16
Q

The process in which all organisms break down sugar to release its energy, using oxygen and giving off CO2 as a waste product.

A

cellular respiration

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17
Q

Movement of carbon through biotic and abiotic parts of an ecosystem via photosynthesis and cellular respiration as well as in and out of other reservoirs, such as oceans, soil, rock, and atmosphere.

A

carbon cycle

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18
Q

A continuous series of natural processes by which nitrogen passes from the air to the soil to organisms and then returns back to the air or soil.

A

nitrogen cycle

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19
Q

Conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into a biologically usable form, carried out by bacteria found in soil or via lightning.

A

nitrogen fixation

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20
Q

Conversion of ammonia (NH3) to nitrate (NO3−).

A

nitrification

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21
Q

Conversion of nitrate to molecular nitrogen (N2).

A

denitrification

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22
Q

A series of natural processes by which the nutrient phosphorus moves from rock to soil or water to living organisms and back to soil.

A

phosphorus cycle

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23
Q

The geographic area where a species or one of its populations can be found.

A

range

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24
Q

The location and spacing of individuals within their range.

A

population distribution

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25
Q

A distribution in which individuals are found in groups or patches within the habitat.

A

clumped distribution

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26
Q

A distribution in which individuals are spread out over the environment irregularly, with no discernible pattern.

A

random distribution

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27
Q

A distribution in which individuals are spaced evenly, perhaps due to territorial behavior or mechanisms for suppressing the growth of nearby individuals.

A

uniform distribution

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28
Q

Changes over time in population size and composition.

A

population dynamics

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29
Q

The smallest number of individuals that would still allow a population to be able to persist or grow, ensuring long-term survival.

A

minimum viable population

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30
Q

The maximum population size that a particular environment can support indefinitely.

A

carrying capacity (K)

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31
Q

The number of individuals per unit area.

A

population density

32
Q

The change in population size over time that takes into account the number of births and deaths as well as immigration and emigration numbers.

A

population growth rate

33
Q

Resources individuals need to survive and reproduce that allow a population to grow in number.

A

growth factors

34
Q

Things that directly (predators, disease) or indirectly (competitors) reduce population size.

A

resistance factors

35
Q

The maximum rate at which the population can grow due to births if each member of the population survives and reproduces.

A

biotic potential (r)

36
Q

The kind of growth in which a population becomes proportionally larger each breeding cycle; produces a J curve when plotted over time.

A

exponential growth

37
Q

The kind of growth in which population size increases rapidly at first but then slows down as the population becomes larger; produces an S-shaped curve when plotted over time.

A

logistic growth

38
Q

Factors, such as predation or disease, whose impact on a population is influenced by the size of that population.

A

density-dependent factors

39
Q

Factors, such as a storm or an avalanche, whose impact on a population is not related to population size.

A

density-independent factors

40
Q

Biological characteristics of a species, such as life span and fecundity, that influence how quickly a population can potentially increase in number.

A

life-history strategies

41
Q

Species that have a high biotic potential and that share other characteristics, such as short life span, early maturity, and high fecundity.

A

r-selected species

42
Q

Population sizes in a community are limited primarily by availability of resources that enhance growth and survival of organisms lower on the food chain.

A

bottom-up regulation

43
Q

Population sizes in a community are limited primarily by predation from organisms at the top of the food chain.

A

top-down regulation

44
Q

Top-down effects from the presence or absence of a top predator that propagate all the way down a food chain to the ecosystem’s plant communities.

A

trophic cascade

45
Q

The study of all the populations (plants, animals, and other species) living and interacting in an area.

A

community ecology

46
Q

The physical environment in which individuals of a particular species can be found.

A

habitat

47
Q

The role a species plays in its community, including how it gets its energy and nutrients, what habitat requirements it has, and with which other species and parts of the ecosystem it interacts.

A

niche

48
Q

A species with very specific habitat or resource requirements that restrict where it can live.

A

niche specialist

49
Q

A species that occupies a broad niche because it can utilize a wide variety of resources.

A

niche generalist

50
Q

A simple, linear path starting with a plant (or other photosynthetic organism) that identifies what each organism in the path eats.

A

food chain

51
Q

A linkage of all the food chains together that shows the many connections in the community.

A

food web

52
Q

An organism that converts solar energy to chemical energy via photosynthesis.

A

producer

53
Q

An organism that obtains energy and nutrients by feeding on another organism.

A

consumer

54
Q

A species that is particularly vulnerable to ecosystem perturbations, and that, when we monitor it, can give us advance warning of a problem.

A

indicator species

55
Q

Feeding levels in a food chain.

A

trophic levels

56
Q

Consumers (including worms, insects, and crabs) that eat dead organic material.

A

detritivores

57
Q

Organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break organic matter all the way down to constituent atoms or molecules in a form that plants can take up.

A

decomposers

58
Q

The ability of an ecosystem to recover when it is damaged or perturbed.

A

resilience

59
Q

The variety of species in an area; includes measures of species richness and evenness.

A

species diversity

60
Q

The total number of different species in a community.

A

species richness

61
Q

The relative abundance of each species in a community.

A

species evenness

62
Q

Regions of distinctly different physical areas that serve as boundaries between different communities.

A

ecotones

63
Q

The change in species diversity that occurs due to the different conditions that either attract or repel certain species at an ecotone.

A

edge effect

64
Q

A species that impacts its community more than its mere abundance would predict, often altering ecosystem structure.

A

keystone species

65
Q

Species interaction in which one individual (the predator) feeds on another (the prey).

A

predation

66
Q

Species interaction in which individuals are vying for limited resources.

A

competition

67
Q

The use of different parts or aspects of a resource by different species rather than direct competition for exactly the same resource.

A

resource partitioning

68
Q

A close biological or ecological relationship between two species.

A

symbiosis

69
Q

A symbiotic relationship among individuals of two species in which both parties benefit.

A

mutualism

70
Q

A symbiotic relationship among individuals of two species in which one benefits from the presence of the other but the other is unaffected.

A

commensalism

71
Q

A symbiotic relationship among individuals of two species in which one benefits and the other is negatively affected

A

parasitism

72
Q

The science that deals with the repair of damaged or disturbed ecosystems.

A

restoration ecology

73
Q

Progressive replacement of plant (and then animal) species in a community over time due to the changing conditions that the plants themselves create (more soil, shade, etc.).

A

ecological succession

74
Q

Ecological succession that occurs in an area where no ecosystem existed before (e.g., on bare rock with no soil).

A

primary succession

75
Q

Species that move into an area during early stages of succession.

A

pioneer species

76
Q

Ecological succession that occurs in an ecosystem that has been disturbed but not rendered lifeless.

A

secondary succession

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