Ch. 4 Key Terms Flashcards
ecosystem
a community of organisms and their abiotic environment
biotic factor
an environmental factor that is associated with or results from the activities of living organisms
abiotic factor
describes the nonliving part of the environment, including water, rocks, light, and temperature
organism
a living thing; anything that can carry out life processes independently
species
a group of organisms that are closely related and can mate to produce fertile offspring; also the level of classification below genus and above subspecies
population
a group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific geographical area and interbreed
community
a group of various species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other
habitat
the place where an organism usually lives
natural selection
the process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully than less well adapted individuals do; a theory to explain the mechanism of evolution
evolution
a heritable change in the characteristics within a population from one generation to the next; the development of new types of organisms from preexisting types of organisms over time
adaptation
the process of becoming adapted to an environment; an anatomical, physiological, or behavioral change that improves a population’s ability to survive
artificial selection
the selective breeding of organisms (by humans) for specific desirable characteristics
resistance
in biology, the ability of an organism to tolerate a chemical or disease-causing agent
archaea
prokaryotes (most of which are known to live in extreme environments) that are distinguished from other prokaryotes by differences in their genetics and in the makeup of their cell wall; members of the domain Archaea (singular, archaeon)
bacteria
extremely small, single-celled organisms that usually have a cell wall and reproduce by cell division
