Chp 4, 5 +6 Ecology Flashcards
Ecology
Study of interactions between living organism and between organisms and their environment
Biosphere
Part of the planet containing living organism
Ecosystem
Group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their environment as a unit
Habitat
Place where a plant or animal live
Population
Number of particular species living in a particular ecosystem
Community
Populations of different species living and interacting with each other in the same habitat
Biotic factor
Living factor
Organism’s influence on another organism
Competition
Two or more organisms that fight for a resource that is short in supply
Abiotic factor
Non- living factor
Climatic factor
Weather over a long period of time
Edaphic factors
Relates to soil
Food chain
Feeding relationships between organisms in which energy is transferred
Trophic level
Feeding stage in a food chain
Food web
Consist 2 or more intersecting food chains
Ecological pyramids
Used to show numbers of organisms in an ecosystem
Pyramid of numbers
Used to show numbers of organisms at each trophic level of a food chain
Inverted pyramid of numbers
Pyramid of numbers doesn’t take into account size of organisms
A tree can support thousands of caterpillars
Niche
Role of an organisms in an ecosystem
How it lives + does in its community