Ecology Flashcards
Describes living factors in the environment.
Biotic
Describes the nonliving part of the environment, including water, rocks, light, and temperature.
Abiotic
A group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific geographical area.
Population
All the populations of species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other.
Community
A community of organisms and their abiotic environment.
Ecosystem
The part of Earth where life exists.
Biosphere
An organism that eats only plants.
Herbivore
An organism that only eats animals.
Carnivore
An organism that eats both plants and animals.
Omnivore
The pathway of energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms.
Food chain
A diagram that shows that feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem.
Food Web
A triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem’s loss of energy, which results as energy passes through the ecosystem’s food chain.
Energy pyramid
The largest population that an environment can support at any given time.
Carrying capacity
An organism that is killed and eaten by another organism.
Prey
An organism that eats all or part of another organism.
Predator
A relationship between two species in which both species benefit.
Mutualism
A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other in unaffected.
Commensalism
A relationship between two species in which one species, the parasite, benefits from the other species, the host, which is harmed.
Parasitism
Organisms that make their own food
Producers
Have the ability to break down dead organisms into smaller particles and create new compounds
Decomposers
A region that has little or no plant life, long periods without rain, and extreme temperatures: usually found in hot climates.
Desert
A treeless plain found in the Artic, in the Antarctic, or on the tops of mountains that is characterized by very low winter temperatures and short, cool summers.
Tundra
Located in the mid-latitude areas which means that they are found between the polar regions and the tropics.
Temperate deciduous forest
Rain forests that occur in areas of tropical Rain forest climate in which there is no dry season.
Tropical rain forest
Vegetation composed primarily of cone-bearing needle-leaved or scale-leaved evergreen trees, found in areas that have long winters and moderate to high annual precipitation.
Coniferous forest
A grassland that often has scattered trees and that is found in tropical and subtropical areas where seasonal rains, fires, and drought happen.
Savanna
Areas of open grassy plains that are sparsely populated with trees.
Temperate grassland
