Ecology Flashcards
Ecology
Ecology is the study of the interactions between living things (organisms) and between organisms and their environment
Biosphere
The biosphere is that part of the planet containing living organisms 
An ecosystem
An ecosystem is a group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their environment as a unit
A habitat
A habitat is the place where a plant or animal lives
A population
A population is all the members of the same species living in an area
A community
A community is all the different populations in an area
Abiotic factors
Abiotic factors are nonliving factors
Biotic factors
Biotic factors are living factors
Climatic factors
Climatic factors refer to weather over a long period of time
Edaphic factors
Edaphic factors relate to soil
Producers
Producers are organisms that carry out photosynthesis
Flora
Flora is all the plants in an ecosystem
Consumers
Consumers are organisms that take in food from another organism
Fauna
Fauna is all the animals in an ecosystem
Decomposers 
Decomposers organisms that feed on dead organic matter
Detritus feeders
Detritus feeders are organisms that feed on small pieces of dead organic matter
Food chain
A grazing food chain as a sequence of organisms in which each one is eaten by the next member in the chain
A tropic level
A tropic level is a feeding stage in a food chain
A food web
A food web consists of two or more interlinked food chains
A pyramid of numbers
Pyramid of numbers represents the number of organisms at each trophic level (or stage) in a food chain
Niche
The ecological niche of an organism is the functional role it plays in the community
Nutrient recycling
Nutrient recycling Is the way in which elements (such as carbon and nitrogen) are exchanged between the living and nonliving components of an ecosystem
Nitrogen fixation
Nitrogen fixation is the conversation of nitrogen gas into ammonia, ammonium or nitrate
Nitrification
Nitrification is the conversation of ammonia and ammonium compounds to nitrite and then to nitrate
Denitrification 
Denitrification is the conversation of nitrates to nitrogen gas
Pollution
Pollution is any harmful addition to the environment 
Pollutants
Pollutants are harmful additions to the environment
Conservation
Conservation is the wise management of the existing natural resources in an ecosystem, in order to maintain a wide range of habitats and prevent the death of extinction of organisms
Competition
Competition occurs when organisms actively struggle for a resource that is in short supply
Intraspecific competition
Intraspecific competition takes place between members of the same species
Interspecific competition
Interspecific competition occurs between members of different species
Contest competition
In contest competition, there is an active physical contest between two individual organisms
Scramble competition
In scramble competition, all of the competing individuals get some of the resource
Predation
Predation is the catching, killing and eating of another organism
A predator
Predator is an organism that catches, kills and eats another organism
The prey
The prey is the organism that is eaten by the predator
Parasitism
Parasitism occurs when two organisms of different species live in close association and one organism (the parasite) obtains its food from, and to the disadvantage of, the second organism (the host)
Symbiosis
Symbiosis occurs when two organisms of different species live (and have to live) in close association and at the least one of them benefits
A habitat
A habitat is the place where a plant or an animal lives (and is also the local area of study)
A qualitative study
A qualitative study records the presence or absence of organisms
A quantitative study
A quantitate study records the numbers of organisms that are present
An adaptation
An adaptation is any alteration that improves an organism’s chances of survival and reproduction
A key
The key is a means of naming organisms by answering a series of questions with alternative answers 
The percentage cover
The percentage cover is an estimate of the amount of ground in a quadrant covered by each species
The frequency
The frequency is the chance of finding a named species with any other throw of a quadrat 
