Ecology Flashcards

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1
Q

Ecology

A

Ecology is the study of the interactions between living things (organisms) and between organisms and their environment

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2
Q

Biosphere

A

The biosphere is that part of the planet containing living organisms 

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3
Q

An ecosystem

A

An ecosystem is a group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their environment as a unit

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4
Q

A habitat

A

A habitat is the place where a plant or animal lives

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5
Q

A population

A

A population is all the members of the same species living in an area

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6
Q

A community

A

A community is all the different populations in an area

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7
Q

Abiotic factors

A

Abiotic factors are nonliving factors

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8
Q

Biotic factors

A

Biotic factors are living factors

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9
Q

Climatic factors

A

Climatic factors refer to weather over a long period of time

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10
Q

Edaphic factors

A

Edaphic factors relate to soil

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11
Q

Producers

A

Producers are organisms that carry out photosynthesis

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12
Q

Flora

A

Flora is all the plants in an ecosystem

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13
Q

Consumers

A

Consumers are organisms that take in food from another organism

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14
Q

Fauna

A

Fauna is all the animals in an ecosystem

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15
Q

Decomposers 

A

Decomposers organisms that feed on dead organic matter

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16
Q

Detritus feeders

A

Detritus feeders are organisms that feed on small pieces of dead organic matter

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17
Q

Food chain

A

A grazing food chain as a sequence of organisms in which each one is eaten by the next member in the chain

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18
Q

A tropic level

A

A tropic level is a feeding stage in a food chain

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19
Q

A food web

A

A food web consists of two or more interlinked food chains

20
Q

A pyramid of numbers

A

Pyramid of numbers represents the number of organisms at each trophic level (or stage) in a food chain

21
Q

Niche

A

The ecological niche of an organism is the functional role it plays in the community

22
Q

Nutrient recycling

A

Nutrient recycling Is the way in which elements (such as carbon and nitrogen) are exchanged between the living and nonliving components of an ecosystem

23
Q

Nitrogen fixation

A

Nitrogen fixation is the conversation of nitrogen gas into ammonia, ammonium or nitrate

24
Q

Nitrification

A

Nitrification is the conversation of ammonia and ammonium compounds to nitrite and then to nitrate

25
Q

Denitrification 

A

Denitrification is the conversation of nitrates to nitrogen gas

26
Q

Pollution

A

Pollution is any harmful addition to the environment 

27
Q

Pollutants

A

Pollutants are harmful additions to the environment

28
Q

Conservation

A

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

29
Q

Competition

A

Competition occurs when organisms actively struggle for a resource that is in short supply

30
Q

Intraspecific competition

A

Intraspecific competition takes place between members of the same species

31
Q

Interspecific competition

A

Interspecific competition occurs between members of different species

32
Q

Contest competition

A

In contest competition, there is an active physical contest between two individual organisms

33
Q

Scramble competition

A

In scramble competition, all of the competing individuals get some of the resource

34
Q

Predation

A

Predation is the catching, killing and eating of another organism

35
Q

A predator

A

Predator is an organism that catches, kills and eats another organism

36
Q

The prey

A

The prey is the organism that is eaten by the predator

37
Q

Parasitism

A

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)

38
Q

Symbiosis

A

Symbiosis occurs when two organisms of different species live (and have to live) in close association and at the least one of them benefits

39
Q

A habitat

A

A habitat is the place where a plant or an animal lives (and is also the local area of study)

40
Q

A qualitative study

A

A qualitative study records the presence or absence of organisms

41
Q

A quantitative study

A

A quantitate study records the numbers of organisms that are present

42
Q

An adaptation

A

An adaptation is any alteration that improves an organism’s chances of survival and reproduction

43
Q

A key

A

The key is a means of naming organisms by answering a series of questions with alternative answers 

44
Q

The percentage cover

A

The percentage cover is an estimate of the amount of ground in a quadrant covered by each species

45
Q

The frequency

A

The frequency is the chance of finding a named species with any other throw of a quadrat