Ecology Flashcards
Abiotic
Non living
Biotic
Living
Define an eco system
Natural unit consisting micro organisms, plants and animals in symbiosis with abiotic
Functions within an eco system
Transfer energy
Recycling nutrients
Energy in a food web…
Stored as chemical energy in plant/ animal tissue
Lost during excretion and respiration
Trophic level
Position an organism holds in a food chain
Population
A group of individuals of the same species in the same ecosystem
Community
Different populations within an ecosystem
Autotrophs
Plants that produce their own food
Consumers
Animals that eat plants or each other
Consumer categories
Herbivores
Omnivores
Carnivores
Omnivores
Plants and animals
Carnivores
Only animals
Carnivore categories
Predators
Scavengers
Insectivores
Decomposes
Decompose remains of dead plants animals and their waste
Define Biodiversity
A large variety of living organisms that inhabit ecosystems on earth
Keystone species
Creating abundance of life
Maintaining health of many species
Indicator species
A sign of change for the biological condition
Determine overall health
Apex predators
Occupy the highest trophic level
Regulate diseases
Indigenous
Naturally occur in an area
Suited for the environment
Endemic
Only found in a specific area and no where else
More likely to be endangered
Alien
Not naturally found in an ecosystem
Take over a region and steal resources (invasive)
Prokaryote
Do not contain a nuclear envelope
Eukaryote
Unicellular/multicellular organisms with a membrane bound nucleus
Eukaryote
Unicellular/multicellular organisms with a membrane bound nucleus
Monera
Single celled organisms
Protista
Join together to form larger structures that function as a singular unit
Fungi
Multicellular organisms
Plantae
Autotrophs feed through photosynthesis
