ecology Flashcards
what is ecology
study of interations between liviving things and their environment
biosphere
part of the planet containing living organisms
ecosysytem
group of clearly distinguished organims that interact with their environment as a unit
whatv is a habitat
the place where an organism lives
population
all the members of the same species living in an area
community
all the different populations in an area
abiotic factors
non living factors
biotic factors
living factors
climatric factors
weather over a long period of time
edaphic factors
refers to soil
prpoducers
organisms that carry out photosynthesis
consumers
organisms that take in food from another organism
decomposers
organims that feed on dead organic matter
detritus feeders
organisms that feed on small pieces ofdead organic matter
food chain
sequence of organisms in which one is eaten by the next in the chain
ecosystem
group of clearly distinguished organisms that interact with their environment as a unit
trophic level
feeding stage in a food chain
fauna
all the animals in an ecosystem
flora
all the plants in an ecosystem
food web
consists of two or more interlinked food chains
niche
specific functional role an organism plays
pyrimid of numbers
number of organisms at each trophic level or stage
nutrient recycling
the way in which elements are exchanged between the living and non living components of an ecosystem
nitrogen fixation
conversion of nitrogen gas to ammonia ammonium or nitrate
nitrification
conversion of ammonia nd ammonium to nitrite and nitrate
denitrification
conversion of nitrates to nitrogen gas
pollution
any harmful addition ton the environment
pollutants
harmful additives to the environment
conservation
wise management of the existing natural resources in an ecosystem in order to maintain a wide range of habitats and prevent the death and extinction of organisms
competition
when organisms actively struggle for a limited resource
inter specific
between members of a different species
intra specific
between members of the same
contest competion
active physical contest between two individual organisms for a resource in short supply and one wins
scramble competition
all competing organisms get some of the resource
predator
organism that catches kills and eats another organism
prey
organism that is caught and eaten by predator
parasitism
two orgasims of different species live in close association with eachother and one organism obtains food from the other and to the disadvantage of the other
symbiosis
two organisms of different species live in close association and at least one of them benefits
qualitative study
study of the presence or absence of organisms
quantitative study
study of the number of an organism present
ecological key
means of naming an organism by answering a series of questions with alternative answers