Ecology Flashcards
Ecology
The study of the relationship between living things and their environments
Organisms get the materials they need from their enviornment
JP Dewey
Abiotic
Non-living
Rocks, water, light, temperatures
Biotic
Living things
Plants, cats, insects
Interact
Means the process of organisms acting upon one another or on the non living environment
Interactions can be direct or indirect
Direct- big fish
Ecosystem
Group of communities interacting with each other and the main living parts of their environments
All the squirrels, chipmunks and soil in Sidney
Predator
Consumer, consumes and hunts other animals to obtain energy
Eater
Prey
Organism being eaten by predator
The hunted
Ex. Squirrel being eaten by snake
Competition
Struggle for resources within a community/ecosystem
Ex. Finches lab
Symbiosis
Close relationship between different species
Types of symbiotic relationships: Mutualism, communalism, parasitism
Scavenger
Consumes dead animals
Ex. Vultures, worms
Parasitism
Organisms that attack other living organisms ( host ) and eventually kill them after developing inside of them
Ex. Caterpillar and wasp
One harmed one killed
Parasite
Organisms that attack other living organisms ( host ) and eventually kill them after developing inside of them
Ex. Caterpillar and wasp
Host
Organism that parasite harms in parasitism
Ex. Caterpillar in Caterpillar-wasp relationship
Mutualism
Symbiotic relationship where both organisms benefit from the relationship
Ex. Flowers and bees
Commensalism
Symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and the other is unaffected
Ex. Barnacles and whales
Decomposer
Organism that decomposes dead animals and recycles materials and receives energy from dead organisms
Ex. Worms, fungi
Community
All populations that live in a certain place and can interact with each other
Ex. All squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits in Sidney
Population
Group of the same kind of organisms in a certain place
Ex. All squirrels in Sidney
Habitat
Place where an organism lives
Ex. Forest is the habitat of the blue jay
Niche
The role or job of an organism in its habitat
Producer
Organism that makes its own food
Ex. Grass, plants
Consumer
Organism that eats other organisms
Ex. Lions
Herbivore
Consumer that eats only producers (plants)
Ex. Grasshopper
Carnivore
Consumer that only eats meat
Ex. Wolf
Omnivore
Animals that eat both meat and plants
Ex. Humans
Primary consumer
First organism to eat plants
Ex. Rabbit eats grass
Secondary consumer
Consumer that eats organisms that eat plants
Ex. Cats eat rabbits
Tertiary consumer
Organism that eats the secondary consumers
Ex. Bear eats the cars that eats the rabbits
Autotroph
Organism that makes its own food
Ex. Plants/producers
Heterotroph
Organism that needs to eat
Ex. Herbivores, carnivores, consumers, decomposers
Food chain
Show how the energy from food moves through populations of organisms in a community
Food web
Shows different levels of transfer, where energy is going from each organism
Highly interwoven
Energy pyramid
Shows amount of energy and how amount of energy transfers through levels of consumers/producers
Carrying capacity
Population limit that an ecosystem can handle
Ex. Cannot have too many deer
Throws ecosystem out of balance
Ex. Kaibab deer lab
Global warming
Increased burning of fossil fuels (CO2+methane) increases global temperatures and multiplies greenhouse affect
Greenhouse effect
Heat from the sun penetrates ozone layer, bounces off of earth and some heat is trapped and other escapes through greenhouse gases
Lichen
Has a mutual relationship with fungi
Limiting factor
Factors that limit the amount of organisms in a population
