Ecology Flashcards
Ecology
Is the study how living things relate to each other and to their environment
Community
All the plants and animals living in a particular place
Ecosystem
A community of living organisms interacting with one another and their non living environment within a particular arar
Biosphere
Is that part of the earth I habituated by living organisms
Population
A group of organisms of the same species
Habitat
Is the place within the ecosystem where an organism lives and where it is adapted
Abiotic factors
Non living factors
Temp, light intensity, PH, air speed, water current
Biotic factors
Living factors
Plants for food and shelter, predators, decomposers, prey, pollinators
Climatic factors
Weather conditions
Temp, rainfall, humidity, wind, day length
Edaphic
Soil
Soil type, soil PH, mineral content
Aquatic factors
Light penetration, wave action, currents
Sun
Primary source of energy
Energy flow
The pathway of energy transfer from one organism to the next in an ecosystem due to feeding
Feeding
Allows energy to glow from one organism to another
Food chain
Is a feeding relationship between organism through which energy can flow
Grazing food chain
One where the initial plant is living
Grass–>grasshoppers–>frogs–>hawks
Detritus food chain
Is one where the chain begins with dead organic matter and animal waste
Food web
A set of interconnecting food chains in a habitat
Producers
Are organisms capable of making their own food by photosynthesis
Primary producers
The first members of a food chain
Consumers
Are organisms that feed on other organisms
Consumers
Primary feed on producers
Secondary feed on primary
Tertiary feed on secondary
Tropic level
Position of an organism in a food chain
Pyramid of numbers
A diagram that represents the numbers of organism of each tropic level in a food chain
Niche
The functional rate or an organism in an ecosystem
Nutrient recycling
The way in which dead matter is broken down so that minerals in it are returned to the environment to be used again by new growing organisms in a continuous cycle