ecology Flashcards
Ecosystem
A system that includes all living organisms.
Biotic factor
A factor created by a living thing.
Abiotic factor
Can determine which species will survive in a given environment.
Organism
A living thing that can react to stimuli, reproduce, grow, and maintain homeostasis.
Species
A group of closely related organisms that are very similar to each other.
Population
Is the number of organisms of the same species that live in a particular area.
Community
A group of various species in a common location.
Habitat
A place where an organism lives
Natural selection
Results in the adaptation of an organism to its government
Producers / autotrophs
An organism that can get its own food by light or chemical energy.
Consumers / heterotrophs
An organism that cannot get its own food, it obtains it food by taking in organic substances.
Primary consumer
Are usually herbivores that produce there own food by photosynthesis.
Secondary consumer
An organism that feeds on primary consumers.
Tertiary consumer
A carnivore that feeds on other carnivores.
Herbivores
Animal that eats plants.
Carnivores
Animal that eats meat.
Omnivores
A animal that eats plants and animals.
Decomposers
Organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms.
Food chain
Is a linear network of links in a food web.
Food web
Is a model depicting the many food chains linked together to show the feeding relationships of organisms.
Energy pyramid
Is a model of energy flow in a community.
Carbon cycle
The circulation of carbon between living organisms and there surroundings.
Nitrogen cycle
Nitrogen that passes from air to soil.
Ecological succession
Process by which the structure of a biological community evolves over time.
Primary succession
Is one of the two types of biological and ecological succession of plant life.
Primary succession
Occurs in an environment that lacks any vegetation and soil.
Secondary succession
Relating to community growth or change that takes place when a habitat is damaged.
Pioneer species
A species that are the first to colonize bare earth after a disturbance.
Climax community
Final stage of succession.
