Ecology (outcome CI 1) Flashcards
Learn ecology vocab. Combine with a mind map or cartoon for 2.5-3.
(Big Picture) What is the topic of Ecology generally about?
Learning how living things interact with each other and with the nonliving world around them.
Habitat
A place where a species finds food, shelter, and mates. Where it lives.
Biodiversity
The variety of species in an ecosystem. Also includes genetic variety within each species (usually greater with greater numbers)
Global Warming
A gradual rise in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere due to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of greenhouse gases
Carrying Capacity
The number of a given population than an area can support sustainably.
density dependent factors
Things that influence whether a population grows or shrinks depending on how many individuals are already in the area. For example, competition for limited food, predators, or disease.
Density independent factors
Something that limits the size of a population whether or not there are already a lot of individuals in the area. Example - natural disasters.
Food Web
All the possible consumer-food relationships in an ecosystem.
Weather
An individual event of high/low temperature and precipitation.
Climate
An average (monthly or annual) temperature and precipitation. Tends to determine ecosystem type (biome).
Population
All of the individuals of one species in an area.
Community
All of the interacting populations (plant, animal, and microscopic) in an area.
Ecosystem.
All of the populations (plant, animal, and microscopic) and all of the nonliving factors they interact with (e.g. water/soil/sunlight) in an area.
Biome
A general category of ecosystems (e.g. desert, taiga, coral reef)
sustainable
An ecosystem’s ability to maintain its functions and biodiversity over the long-term (barring major outside factors)
trophic level
How far an organism is usually removed from the original event of harvesting energy from the sun. E.g. “producer” (does the harvesting), or “secondary consumer” (consumes an animal that consumed a plant that harvested sun energy).
symbiosis
An interaction between two species where one or both of the individuals benefit, and neither typically dies as a result. Includes mutualism (both benefit), commensalism (one benefits, other neutral), and parasitism (one benefits, other harmed but not usually dead).
Nitrogen Cycle
A series of natural processes where Nitrogen passes from air, to soil, to organisms, and back to air or soil involving principally nitrogen fixation, nitrification, decay, and denitrification.
Carbon cycle.
The cycling of carbon between the living and non-living world involving the incorporation into living (plant) tissue through photosynthesis and return to atmosphere through respiration, the decay of organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels.
Water cycle
The cycling of water between living and nonliving systems, particularly between ocean, atmosphere, and land involving precipitation, drainage in streams and rivers and return to the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration.
interdependence
All living things are dependent on both nature and each other for their survival. Involves factors like food webs, symbiosis, and habitat creation.
greenhouse gas
a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing heat, e.g. carbon dioxide and methane (analogy: putting on an extra sweater)
transpiration
How a plant or leaf “exhales” water vapor. A special case of evaporation involving plants.
carbon stores
Long term storage of carbon containing compounds. Includes soil, oceans, and organic material that has been buried underground.
aquifer
An underground layer of rocker or soil that yields water (via well or pump).
secondary succession
A process started by an major death event (fire, harvest, hurricane, etc.) where an ecosystem returns to a more biodiverse state over a long period of time.
tragedy of the commons
Where a renewable resource (e.g. fish) is depleted due to selfish individual actors (fishing boats)
