Ecology Unit Vocabulary

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

Ecology - the study of organisms and their interactions with the environment.

Question 2

Biosphere

Answer 2

Biosphere - life supporting region of the Earth; all land, water, and air in which organisms live.

Question 3

Biotic factors

Answer 3

Biotic factors - all of the living parts of an ecosystem.

Question 4

Abiotic factors

Answer 4

Abiotic factors - all of the nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Question 5

Organism

Answer 5

Organism - an individual member of a species within a population.

Question 6

Population

Answer 6

Population - all of the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species.

Question 7

Community

Answer 7

Community - all of the populations in an ecosystem.

Question 8

Ecosystem

Answer 8

Ecosystem - all of the organisms living in an area and the nonliving features of their environment.

Question 9

Habitat

Answer 9

Habitat - the place in which an organism lives.

Question 10

Niche

Answer 10

Niche - how an organism survives, how it obtains food and shelter, how it finds a mate and cares for its offspring, and how it avoids danger.

Question 11

carrying capacity

Answer 11

carrying capacity - the largest number of individuals of one species that an ecosystem can support over time.

Question 12

limiting factors

Answer 12

limiting factors - anything that restricts the number of individuals in a population.

Question 13

Predator

Answer 13

Predator - consumers that capture and eat other consumers.

Question 14

Prey

Answer 14

Prey - the organism that is captured and consumed by the predator.

Question 15

Producers/Autotrophs

Answer 15

Producers/Autotrophs- organisms such as plants and algae, which through the process of photosynthesis create energy-rich food.

Question 16

Consumers/Heterotrophs

Answer 16

Consumers/Heterotrophs- an organism that cannot make its own food and feeds on other organisms.

Question 17

Herbivore

Answer 17

Herbivore- a consumer that only eats plants.

Question 18

Carnivore

Answer 18

Carnivore- a consumer that feeds only on other animals.

Question 19

Omnivore

Answer 19

Omnivore- a consumer that feeds on plants and animals.

Question 20

Scavengers

Answer 20

Scavengers- a consumer that eats organisms that have already died

Question 21

Decomposers

Answer 21

Decomposers- a consumer that breaks down the complex compounds of dead and decaying plants and animals into simpler molecules that can be more easily absorbed.

Question 22

Food chain

Answer 22

Food chain- a diagram that shows the flow of energy and matter between animals in a community.

Question 23

Food web

Answer 23

Food web- shows all the possible feeding relationships at each trophic level in a community.

Question 24

Trophic level

Answer 24

Trophic level- a feeding step in a food chain, or ecological energy pyramid.

Question 25

Ecological energy pyramid

Answer 25

Ecological energy pyramid- shows how energy flows through an ecosystem.

Question 26

Symbiosis

Answer 26

Symbiosis- a relationship of dependence or mutual benefit between organisms of the same ecosystem.

Question 27

Mutualism

Answer 27

Mutualism- a relationship where both organisms benefit.

Question 28

Commensalism

Answer 28

Commensalism- a relationship where one organism benefits and the other organism is not affected.

Question 29

Parasitism

Answer 29

Parasitism- a relationship where one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed.

Question 30

Ecological Succession

Answer 30

Ecological Succession- Natural, gradual changes in the types of species that live in an area; can be primary or secondary

Question 31

Primary Succession

Answer 31

Primary Succession- begins in an area where NO SOIL is present. The development of an ecosystem in an area that has never had a community living within it.

Question 32

Secondary Succession

Answer 32

Secondary Succession- the process of restabilization that follows a disturbance in an area where life has formed an ecosystem. SOIL IS ALREADY PRESENT.