Ecology Unit Vocabulary

Question 1

Ecology

Answer 1

the study of organisms and their interactions with the environment.

Question 2

Biosphere

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Biotic factors

Answer 3

all of the living parts of an ecosystem.

Question 4

Abiotic factors

Answer 4

all of the nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Question 5

Organism

Answer 5

an individual member of a species within a population.

Question 6

Population

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Community

Answer 7

all of the populations in an ecosystem.

Question 8

Ecosystem

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Habitat

Answer 9

the place in which an organism lives.

Question 10

Niche

Answer 10

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

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

Question 12

limiting factors

Answer 12

anything that restricts the number of individuals in a population.

Question 13

Predator

Answer 13

consumers that capture and eat other consumers.

Question 14

Prey

Answer 14

the organism that is captured and consumed by the predator.

Question 15

Producers/Autotrophs

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Consumers/Heterotrophs

Answer 16

an organism that cannot make its own food and feeds on other organisms.

Question 17

Herbivore

Answer 17

a consumer that only eats plants.

Question 18

Carnivore

Answer 18

a consumer that feeds only on other animals.

Question 19

Omnivore

Answer 19

a consumer that feeds on plants and animals.

Question 20

Scavengers

Answer 20

a consumer that eats organisms that have already died.

Question 21

Decomposers

Answer 21

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

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

Question 23

Food web

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Trophic level

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Ecological energy pyramid

Answer 25

shows how energy flows through an ecosystem.

Question 26

Symbiosis

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Mutualism

Answer 27

a relationship where both organisms benefit.

Question 28

Commensalism

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Parasitism

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Ecological Succession

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Primary Succession

Answer 31

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

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

Question 33

Climax Community

Answer 33

a mature, stable community that is the final stage of ecological succession. Conditions, biotic and abiotic factors, including resources, are suitable for an ecosystem to exist. (End result of succession.)