Ecology Vocab

Question 1

Trophic level

Answer 1

Each step in the food web or food chain

Question 2

Ecosystem

Answer 2

Includes the biotic and abiotic factors in an area

Question 3

Biome

Answer 3

Large geographic regions with similar abiotic factors and with organisms adapted to that climate.

Question 4

Climatogram

Answer 4

A graph of both temperature and precipitation

Question 5

Abotic

Answer 5

all of the nonliving parts of an ecosystem

Question 6

Biotic

Answer 6

All of the living parts of an ecosystem.

Question 7

Seasonal Changes

Answer 7

Changes in the physical environmental factors of an environment which happen during the course of a year (e.g. it gets colder in winter).

Question 8

Competition

Answer 8

the struggle between organisms to survive in a habitat with limited resources

Question 9

trophic cascade

Answer 9

something that goes wrong so it causes everything to change for the bad (especially the loss of keystone species)

Question 10

climax community

Answer 10

A stable, mature community that undergoes little or no change in species over time

Question 11

species richness

Answer 11

The number of different species in an ecosystem

Question 12

species evenness

Answer 12

the relative proportion of individuals within the different species in a given area

Question 13

species abundance

Answer 13

the number of individuals within each species in an ecosystem

Question 14

biodiversity

Answer 14

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Question 15

energy transfer

Answer 15

the transfer of energy from one organism to another through a food chain or web; or the transfer of energy from one object to another, such as heat energy

Question 16

randomization

Answer 16

the process of randomly assigning different things/ or choosing randomly

Question 17

primary succession

Answer 17

An ecological succession that begins in an area where no biotic community previously existed

Question 18

secondary succession

Answer 18

Succession following a disturbance that destroys a community without destroying the soil

Question 19

conservation

Answer 19

Protecting and preserving natural resources and the environment

Question 20

pioneer species

Answer 20

First species to populate an area (especially during primary succession)

Question 21

decomposer

Answer 21

An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms

Question 22

population

Answer 22

a group of organisms of the same species populating a given area at the same time

Question 23

community

Answer 23

All the different populations that live together in an area at the same time

Question 24

carrying capacity

Answer 24

The largest population that an area can support

Question 25

invasive species

Answer 25

a new species that becomes overpopulated and harms the environment

Question 26

quadrant sampling

Answer 26

A method of studying an ecosystem, where a representative, or group of representative square sections are selected. This is done when it is impossible to study an entire ecosystem “inch by inch” (randomly sampling the area)

Question 27

ariel sampling

Answer 27

sampling from above

Question 28

mark and recapture

Answer 28

capturing and marking organisms, then recapturing them and counting how many are marked

Question 29

transect sampling

Answer 29

a line randomly crosses a space and any organisms that are close to the line are counted.

Question 30

limited factor

Answer 30

An environmental factor that causes a population to decrease in size.

Question 31

predator

Answer 31

An animal that hunts other animals for food

Question 32

prey

Answer 32

An organism that is killed and eaten by another organism

Question 33

herbivore

Answer 33

A consumer that eats only plants

Question 34

carnivore

Answer 34

A consumer that eats only animals

Question 35

omnivore

Answer 35

A consumer that eats plants and animals

Question 36

autotroph

Answer 36

organism that can make its own food

Question 37

heterotroph

Answer 37

An organism that cannot make its own food.

Question 38

producer

Answer 38

An organism that can make its own food.

Question 39

food web

Answer 39

A community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains

Question 40

food chain

Answer 40

A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten