Ecology Vocab Flashcards
Ecosystem
a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Biotic Factor
all of the living organisms within an ecosystem.
Abiotic Factor
all of the non-living things in an ecosystem.
Organism
an individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form.
Species
a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding.
Population
a particular section, group, or type of people or animals living in an area or country.
Community
a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common
Habitat
the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.
Natural selection
the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The theory of its action was first fully expounded by Charles Darwin and is now believed to be the main process that brings about evolution.
Evolution
the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.
Producers / autotrophs
An organism capable of synthesizing its own food from inorganic substances using light or chemical energy. Green plants, algae, and certain bacteria are autotrophs.
Consumers / heterotrophs
An organism that cannot manufacture its own food and instead obtains its food and energy by taking in organic substances, usually plant or animal matter. All animals, protozoans, fungi, and most bacteria are heterotrophs
Primary consumer
are animals that eat primary producers; they are also called herbivores (plant-eaters).
Secondary consumer
eat primary consumers. They are carnivores (meat-eaters)
Tertiary consumer
a carnivore at the topmost level in a food chain that feeds on other carnivores; an animal that feeds only on secondary consumers.
Herbivores
an animal that feeds on plants.
Carnivores
an animal that feeds on flesh.
Omnivores
an animal or person that eats food of both plant and animal origin.
Decomposers
organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms, and in doing so, carry out the natural process of decomposition
Food chain
series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food.
Food web
a system of interlocking and interdependent food chains.
Energy pyramid
graphical model of energy flow in a community
Carbon cycle
the series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, chiefly involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, the decay of dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels.
Nitrogen cycle
the series of processes by which nitrogen and its compounds are interconverted in the environment and in living organisms, including nitrogen fixation and decomposition.
Phosphorus cycle
biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.
Ecological succession
the observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time.
Primary succession
one of two types of biological and ecological succession of plant life, occurring in an environment in which new substrate devoid of vegetation and other organisms usually lacking soil, such as a lava flow or area left from retreated glacier, is deposited.
Secondary succession
series of community changes which take place on a previously colonized, but disturbed or damaged habitat.
Pioneer species
the first to colonize previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems, beginning a chain of ecological succession that ultimately leads to a more biodiverse steady-state ecosystem.
Climax community
a stable mature community in a successive series which has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment
Ecosystem
a system, or a group of interconnected elements, formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment.
