ecololgy Flashcards
Ecoysystem
a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Biotic factor
the living components of an ecosystem. They are sorted into three groups: producers or autotrophs, consumers or heterotrophs, and decomposers or detritivores.
Abiotic factor
a non-living component in the environment. This can be either a chemical or physical presence.
Organism
refers to any individual living thing that can react to stimuli, reproduce, grow, and maintain homeostasis. It can be a virus, bacterium, protist, fungus, plant or an animal
species
A group of closely related organisms that are very similar to each other and are usually capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
population
the number of organisms of the same species that live in a particular geographic area at the same time, with the capability of interbreeding.
habitat
place where an organism or a community of organisms lives, including all living and nonliving factors or conditions of the surrounding environment.
Natural Selection
which, according to Darwin’s theory of evolution, only the organisms best adapted to their environment tend to survive and transmit their genetic characters in increasing numbers to succeeding generations while those less adapted tend to be eliminated.
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. Compare autotroph.
Primary consumer
Examples of Primary Consumers. We just established that the primary consumer is the living organism that eats the producers, which are the plants.
secondary consumer
eat these plants exclusively and are all herbivores. We defined secondary consumers as organisms, primarily animals, which eat primary consumers.
Tertiary consumer
Word Origin. noun Ecology. 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
noun, plural: carnivores. An animal or plant (particularly insect- and invertebrate-eating plants) that requires a staple diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue through predation or scavenging. Supplement.
Omnivores
kind of animal that eats either other animals or plants. S
Decomposers
organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms, and in doing so, they carry out the natural process of decomposition.
Food chain
a linear network of links in a food web starting from producer organisms (such as grass or trees which use radiation from the Sun to make their food)
. Food web
A graphical model showing the interconnecting food chains in an ecological community.
Energy pyramid
a graphical model of energy flow in a community. The different levels represent different groups of organisms that might compose a food chain.
Carbon cycle
The combined processes, including photosynthesis, decomposition, and respiration, by which carbon as a component of various compounds cycles between its major reservoirs-the atmosphere, oceans, and living organisms. carbon dioxide cycle.
. Nitrogen cycle
A nonmetallic element that makes up about 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume, occurring as a colorless, odorless gas. It is a component of all proteins, making it essential for life, and it is also found in various minerals.
Ecological succession
A system that includes all living organisms (biotic factors) in an area as well as its physical environment (abiotic factors) functioning together as a unit.
