Ecosystems Part 1 Flashcards
Abiotic Factors
In biology and ecology, abiotic components or abiotic factors are non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems. Abiotic factors and the phenomena associated with them underpin all biology.
Biome
a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g., forest or tundra.
Biosphere
the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth (or analogous parts of other planets) occupied by living organisms.
Biotic Factors
Biotic factors are all of the living organisms within an ecosystem. These may be plants, animals, fungi, and any other living things.
Community
Community, also called biological community, in biology, an interacting group of various species in a common location. For example, a forest of trees and undergrowth plants, inhabited by animals and rooted in soil containing bacteria and fungi, constitutes a biological community.
Consumer
An organism that feeds on other organisms in a food chain. Herbivores that feed on green plants in a food chain are called primary consumers, and carnivores that feed on herbivores are , secondary consumers. Carnivores that feed on other carnivores are called , tertiary consumers.
Decomposers
an organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material.
Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms, and in doing so, they carry out the natural process of decomposition. Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic substrates to get their energy, carbon and nutrients for growth and development.
Detritivore
An organism that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, returning essential nutrients to the ecosystem. Detritivores include microorganisms such as bacteria and protists as well as larger organisms such as fungi, insects, worms, and isopod crustaceans.
Ecological Niche
An ecological niche is the role and position a species has in its environment; how it meets its needs for food and shelter, how it survives, and how it reproduces. A species’ niche includes all of its interactions with the biotic and abiotic factors of its environment.
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the distributions, abundance and relations of organisms and their interactions with the environment.
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system. These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.
Environment
the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.
Environmental Gradient
An environmental gradient is a gradual change in abiotic factors through space. Environmental gradients can be related to factors such as altitude, temperature, depth, ocean proximity and soil humidity.
Food Chain
A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another. In a food chain, each organism occupies a different trophic level, defined by how many energy transfers separate it from the basic input of the chain.
Food Web
a series of organisms related by predator-prey and consumer-resource interactions; the entirety of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.
