Introduction Flashcards
Ecology
Study of relationships between organisms and their biotic and abiotic environments
Organism
Fundamental unit of ecology
Modular
Grow by repeated iteration of parts (branches, shoots)
Unitary
Grow by a determinate pathway of development towards a well-defined adult form (All vertebrates)
Module
Repeated units of structure
Species
A group of interbreeding individuals, reproductively isolated from other such groups, lots of debate over definition
Population
A group of individuals of the same species living in a given area at a given time
Metapopulation
A group of local populations linked by the dispersal of individuals
Community
All populations of all species inhabiting a particular area at a given time
A group of interacting plants and animals inhabiting a given area
An association of interacting species living in a particular area
All the organisms living in a particular area
Ecosystem
Biotic community and abiotic environment, functioning as a system
A biological community, plus all of the abiotic factors influencing that community
Environment
All components and/or factors (abiotic and biotic) external to an organism that influence its survival, growth, and/or reproduction
Total surroundings of an organism, including other plants, animals and those of its own kind
Habitat
Place where an organism lives
The environment in which the life needs of an organism are supplied
Environmental science
Study of the impact of humans on the environment
Holistic Theory
Study must include everything because systems are too complex to study in bits
Whole is greater than the sum of the parts
Reductionist Theory
By understanding how each part (the species, its numbers and characteristics) functions, one can piece together how the whole system operates
