Module 1: Ecology: The Study of Our World (VOCAB)

Question 1

ecology

Answer 1

Study of how populations interact with one another and with their nonliving environment.

Question 2

interdependence

Answer 2

The survival of species is dependent on other living organisms and nonliving components.

Question 3

ecological model

Answer 3

Model that represents or describes components of an ecological system.

Question 4

biotic

Answer 4

LIVING components of a system.

Question 5

abiotic

Answer 5

NONLIVING components of a system (i.e., temperature, water, inorganic nutrients, and organic compounds found in the soil).

Question 6

niche

Answer 6

The role, or way of life of a species within its environment.

Question 7

generalist

Answer 7

A species that is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources (i.e., a heterotroph with a varied diet).

Question 8

specialist

Answer 8

A species that can thrive only in a narrow range of environmental conditions or has a limited diet (i.e., the koala, which subsists almost entirely on eucalyptus leaves).

Question 9

biosphere

Answer 9

The layer around the Earth within which all living organisms live.

Question 10

lithosphere

Answer 10

The rock layer around the surface of the Earth.

Question 11

autotroph

Answer 11

These are organisms that acquire their food from an abiotic source. Most autotrophs are photosynthetic organisms although there are a few that use inorganic compounds as a source of energy.

Question 12

heterotroph

Answer 12

These are organisms that acquire their food (energy) from an organic source. Organisms that feed from living organisms are often referred to as consumers, while organisms that feed from dead organic matter are often referred to as decomposers or reducers.

Question 13

population ecology

Answer 13

The science that studies the processes occurring within populations.

Question 14

population

Answer 14

Group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area and interbreed.

Question 15

demographics

Answer 15

Statistics that describe a population’s traits.

Question 16

population size

Answer 16

Total number of individuals in a population.

Question 17

plot sampling

Answer 17

Method of estimating population size of organisms that do not move much by making counts in small plots and extrapolating from this to the number in the larger area.

Question 18

mark-recapture sampling

Answer 18

Method of estimating population size of mobile animals by marking individuals, releasing them, then checking the proportion of marks among individuals later recaptured.

Question 19

population density

Answer 19

Number of individuals per unit area or volume.

Question 20

population distribution

Answer 20

Describes whether individuals are clumped, uniformly dispersed, or randomly dispersed in an area.

Question 21

clumped distribution

Answer 21

Members of a population are closer to one another than would be predicted by chance alone. Most populations have a clumped distribution. (i.e., A patchy distribution of resources encourages clumping, as when hippopotamuses gather in muddy river shallows.)

Question 22

near-uniform distribution

Answer 22

Competition for limited resources can produce a near-uniform distribution, with individuals more evenly spaced than would be expected by chance. (i.e., Creosote bushes in deserts of the American Southwest grow in this pattern. Competition for water among the root systems keeps the plants from growing in close proximity.)

Question 23

random distribution

Answer 23

Members of a population are distributed randomly when resources are uniformly available, and proximity to others neither benefits nor harms individuals. (i.e., When wind-dispersed dandelion seeds land on the uniform environment of a suburban lawn, dandelion plants grow in a random pattern.)

Question 24

age structure

Answer 24

Of a population, the number of individuals in each of several age categories (pre-reproductive, reproductive, or post-reproductive).

Question 25

reproductive base

Answer 25

Of a population, all individuals who are of pre-reproductive or reproductive ages.

Question 26

immigration

Answer 26

Movement of individuals INTO a population.

Question 27

emigration

Answer 27

Movement of individuals OUT of a population.

Question 28

zero population growth

Answer 28

Interval in which the number of births = the number of deaths.

Question 29

per capita growth rate

Answer 29

For some interval, the added number of individuals divided by the initial population size. ∙ [b − d = r] ∙ b = per capita birth rate ∙ d = per capita death rate ∙ r = per capita growth rate

Question 30

exponential growth model

Answer 30

Model of unlimited population growth. The population grows by a fixed percentage in each successive time interval; the size of each increase is determined by the current population size. ** population growth plots out as a J-shaped curve ** ∙ [N × r = G] ∙ N = number of individuals ∙ r = per capita growth rate ∙ G = population growth per unit time

Question 31

biotic potential

Answer 31

Maximum possible population growth rate under optimal conditions.

Question 32

density-dependent limiting factor

Answer 32

Factor that increasingly limits population growth as population density increases. Density-dependent limiting factors include competition, predation, parasitism, and disease.

Question 33

intraspecific competition

Answer 33

Competition among members of the same species.

Question 34

logistic growth

Answer 34

Density-dependent limiting factors cause population growth to slow as population size increases. ** population growth plots out as a S-shaped curve ** ∙ [G = (r)max × N × (K − N) / K] ∙ G = population growth per unit time ∙ (r)max = maximum per capita population growth rate ∙ N = number of individuals ∙ K = carrying capacity ∙ (K − N) / K = proportion of resources not yet used

Question 35

carrying capacity (K)

Answer 35

Maximum number of individuals of a species that an environment can sustain.

Question 36

density-independent limiting factor

Answer 36

Factor that limits population growth to the same degree regardless of population density. Natural disasters, weather-related events, or human-caused events can decrease population size (these events are density-independent because crowding does not influence the likelihood of their occurrence or the magnitude of their effect).

Question 37

life history

Answer 37

Schedule of how resources are allocated to growth, survival, and reproduction over a lifetime.

Question 38

cohort

Answer 38

Group of individuals born during the same time interval.

Question 39

survivorship curve

Answer 39

Graph showing the decline in numbers of a cohort over time. Ecologists have described three generalized types of curves: type I, type II, and type III.

Question 40

type I curve

Answer 40

A type I curve is CONVEX, indicating survivorship is high until late in life. Humans and other large mammals that produce one or two young and care for them show this pattern.

Question 41

type II curve

Answer 41

A DIAGONAL type II curve indicates that the death rate of the population does not vary much with age. In lizards, small mammals, and large birds, old individuals are about as likely to die of disease or predation as young ones.

Question 42

type III curve

Answer 42

A type III curve is CONCAVE, indicating that the death rate for a population peaks early in life. Marine animals that release eggs into water have this type of curve, as do plants that release enormous numbers of tiny seeds.

Question 43

r-selection

Answer 43

Selection that favors traits that allow their bearers to produce the most offspring the most quickly (short generation time and small body size). ** maximize QUANTITY **

Question 44

K-selection

Answer 44

Selection favoring traits that provide a competitive advantage when population size is near carrying capacity (long generation time and large body size). ** maximize QUALITY **

Question 45

total fertility rate

Answer 45

Average number of children the women of a population bear over the course of a lifetime.

Question 46

replacement fertility rate

Answer 46

Fertility rate at which each woman has, on average, one daughter who survives to reproductive age.

Question 47

demographic transition model

Answer 47

Model describing changes in birth and death rates that occur as a region becomes industrialized.

Question 48

ecological footprint

Answer 48

Area of Earth's surface required to sustainably support a particular level of development and consumption. It includes the amount of area required to grow crops, graze animals, produce forest products, catch fish, hold buildings, and take up any carbon emitted by burning fossil fuels.

Question 49

habitat

Answer 49

Type of environment in which a species typically lives.

Question 50

species richness

Answer 50

Of a community, the number of species.

Question 51

species evenness

Answer 51

Of a community, the relative abundance of species.

Question 52

commensalism

Answer 52

Species interaction that benefits one species and neither helps nor harms the other.

Question 53

symbiosis

Answer 53

One species lives in or on another in a commensal, mutualistic, or parasitic relationship.

Question 54

equilibrium model of island biogeography

Answer 54

Model that predicts the number of species on an island based on the island's area and distance from the mainland.

Question 55

distance effect

Answer 55

Islands close to a mainland have more species than those farther away.

Question 56

area effect

Answer 56

Larger islands have more species than small ones.

Question 57

mutualism

Answer 57

Species interaction that benefits both participants.

Question 58

interspecific competition

Answer 58

Competition between two species.

Question 59

ecological niche

Answer 59

The resources and environmental conditions that a species requires.

Question 60

competitive exclusion

Answer 60

Process whereby two species compete for a limiting resource, and one drives the other to local extinction.

Question 61

resource partitioning

Answer 61

Species adapt to access different portions of a limited resource; allows species with similar needs to coexist.

Question 62

character displacement

Answer 62

Outcome of competition between two species; similar traits that result in competition become dissimilar.

Question 63

predation

Answer 63

An interspecific interaction in which one species (the predator) captures, kills, and eats another (the prey).

Question 64

parasitism

Answer 64

Relationship in which one species withdraws nutrients from another species, without immediately killing it.

Question 65

brood parasitism

Answer 65

One egg-laying species benefits by having another raise its offspring.

Question 66

parasitoid

Answer 66

An insect that lays eggs in another insect, and whose young devour their host from the inside.

Question 67

biological pest control

Answer 67

Use of a pest's natural enemies to reduce its numbers.

Question 68

primary succession

Answer 68

A new community colonizes an area where there is no soil.

Question 69

pioneer species

Answer 69

Species that can colonize a new habitat.

Question 70

secondary succession

Answer 70

A new community develops in a disturbed site where the soil that supported a previous community remains.

Question 71

intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Answer 71

Species richness is greatest in communities where disturbances are moderate in their intensity or frequency.

Question 72

indicator species

Answer 72

A species that is especially sensitive to disturbance and can be monitored to assess the health of a habitat.

Question 73

keystone species

Answer 73

A species that has a disproportionately large effect on community structure.

Question 74

exotic species

Answer 74

A species that evolved in one community and later became established in a different one.

Question 75

endemic species

Answer 75

A species found in the region where it evolved and nowhere else.

Question 76

ecosystem

Answer 76

A community interacting with its environment.

Question 77

primary producer

Answer 77

In an ecosystem, an organism that captures energy from an inorganic source and stores it as biomass; first trophic level.

Question 78

consumer

Answer 78

Organism that gets energy and nutrients by feeding on tissues, wastes, or remains of other organisms; a heterotroph.

Question 79

detritivore

Answer 79

Consumer that feeds on small bits of organic material.

Question 80

decomposer

Answer 80

Consumer that feeds on biological remains and breaks down into its inorganic subunits.

Question 81

trophic level

Answer 81

Position of an organism in a food chain.

Question 82

food chain

Answer 82

Description of who eats whom in one path of energy flow in an ecosystem.

Question 83

food web

Answer 83

Set of cross-connecting food chains.

Question 84

grazing food web

Answer 84

Food web in which most energy is transferred from producers to grazers (herbivores).

Question 85

detrital food web

Answer 85

Food web in which most energy is transferred directly from producers to detritivores.

Question 86

primary production

Answer 86

Rate at which an ecosystem's producers capture and store energy.

Question 87

biomass pyramid

Answer 87

Diagram that depicts the biomass (dry weight) in each of an ecosystem's trophic levels.

Question 88

energy pyramid

Answer 88

Diagram that depicts the energy that enters each of an ecosystem's trophic levels. Lowest tier of the pyramid, representing primary producers, is always the largest.

Question 89

biogeochemical cycle

Answer 89

Movement of an element or compound among environmental reservoirs and into and out of food webs.

Question 90

atmospheric cycle

Answer 90

Biogeochemical cycle that includes an atmospheric reservoir.

Question 91

sedimentary cycle

Answer 91

Biogeochemical cycle that involves rocks and waters, but not the atmosphere.

Question 92

water cycle

Answer 92

Biogeochemical cycle in which water among the atmosphere, land, and waters, and into and out of food webs.

Question 93

watershed

Answer 93

Land area that drains into a particular stream or river.

Question 94

groundwater

Answer 94

Soil water and water in aquifers.

Question 95

soil water

Answer 95

Water between soil particles.

Question 96

aquifer

Answer 96

Porous rock layer that holds some groundwater.

Question 97

runoff

Answer 97

Water that flows over soil into streams.

Question 98

carbon cycle

Answer 98

Movement of carbon, mainly between the oceans, atmosphere, and living organisms.

Question 99

nitrogen cycle

Answer 99

Movement of nitrogen among the atmosphere, soil, and water, and into and out of food webs.

Question 100

nitrogen fixation

Answer 100

Incorporation of nitrogen from nitrogen gas into ammonia.

Question 101

ammonification

Answer 101

Breakdown of nitrogen-containing organic material resulting in the release of ammonia and ammonium ions.

Question 102

nitrification

Answer 102

Conversion of ammonium to nitrates.

Question 103

denitrification

Answer 103

Conversion of nitrates or nitrites to gaseous forms of nitrogen.

Question 104

phosphorus cycle

Answer 104

Movement of phosphorus among Earth's rocks and waters and into and out of food webs.

Question 105

biosphere

Answer 105

All regions of Earth that can support life.

Question 106

climate

Answer 106

Average weather conditions in a region over a long period.

Question 107

monsoon

Answer 107

Wind that reverses direction seasonally.

Question 108

rain shadow

Answer 108

Dry region downwind of a coastal mountain range.

Question 109

biome

Answer 109

Group of regions that may be widely separated but share a characteristic climate, soil composition, and dominant vegetation.

Question 110

temperate deciduous forest

Answer 110

Northern Hemisphere biome in which the main plants are broadleaf trees that lose their leaves in autumn and become dormant during cold winters.

Question 111

tropical rain forest

Answer 111

Highly productive and species-rich biome in which year-round rains and warmth support continuous growth of evergreen broadleaf trees.

Question 112

boreal forest

Answer 112

Extensive high-latitude forest of the Norther Hemisphere; conifers are the predominant vegetation.

Question 113

temperate grassland

Answer 113

Temperate biome in the interior of continents; perennial grasses and other nonwoody plants adapted to grazing and fire predominate.

Question 114

savanna

Answer 114

Tropical biome dominated by grasses with a few scattered shrubs and trees.

Question 115

dry shrubland

Answer 115

Biome dominated by a diverse array of fire-adapted shrubs; occurs in regions with cool, wet winters and a dry summer.

Question 116

desert

Answer 116

Biome with little rain and low humidity; plants that have water-storing and water-conserving adaptations predominate.

Question 117

spring overturn

Answer 117

In temperate zone lakes, a downward movement of oxygenated surface water and an upward movement of nutrient-rich water in spring.

Question 118

thermocline

Answer 118

Thermal stratification in a large body of water, a cool midlayer stops vertical mixing between warm surface water above it and cold water below it.

Question 119

fall overturn

Answer 119

During the fall, waters of a temperate zone mix. Upper, oxygenated water cools, gets dense, and sinks; nutrient-rich water from the bottom moves up.

Question 120

estuary

Answer 120

Highly productive ecosystem where nutrient-rich water from a river mixes with seawater.

Question 121

coral reef

Answer 121

Highly diverse marine ecosystem centered around reefs built by living corals that secrete calcium carbonate.

Question 122

pelagic province

Answer 122

The ocean's waters.

Question 123

benthic province

Answer 123

The ocean's sediments and rocks.

Question 124

seamount

Answer 124

An undersea mountain.

Question 125

hydrothermal vent

Answer 125

Rocky, underwater opening where mineral-rich water heated by geothermal energy streams out.