module 4•2 - biodiversity Flashcards
a community of interacting organisms and their physical environment
ecosystem
a group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms
biome
where an organism lives
habitat
all the organisms of one species in a habitat
population
all organisms of one species in a habitat
community
an organism’s particular role in an ecosystem or how it makes its living
niche
a living feature of an ecosystem
biotic factors
a non-living feature of an ecosystem
abiotic factors
a stage in a food chain thats occupied by a particular group of organisms
trophic level
a series of steps in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy
food chain
a system of interlocking and interdependent food chains
food web
an organism that makes its own food
autotroph
an organism that obtains energy from the foods it consumes
heterotroph
an organism that feeds on dead organic matter
saprophyte
an organism that breaks down dead or undigested organic material
decomposer / detrivore
an organism that produces orhanic molecules using sunlight energy
producer
a consumer that feeds directly from a producer
primary consumer
an organism that eats orimary consumers
secondary consumer
a carnivore that eats secondary consumers
tertiary consumer
the maximum stable population size of a species that an ecosystem can support
carrying capacity
limiting factor that affects all populations in similar ways regardless of population size
debsity independent factors
limiting factor that depends on poulation size
density dependent factors
the process by which an ecosystem changes over time
succession
the largest and most complex community of plants and animals an ecosystem can support
climax community
a group of organisms that can be freely interbred to produce fertile offspring
species
when a species is unique to a single place
endemism
where the species is found
distribution
how many of each species are present
abundance
how to estimate abundance
- take a representative sample
- multiply up
