Principles Of Ecology Vocab Flashcards
Organisms that use sunlight or energy stored in chemical compounds to make food (producers)
Autotrophs
Process used by autotrophs to make food energy from sun (plants)
Photosynthesis
Autotrophs that capture chemical energy since they live in places w/out sunlight (bacteria found in volcano vents)
Chemosynthesis
Organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply (consumers)
Heterotrophs
Break down organic matter (bacteria,fungi)
Decomposers
Show how matter and energy move through ecosystems in a series of steps showing which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
Food chains
Models that show all possible feeding relationships at each tropic level in a community
Food webs
Diagram that shows amounts of energy or matter at each tropic level
Ecological pyramid
Elements, compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from 1 part of the biosphere to another
Bio geochemical cycles
All the living organisms in an environment
Biotic factors
The nonliving parts of the environment
Abiotic factors
All strategies and adaptations a species uses in its environment
Niche
Any relationship where 2 species live closely together
Symbiosis
Organisms that seek out and eat each other
Predators
Organisms that are eaten
Prey
Made up of populations or organisms that live in a common area
Community
Anything that limits an organisms ability to live in a particular environment
Limiting factor
The ability of living things to survive that changes in their environment
Tolerance
The process of gradual, natural change and species replacement that takes place in the communities of an ecosystems over time
Succession
A stable community formed after primary or secondary succession
Climax community
Large group of ecosystems that share the same type of climax and a diverse group of plants
Biomes
Study of the interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environments
Ecology
What is the main energy source for almost all ecosystems on earth?
Sunlight
Why are food chains generally limited to 3 or 4 levels
Because they run out of energy
Name the producer in the food chain
Grass
Name the 3rd level consumer in the food chain
Owl
Dry ecosystem with porous soil, home to cacti
Desert
Home to many insects with precipitation year round
Tropical rain forest
Animals such as chipmunks, bears and bats hibernate in winter
Temperate forest
Plants include variety of grasses, home to lions
Savannah
Has a layer of permanently frozen soil
Tundra
Thin layer of water that covers soil, birds use it for nesting and feeding
Wetlands
Covers the largest part of the biosphere
Oceans
Area where freshwater and saltwater mix
Estuaries
Exists only in northern hemisphere, coniferous forests
Taiga
Standing body of water with low salinity
Lake
Both species benefit from relationship
Mutualism
One organism benefits and the other is neither helped not harmed
Commensalism
One organism lives on or in another and harms it
Parasitism
Eats only plants
Herbivore
Eats only animals
Carnivore
Eats plants and animals
Omnivore
Eats plant and animal remains
Detritivore
An area where an organism lives
Habitat
