unit 1 Flashcards
Genes
a unit of heredity which is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring.
Population
a particular section, group, or type of people or animals living in an area or country
Species
a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding
Natural Selection
the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
Evolution
the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.
Speciation
the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution.
Extinction
the fact or process of a species, family, or other group of animals or plants becoming extinct.
Co-evolution
the influence of closely associated species on each other in their evolution.
Prey
the preying of one animal on others
Competition/Intraspecific
produced, occurring, or existing within a species or between individuals of a single species
Competitive Exclusion Principle
a proposition that two species which compete for the same limited resource cannot coexist at constant population values.
Symbiosis
a close, prolonged association between two or more different biological species
Parasitism/Parasite/Host/Vectors/
Ectoparasite/Endoparasite
the practice of living as a parasite in or on another organism.
Commensalism
an association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm.
Mutualism
association between organisms of two different species in which each benefits.
Community
a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.
Population
all the inhabitants of a particular town, area, or country.
Ecosystem
a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Producer/Autotroph
an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals
Consumer/Heterotroph
an organism deriving its nutritional requirements from complex organic substances.
Primary consumer/ Herbivore
an animal that feeds on plants.
Secondary consumer/Omnivore/Carnivore
organisms, primarily animals, which eat primary consumers
Scavenger/Decomposer/Detritivore
an organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material.
Detritus
waste or debris of any kind.
Keystone species
a species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically.
Trophic level
each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy
Food chain/Food web
a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food.
Biomass
the total quantity or weight of organisms in a given area or volume.
