Unit 5 - Ecology & Plants Flashcards
biotic factor
living things within an ecosystem
Nitrogen cycle
a process that recycles nitrogen through an ecosystem; steps include nitrogen fixation, nitrification, assimilation, ammonification & denitrification
water cycle
examples are condensation, precipitation & evaporation
pioneer community
the first organisms to establish themselves in a community
abiotic factors
nonliving parts of the ecosystem
primary succession
community that occurs on inorganic material like rock
secondary succession
a well established community; it gets destroyed (fire,flood,etc); the community grows back
biosphere
portion of the earth that supports life
biome
large geographic area of similar climate & life forms
density-dependent factor
environmental element whose effects are determined by population density; predation,disease, parasitism
density-independent factor
environmental element whose effects are NOT determined by population density; natural disaster, clear cutting of a forest
limiting factor
a reason for a decrease in population size; not enough food, shelter, water, space, or disease, natural disaster, habitat loss/destruction
greenhouse effect
natural situation in which heat is retained by a layer in the atomosphere
carnivore
animal that only eats meat
commensalism
symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits & the other is not hurt (unaffected)
food web
consists of interconnected food chains within an ecosystem; how energy flows through an ecosystem
decomposer
organism that breaks down dead tissue &returns it back into the soil; fungi & bacteria; usually the trophic level to be left out of a food chain/web; AKA saprobe
ecology pyramid
a graphical representation designed to show the biomass or bio productivity at each trophic level in a given ecosystem
ecology
literally translates to “the study of the house”; the study of the relationships of living things to their environment
ecosystem
organisms interacting with their physical environment; all the living things, from plants and animals to microscopic organisms, that share an environment
habitat
an area in which an organism lives
herbivore
animal that eats only plants
mutualism
symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit
nitrogen fixation
process by which atmospheric nitrogen is incorporated into compounds that plants can use
