unit test Flashcards
Biotic
living or was living
Abiotic
never living
Dependent variable
The variable you measure
Mechanical defense
discourage predation and herbivory by discouraging physical contact
Physical defense
Many species use physical appearance, such as body shape and coloration, to avoid being detected by predators.
Chemical defense
using chemicals to stop from other of its species from being eaten
Behavioral defense
using behavior to play dead
Mimicry
a harmless species imitates the warning coloration of a harmful species.
Competitive Exclusion Principle
different species cannot coexist in a community if they are competing for all the same resources.
Symbiosis
interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.
Mutualism
in which two species benefit from their interaction.
commensalism
when one species benefits from a close prolonged interaction, while the other neither benefits nor is harmed.
Parasitism
the parasite benefits, but the organism being fed upon, the host, is harmed. The
Biodiversity
biodiversity used by ecologists is the number of different species in a particular area and their relative abundance.
Species richness
is the term used to describe the number of species living in a habitat or other unit.
Relative abundance
is known as the diversity of the community.
Species evenness
The even spread of the amount of species in an ecosystem
Foundation species
are considered the “base” or “bedrock” of a community, having the greatest influence on its overall structure.
Keystone species
one whose presence has inordinate influence in maintaining the prevalence of various species in an ecosystem,
Trophic level
the position of an organism in an ecosystem
autotroph
an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals.
biomagnification
the increase in concentration of a substance, e.g a pesticide, in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain.
Biogeochemical cycle
the movement and transformation of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms, the atmosphere, and the Earth’s crust
CHNOPS
Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
Hydrosphere
the total amount of water on a planet.
carbon cycle
the process that moves carbon between plants, animals, and microbes; minerals in the earth; and the atmosphere
Carbon sink
absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Carbon store
places where carbon is stored away from the atmosphere
Carbon source
any natural or artificial production site of carbon and/or any chemical compounds composed of carbon, such as carbon dioxide and methane
Nitrogen cycle
a biogeochemical process through which nitrogen is converted into many forms, consecutively passing from the atmosphere to the soil to organism and back into the atmosphere
Eutrophication
the process in which a water body becomes overly enriched with nutrients, leading to the plentiful growth of simple plant life.
