Vocab 1 Flashcards
a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment
Ecosystem
all the living organism in the ecosystem
Biotic factor
all non-living chemical and physical parts in the environment
Abiotic factor
a individual animal, plant, or single celled life forms
Organism
a group of living organism having similar traits
Species
the inhabitants in an area
Population
a group of people living in an area
Community
natural home for animals
Habitat
the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
Natural selection
different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.
Evolution
an organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances
Producers / autotrophs
an organism deriving its nutritional requirements from complex organic substances.
Consumers / heterotrophs
animal that eats grass
Primary consumer
animal that eats the animal that eats grass
Secondary consumer
Tertiary consumer
Tertiary consumer
eats plants
Herbivores
eats meat or ants
Carnivores
eats meat and plants
Omnivores
decomposes dead things
Decomposers
organizes top to bottom of animals where they are in the ecosystem
Food chain
shows what animal eats what
Food web
An energy pyramid is a graphical model of energy flow in a community.
Energy pyramid
the series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment
Carbon Cycle
the series of processes by which nitrogen and its compounds are interconverted in the environment and in living organisms
Nitrogen Cycle
hat describes the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.
Phosphorus Cycle
observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time.
Ecological Succession
occurring in an environment in which new substrate devoid of vegetation and other organisms usually lacking soil
Primary Succession
series of community changes which take place on a previously colonized, but disturbed or damaged habitat.
Secondary Succession
which are the first to colonize previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems
Pioneer Species
a stable mature community in a successive series which has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment
Climax Community
