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Key Terms Ecology:def. Abiotic factors: nonliving part of the environment
def. Age Distribution (Structure) Diagram: A demographics display of the age groups of a population.
def. Altitude: The hight of a thing above sea level.
def. Aquatic succession: Ponds and lakes gradually filled in and invaded by the surrounding land ecosystem.
def. Autotrophs: organisms capable of producing its own food from inorganic materials & sunlight.
def. Biogeochemical cycle (Nutrient cycle): Repeated (cyclic) pathway of particular elements from the nonliving environment to living organisms, and then back to the nonliving environment (e.g., carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, phosphorus cycle, water cycle).
def. Biomass: The dry weight of a collection of designated organisms.
def. Biomes: A group of large regional communities ("ecosystems") that are related by having a similar type of vegetation governed by similar climatic conditions (e.g., arctic grasslands ("tundra"), temperate grasslands ("prairies"), tropical grasslands ("savannas"), deserts, tropical rainforests).
def. Biosphere: Portion of Earth inhabited by life; all of the earth's waters, crust, and atmosphere in which organisms live.
def. Biosphere: Portion of Earth inhabited by life; all of the earth's waters, crust, and atmosphere in which organisms live.
def. Biotic factors: living parts of the environment
def. Biotic potential (Reproductive capacity): The potential of a species for increasing its population (and distribution). Given optimal conditions all species will increase.
def. Camouflage: A defense against being eaten in which organisms mimic materials in the environment in an attempt to be invisible.
def. Carbon cycle: Cyclic flow of the element carbon from the nonliving environment to living organisms, and then back to the nonliving environment.
def. Carnivores: animals feeding other animals.
def. Carrying capacity: The maximum population of a given species that an ecosystem can support over a long period of time, without being degraded or destroyed.
def. Climate: Prevailing weather conditions for an ecosystem (incl. temperature, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, and rainfall).
def. Climax community: Last stage of succession, a relatively stable long-lasting community of organisms.
def. Climax community: Last stage of succession, a relatively stable long-lasting community of organisms.
def. Climax ecosystem: An ecosystem with a climax community, the last stage in ecological succession. (An ecosystem in which populations of all organisms are in balance with each other and with existing abiotic factors. The biomes are climax ecosystems for their particular areas.)
def. Commensalism: Relationship between two organisms where one organism benefits without harming the other one.
def. Community: A collection of interacting populations within an ecosystem.
def. Consumers: organisms that obtain energy by feeding on the tissues of other organisms.
def. Decomposers: organisms that use dead organic matter as a source of energy (organisms whose feeding actions results in decay or rotting of organic material (mainly fungi and bacteria).
def. Ecology: the branch of biology that studies the relationships between organisms and their environment.
def. Ecosystem: an interacting collection of organisms (the biotic factors) and the abiotic factors that affect them
def. Energy pyramid: Pyramid-shaped representation of an ecosystem's trophic structure, illustrating the energy losses at each transfer to a different trophic level.
def. Energy: The capacity to do work.
def. Environment: anything that affects an organism during its lifetime.
def. Environmental resistance: The factors that tend to cut back population size (e.g., climate, lack of food, lack of water, lack of space, predators, disease).
def. Environmentalist: Person who believes that sustainability of civilization hinges on preserving natural aspects of the biosphere (freedom from pollution and maintenance of biodiversity).
def. Fire climax ecosystems: Ecosystems that depend on the recurrence of fire to maintain balance.
def. First basic principle of ecosystem sustainability: Ecosystems dispose of wastes and replenish nutrients by recycling all elements.
def. Food chains: A sequence of organisms that feeds on one another, resulting in a flow of energy from a producer through a series of consumers (flow of energy as each one feeds upon the next).
def. Food web: a system of interlocking food chains (the combination of all the feeding relationships that exist in an ecosystem).
def. Fourth basic principle of ecosystem sustainability: Ecosystems maintain a workable biodiversity.
def. Habitat: The specific environment of an organisms -- the "home" of an organism.
def. Herbivores: animals feeding on plants.
def. Heterotrophs: organisms incapable of producing its own food, and therefore depend directly or indirectly on producers to meet their food requirements.
def. Immediate disturbance hypothesis: moderate disturbance is required for a high degree of community diversity.
def. Interspecific competition: competition between species in a community
def. Intraspecific competition: competition within (a population of) a species
def. Latitude: A region of the Earth considered in relation to its distance from the equator.
def. Limiting factor: The environmental factor (the primary influence) that limits population growth.
def. Limits of tolerance: Extremes of any environmental factor (e.g., temperature) that an organisms or a population can tolerate, and still survive and reproduce.
def. Mimicry: Superficial resemblance to an unrelated species.
def. Mutualism: Relationship between two organisms where both organisms benefit.
def. Niche: The specific functions of an organisms -- the "job" of an organism. (Total of all relationships that determines how an organism do in an ecosystem, including both biotic and abiotic factors.)
def. Nitrogen fixation: Process in the nitrogen cycle where nitrogen gas N2 (for most organisms unusable) from the atmosphere is converted to nitrates NO3- and ammonia NH3 (usable forms).
def. Nutrient cycle (biogeochemical cycle): Repeated (cyclic) pathway of particular elements from the nonliving environment to living organisms, and then back to the nonliving environment (e.g., carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, phosphorus cycle, water cycle).
def. Omnivores: animals feeding both on plants and other animals.
def. Parasites: Ecological relationship between two organisms where only one organism benefits, by deriving nourishment from the other, without killing it (at least not immediately) but usually doing harm to it.
def. Parasitism: Ecological relationship between two organisms where only one organisms benefit, by deriving nourishment from the other, without killing it (at least not immediately) but usually doing harm to it.
def. Phosphorus cycle: Cyclic flow of the element phosphorus from the nonliving environment to living organisms, and then back to the nonliving environment.
def. Photosynthesis: the conversion of light energy to chemical energy (stored in glucose produced) from carbon dioxide and water.
def. Pioneer species: Early colonizer of barren or disturbed habitats that usually has rapid growth and high dispersal rate.
def. Population: A group of organisms of the same species located in the same place at the same time.
def. Predation: Ecological relationship between two organisms where only one organisms benefit, by deriving nourishment from the other, by killing.
def. Primary succession: Ecological succession to a climax ecosystem in an area that has not been occupied before (e.g., rock face).
def. Producers: organisms that obtain energy from sunlight by photosynthesis
def. Rain shadow: A reduction in rainfall on the leeward side of high mountains, resulting in arid or semiarid conditions.
def. Scavengers: animals that feed on food left by other animals.
def. Second basic principle of ecosystem sustainability: Ecosystems use sunlight as their source of energy.
def. Secondary succession: Ecological succession to a climax ecosystem in an area that has been occupied before (e.g., an area that has been cleared).
def. Succession: Gradual changes in the structure of a community, due to some abiotic change, ultimately leading to a climax community.
def. Succession: Gradual changes in the structure of a community, due to some abiotic change, ultimately leading to a climax community.
def. Sustainable agriculture: Agriculture that maintains the integrity of soil and water resources such that it can be continued indefinitely. (Much of modern agriculture is depleting these resources on which it depends.)
def. Sustainable society: A society that functions in a way so as not to deplete energy and material resources on which it depends.
def. Sustainable yields: The taking of a biological resource (e.g., fish or forest) that does not exceed the capacity of the resource to reproduce and replace itself.
def. Sustainable: Something that can be maintained indefinitely without being depleted.
def. Third basic principle of ecosystem sustainability: Ecosystems maintain consumer populations at a proper size so that overuse does not occur.
def. Trophic levels: a step (feeding level) in the flow of energy through an ecosystem (Organisms that photosynthesize are at the first trophic level, organisms that feed on first trophic level organisms are at the second level.)
def. Warning coloration: A bright, memorable design that helps the predator remember which prey to avoid.
def. Water cycle (Hydrologic cycle): Cyclic flow of the compound water from the nonliving environment to living organisms, and then back to the nonliving environment.
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