Ecology Key Terms

all the interacting parts of a biological community and its environment

Ecosystem

an ecosystem that is capable of withstanding pressure and giving support to a variety of organisms

Sustainable ecosystem

Living things in an ecosystem

biotic factors

Abiotic factors are the non-living parts of an organism's habitat.

abiotic factors

the solid, outer layer of the earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle

Lithosphere

all the waters on the earth's surface, such as lakes and seas, and sometimes including water over the earth's surface, such as clouds.

Hydrosphere

the envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet.

atmosphere

Consists of all life on Earth and all parts of the Earth in which life exists, including land, water, and the atmosphere.

Biosphere

a substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life.

Nutrients

An ecosystem that is located in bodies of water.

aquatic ecosystem

An ecosystem that is found on land

Terrestrial ecosystem

A process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, become highly concentrated in a body of water, leading to increased growth of organisms such as algae or cyanobacteria.

Eutrophication

process by which plants and some other organisms use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and high-energy carbohydrates such as sugars and starches

photosynthesis

Each step in a food chain or food web

trophic level

the build up of a substance (usually a toxin) as it passes through a food chain

Bioaccumulation

Process that releases energy by breaking down glucose and other food molecules in the presence of oxygen

cellular respiration

Process by which cells release energy in the absence of oxygen

Fermentation

Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor, and ozone in the atmosphere which are involved in the greenhouse effect.

Greenhouse gases

warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the atmosphere

greenhouse effect

precipitation, such as rain, sleet, or snow, that contains a high concentration of acids, often because of the pollution of the atmosphere

Acid precipitation

The process of moving matter or nutrients through the biotic and Abiotic environment. Essential elements like Hydrogen. Oxygen, Nitrogen, and carbon is consumed, rearranged, stored, and used.

Nutrient Cycles

The law of conservation of mass

matter can not be created or destroyed.

Carbon reservoirs

In the atmosphere, In living organic matter (plants/Animals), Fossil fuels (coal deposits), Ocean as dissolved c02 and in limestone as calcium carbonate.

Releases more carbon than it absorbs like Volcanic activity, Fires, Decomposition, and Cellular respiration.

Carbon source

Absorb more co2 than they give off - Forests, Oceans fossil fuels and Carbonate rocks like limestone. 

Carbon sinks

Bacteria convert nitrogengas into nitrogen containing compounds that can be used.

Nitrogen Fixation

Producer (1st trophic level)

Organisim that makes its own food

Primary consumer (2nd trophic level)

herbivores

Secondary Consumer (3rd trophic level)

Carnivores that eat primary consumers

Tertiary Consumer (4th trophic level)

Carnivores that eat secondary consumers

Consumers that feecd on Detritus (the remains of dead organisims and animal wastes)

Detrivores

Detrivores

Earthworms, maggots, slugs

Carnivores that eat the remains of dead animals

Scavengers

Scavengers

Vultures, jackals, & hyenas

Special consumers that break down organic matter ad release nutrients into the soil.

Decomposers

Decomposers

Fungi and Bacteria

When individuals are trying to get enough of the same reasource

Competition

One individual feeds on another

Predation

2 individuals benefiting each other

Mutualism (symbiosis)

One individual benefits the other is not harmed but not benifited

Communalism

One individual lives on in a host organism & feeds on them

Parasitism

l limiting factors such as temperature, wind, climate, sunlight, rainfall, soil composition, natural disasters, and pollution.

Abiotic Limiting factors

limiting factors are those things in an ecosystem that restrict the size, growth, and/or distribution of a population. limiting factors such as things like **food, availability of mates, disease, and predators.**

Biotic Limiting Factors