Leaving Cert Biology : Ecology definitions

Study of the interactions between organisms and their environment

Ecology

Community of organisms and their enviroment

Ecosystem

The part of the earth where life can occur

Biosphere

Where an organism lives

Habitat

All the member of a species living in an area

Population

Plants and animals sharing resources of a particular habitat

Community

Functional role of an organism in an ecosystem

Niche

Non living factor

Abiotic factor

Living factor

Biotic factor

Weather over a long period of time

Climatic factor

Soil factors : pH, type,moisture, air & mineral content

Edaphic factor

Autotrophs that carry out photosynthesis

Producers

Organisms that take in food from another organism

Consumers

Feed directly on producers eg rabbit

Primary consumers

Carnivores that feed on primary consumers eg fox

Secondary consumers

Carnivores that feed on secondary consumers eg badgers

Tertiary consumers

Pathway along which energy is transferred in an ecosystem

Food chain

Two or more interlinked food chains

Food web

Feeding stage/ energy level on a food chain

Trophic level

Based on numbers of organism at each trophic level in a food chain

Pyramid of numbers

Way in which carbon and hydrogen are exchanged between the living and non living components of an ecosystem

Nutrient recycling

Conversion of nitrogen gas to ammonia, ammonium or nitrate

Nitrogen fixation

Ammonia conversion to nitrites and then to nitrates by nitrifying bacteria

Nitrification

Conversion of nitrates to nitrogen gas by denitrifying bacteria in soil

Denitrification

Harmful additions to the enviroment

Pollution

Substance that causes an undesirable change to the enviroment

Pollutant

Wise management of our natural resources

Conservation

Organisms active struggle for resources in limited supply

Competition

Competition between the same species

Intra specific competition

Competition between different species

Inter specific competition

Active physical contest between two organisms

Contest competition

All competing organisms getting some of the resource

Scramble competition

Ways in which organisms are specialised either in structure or behaviour to survive competition

Adaptions

Organisms that lives by killing and eating others

Predation

Living organism that feeds off another , known as the host

Parasitism

Live on the body of the host

Ecto/Exoparasites

Live inside the body of the host

Endoparasites

Relationship between two organisms in close association where at least one benefits

Symbiosis

Lives on dead matter

Saprophytes

Finding out the number of organisms in an ecosystem

Quantative study

Finding out the different species of organism in an ecosystem

Quantative study