Flashcards

10% Rule

Only about 10 percent of energy stored as biomass in a trophic level is passed from one level to the next.

Abiotic

A non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment, such as temperature, light, and water.

Adaptation

A modification of an organism or its parts that makes it more fit for existence.

Biodiversity

The diversity of life forms in an environment.

Biomass

The total mass of all living matter in a specific area.

Biome

A large area characterized by its vegetation, soil, climate, and wildlife.

Biotic

A living organism that shapes its environment.

Commensalism

A relationship between species in which one species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor helped.

Community

A group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time.

Competition

An interaction between organisms or species in which both require a resource that is in limited supply.

Constants/Controlled Variables

Any variable that is held constant in a research study.

Decomposers

Fungi or bacteria that recycle nutrients from dead tissues and wastes back into an ecosystem.

Detritivores

An organism that specializes in breaking down dead tissues and waste products into smaller particles.

Endangered Species

A species at serious risk of extinction.

Ecology

The study of the relationships between living organisms and their physical environment.

Ecosystem

An ecosystem consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact.

Ecosystem Services

The process by which natural environments provide life-supporting resources.

Ecological Tolerance

The full potential range of the factors a species can use if there is no competition.

Food Chain

The sequence of consumption from producers through tertiary consumers.

Indicator Species

An organism whose presence, absence or abundance reflects a specific environmental condition.

Keystone Species

A species that is far more important in its community than its relative abundance might suggest.

Tragedy of the commons

A situation in which individuals with access to a public resource act in their own interest, depleting the resource.

Trophic Level

Levels in the feeding structure of organisms.

Trophic Pyramid

A representation of the distribution of biomass, numbers, or energy among trophic levels.

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

The total amount of solar energy that producers capture via photosynthesis.

Invasive Species

An organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment.

Laws of Thermodynamics

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but it can change forms; entropy in an isolated system always increases.

Mutualism

An interaction between species that increases the chances of survival or reproduction for both.

Trophic Cascade

An ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators.

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

The energy captured by producers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire.

Parasitism

A predator that lives on or in the organism it consumes.

Pioneer Species

A species that can colonize new areas rapidly.

Population

A group of organisms of one species that interbreed and live in the same area.

Primary Consumer

An individual incapable of photosynthesis; must obtain energy by consuming other organisms.

Primary Succession

Ecological succession on surfaces that are initially devoid of soil.

Producer

An organism that uses the energy of the Sun to produce usable forms of energy.

Qualitative Data

Information that cannot be counted or easily expressed using numbers.

Quantitative Data

Data expressed in counts or numbers with unique numerical values.

Resource Partitioning

A situation in which two species divide a resource based on differences in behavior or morphology.

Scavengers

A carnivore that consumes dead animals.

Secondary Consumer

A carnivore that eats primary consumers.

Secondary Succession

The succession of plant life in areas that have been disturbed but not lost soil.

Species Evenness

The relative proportion of different species in a given area.

Species Richness

The number of species in a given area.

Symbiosis

A relationship of two species that live in close association with each other.

Tertiary Consumer

A carnivore that eats secondary consumers.