Ecology Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards for Ecology terms.

Polarity

The property of water having 2 different charges on the molecule. Oxygen (negative) Hydrogen’s (positive).

Condensation

Water that collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it.

Precipitation

Rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground.

Evaporation

The process of turning from liquid water into gaseous water.

Photosynthesis

The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water.

Cellular respiration

A set of metabolic reactions and processes that take place in the cells of organisms to convert chemical energy (glucose) using oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide & adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

Nitrogen fixation

The chemical processes by which atmospheric nitrogen is assimilated into organic compounds, especially by bacteria as part of the nitrogen cycle.

Biotic factors

Living components of an ecosystem.

Abiotic factors

Non-living components of an ecosystem.

Niche

The role and position a species has in its environment; how it meets its needs for food and shelter, how it survives, and how it reproduces.

Habitat

The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.

Levels of Ecological Organization

Different levels include: individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere.

Exponential growth

Growth whose rate becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number or size.

Density dependent limiting factors

Factors where the effects on the size or growth of a population vary with the density of the population itself. Examples: availability of food, predation, disease, and migration.

Density independent limiting factors

Limiting factor where the effects on the size or growth of a population are not dependent on the density of the population itself. Examples: weather, natural disasters, and human activities.

Logistic growth

Occurs when the growth rate decreases as the population reaches carrying capacity.

Carrying capacity

The maximum number of individuals in a population that the environment can support.

Trophic level

Each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.

Primary producers

Autotrophs; organisms that produce their own food.

Consumers

Organisms that eat other organisms.

Herbivore

An animal that feeds on plants.

Primary consumer

An organism that eats primary producers.

Secondary consumer

An organism that eats primary consumers.

Tertiary consumer

An organism that eats secondary consumers.

Biodiversity

The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Predator

An animal that naturally preys on others.

Prey

An animal that is hunted and killed by another for food.

Keystone species

A species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically.

Competitive exclusion

The inevitable elimination from a habitat of one species by another with identical needs for resources.

Symbiosis

Interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.

Mutualism

Symbiosis that is beneficial to both organisms involved.

Parasitism

A relationship between two species of plants or animals in which one benefits at the expense of the other.

Commensalism

A relationship between two organisms in which one benefits and the other is unaffected.

Keystone species

A species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically.

Biodiversity

The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Invasive species

A plant, animal, or other organism that is not native to a specific location, and which has a tendency to spread to a degree believed to cause damage to the environment, human economy or human health.