Biology chapter 2 vocab

Ecology

Ecology

the scientific discipline in which the relationships among living organisms and the interaction the organisms have with their environments are studied

Biosphere

The portion of the Earth that supports life

Biotic Factors

The living factors in an organism's environment

Abiotic factors

The nonliving factors in an organism's environment

Population

individual organisms of a single species that share the same geographic location at the same time

Biological Community

A group of interacting populations that occupy the same geographic area at the same time

Ecosystem

A biological community and all the abiotic factors that affect it.

Biome

large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of communities

Habitat

Place where an organism lives

Niche

The role or position that an organism has in its environment

Predation

When one organism consumes another for food

Symbiosis

The close relationship between two species that live together

Mutualism

A relationship between two species in which both species benefit

Commensalism

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

Parasitism

A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed

Autotroph

An organism that makes it's own food (Often from the sunlight)

Heterotroph

An organism that cannot make its own food (Consumes other organisms)

Herbivore

Heterotroph that only eats plants

Carnivore

Heterotroph that preys on heterotrophs

Omnivores

Organisms that eat plants and animals

Detritivores

Organisms that eat dead organic matter

Trophic level

Each step in a food chain or food web

Food Chain

model that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem

Food web

Model showing interconnected food chains and pathways in which energy flows through organisms

Biomass

The total mass of living matter at each trophic level

Matter

Anything that has mass and takes up space

Nutrient

A chemical substance that an organism must obtain from its environment to sustain life

Biogeochemical Cycle

The exchange of matter through the biosphere

Nitrogen Fixation

the capture and conversion of nitrogen into a form that is useable by plants

Detrification

soil bacteria convert fixed nitrogen compounds back into nitrogen gas