Habitats, Adaptations, Biodiversity, Food Chains, and Abiotic Factors

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing core ecological definitions, abiotic factors, food chains, biodiversity, and animal adaptations from science notebook notes.

Habitat

The natural area where a plant or animal lives and grows, providing the vital food, water, and shelter needed for survival.

Ecosystem

A community of living organisms interacting and working together with the non-living things in an area.

Community

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

Species

A group of living organisms that share similar characteristics and are capable of producing offspring.

Population

All the individual organisms of one kind living in a specific area.

Abiotic factors

Non-living environmental factors that influence where organisms live, such as temperature, moisture, light intensity, soil/water pH, and wind speed.

Dichotomous key

A tool consisting of a series of paired statements used to identify organisms based on their specific characteristics.

Biodiversity

The variety of all the different species of organisms living within an ecosystem.

Food chain

A sequence that shows feeding relationships and the direction of energy transfer between organisms in an ecosystem.

Producer

An organism, usually a plant at the start of a food chain, that converts energy from the sun into food.

Primary consumer

An animal that feeds directly on primary producers in a food chain.

Secondary consumer

An animal that feeds on primary consumers in a food chain.

Tertiary consumer

An animal that feeds on secondary consumers in a food chain.

Food web

A system of interconnected food chains that displays multiple feeding interactions within an ecosystem.

Energy flow efficiency in food chains

The rule stating that only around $10\%$ of consumed energy is passed on to the next stage of a food chain, while $90\%$ is lost as heat, movement, and undigested waste.

Adaptation

A special physical feature or behavior that allows an organism to be particularly suited to survive in its habitat.

General adaptation

Broad physical traits suited to a general environment type, such as legs for walking on land or fins for swimming in water.

Specific adaptation

Specialized traits enabling an organism to thrive or hunt in a specific ecological niche, such as a shark's ability to detect electrical fields.

Cold climate adaptations

Physical traits such as fat, round body shapes with short legs, small ears, thick fur coats, and a layer of blubber under the skin to minimize heat loss.

Hot climate adaptations

Physical and behavioral traits such as large thin ears, little body fat, thin silky fur, long limbs to spread heat, and nocturnal activity.