Biology Chapter 18

Vocab

Biosphere

The part of Earth where life exists; includes all of the living organisms on Earth

Ecosystem

a community of organisms and their interactions with living (biotic) communities and nonliving (abiotic) components.

Community

a group of various species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other

Population

a group of organisms of the same species that live in a special geographical area and interbreed.

Biotic

An environmental factor that is associated or result of the activities of a living organisms

Abiotic

An environmental mental factor that is not associated with the activities of a living organism

Niche

The unique position occupied by a species both in terms of its physical use of it’s habitat and its function within an ecological community

Habitat

The place where an organism lives

Tolerance Curve

A graph of performance versus values of an environmental variable

Acclimation

the process of an organism to adjust their tolerance to abiotic factors

Conformers

Organisms that do not regulate their internal conditions, they change as their environment changes. - their internal conditions match those of the environment.

Regulator

an organisms that use energy to control some of their internal conditions. - keep an internal condition within the optimal range over a wide variety of environments

Dormancy

a longer-term strategy to enter a state of reduced activity

migration

A strategy to move to a more favorable habitat.

Generalists

Species with broad miches

Specialists

Narrow niches