Ecology Exam Review Flashcards

These flashcards capture key vocabulary terms and their definitions related to ecology, as outlined in the review notes.

Waggle dance

A method of communication used by honeybees to inform others about the direction and distance to resources.

Choice chamber

An experimental setup that allows observation of how organisms respond to different environmental conditions.

Abiotic factors

Nonliving components of an environment, such as sunlight, water, and temperature.

Biotic factors

Living or once living components of an environment, including plants, animals, and decomposing material.

Producers (autotrophs)

Organisms that produce their own food using sunlight; they form the base of food webs.

Decomposers

Organisms that break down dead organic matter, returning nutrients to the environment.

Keystone species

Species that play a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community.

Mutualism

A relationship between two organisms where both benefit.

Parasitism

A relationship in which one organism benefits at the expense of another organism.

Primary succession

Ecological changes that occur in an area where no soil exists, leading to the development of a new ecosystem.

Secondary succession

Ecological changes that occur in an area where a disturbance has cleared an existing ecosystem but left the soil intact.

Logistic growth

Population growth that slows as it approaches carrying capacity, represented by an S-shaped curve.

Limiting factors

Environmental conditions that restrict the growth of populations, such as availability of resources.

Chi square

Statistical method used to assess differences between observed and expected data in hypothesis testing.

Control group

A standard for comparison in an experiment that is not affected by the independent variable.