Unit 5 ESS Vocabulary Quiz #1

Only the first few vocab terms learnt in Ecosystems and Ecology to prep for my vocab quiz.

Abiotic factors

The non-living, physical factors that influence the organisms and ecosystem, such as temperature, sunlight, pH, salinity, and precipitation.

Aquatic

Relating to water i.e. ecosystems dominated by water

Bioaccumulation

The build-up of persistent or non- biodegradable pollutants within an organism or trophic level because they cannot be broken down

Biomagnification

The increase in concentration of persistent or non-biodegradable pollutants along a food chain.

Biotic factors

The interactions between the organisms— such as predation, herbivory, parasitism, mutualism, disease, and competition.

Carrying capacity

The maximum population size that a given area can support sustainably.

Chemosynthetic organisms

Produce their own food without sunlight using the energy stored in chemical bonds, e.g. denitrifying bacteria.

Commensalism

A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other one is neither harmed nor helped.

Community

A group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat.

Competition

The interaction between organisms that are trying to attain the same resources. Might be for food, mates, territory, nesting sites, etc.

Decomposer

Feeds on dead and decaying material, thus recycling the nutrients.

Density- dependent limiting factors

Limiting factors related to how densely packed a population is, e.g. competition

Density- independent limiting factors

Limiting factors unrelated to population density such as natural disasters and weather change.

Ecosystem

A community and the physical environment with which it interacts.

Fundamental niche

Describes the full range of conditions and resources in which a species could survive and reproduce.

Habitat

The environment in which a species normally lives.

Herbivory

The consumption of a plant species by an animal.

J-Shaped curve

A population growth curve showing exponential growth with no carrying capacity reached.

Maximum sustainable yield

Equivalent to the net primary or net secondary productivity of a system.

Mutualism

Symbiotic relationship in which both partners benefit.

Niche

Describes the particular set of abiotic and biotic conditions and resources to which an organism or population responds.

Parasitism

Symbiotic relationship in which one species is benefited and the other is adversely affected.

Photosynthesis

The conversion of water and carbon dioxide in chloroplasts, using light energy, to organic matter.

Precipitation

Rain, snow, sleet or hail - water that moves from a gaseous state, condenses and falls to the ground.

Predation

The consumption of one species (the prey) by another (the predator).

Primary producers

In most ecosystems convert light energy into chemical energy in the process of photosynthesis.

Producers (autotrophs)

Are typically plants or algae that produce their own food using photosynthesis and form the first trophic level in a food chain.

Species

A group of organisms that share common characteristics and that interbreed to produce fertile offspring.

S-Shaped curve

A population growth curve showing exponential growth followed by slowed growth until carrying capacity is reached.

Symbiosis

Individuals living on or in individuals of another species where one or both species use the others resources. Includes mutualism, commensalism and parasitism.

Trophic level

The position that an organism occupies in a food chain, or the position of a group of organisms in a community that occupy the same position in food chains.