Ecology test 1

ecology

scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment

spatial scale

what space are things measured on

temporal scale

what time frame are things measured on

population

group of indvs from a single species in a single area

community

interacting populations from multiple species in one area

ecosystem

collection of communities and the physical environment where they live (biotic and abiotic)

landscape

more than one ecosystem, varying physical environments

biosphere

whole scope of where life exists

evolution

change in allele frequency in a population over time

adaptation

a characteristic of an organism that improves its survival or reproduction

natural selection

an evolutionary process in which indvs that are more fit survive and reproduce at a higher rate than others, their alleles get passed on

producers/ autotrophs

an organism that uses energy from an external source (sun)

consumers/ heterotrophs

organism that gets energy from other living things

Net Primary Productivity

the amount of energy that producers fix by photosynthesis MINUS what they use in respiration

weather

current conditions- temp, precip, wind, cloud

climate

long term description of weather- based on averages, compares variations and seasonality

greenhouse effect

latent heat flux

sensible heat flux

latitude vs longitude