Biology - Unit 2 (copy)

Species

A species is often defined as a group of organisms that can reproduce naturally with one another and create fertile offspring.

Population

Population is the number of people living in a certain place.

Autotroph

An autotroph is an organism that can make its own food by synthesizing organic nutrients from inorganic materials, using energy from sunlight or a chemical source to drive the process.

Heterotroph

Heterotrophs are organisms that can't make their own food and so must get energy by eating plants and animals to survive.

Consumers

A consumer, according to the definition in biology, is an organism that cannot produce its own food and must eat other plants and/or animals to get energy.

Trophic Levels

The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food web.

Community

A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

Abiotic

Abiotic (factor or component) in Biology refers to any component of the ecosystem that is devoid of life. Abiotic can also be defined as non-living components or attributes of a system that usually bears physical and chemical traits but no biotic traits.

Organic

An organic compound; or any substance containing carbon-based compounds, especially produced by or derived from living organisms.

Nutrients

Nutrients are chemical substances found in every living thing on Earth. They are necessary to the lives of people, plants, animals, and all other organisms. Nutrients help break down food to give organisms energy. They are used in every process of an organism's body.

Ecosystems

An ecosystem consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the system through photosynthesis and is incorporated into plant tissue.

Ecology

Ecology is the study of the relationships among living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level.

Biotic

Biotics describe living or once living components of a community; for example organisms, such as animals and plants. Biotic may refer to: Life, the condition of living organisms. Biology, the study of life. Biotic material, which is derived from living organisms.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level.

Keystone Species

Background Info Vocabulary. A keystone species is an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem. Without its keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether. Keystone species have low functional redundancy.

Producers

An organism that makes it’s own food.

Food Chain

A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another. In a food chain, each organism occupies a different trophic level, defined by how many energy transfers separate it from the basic input of the chain.