BIOL/MARE 156 – Exam Study Guide Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering terms, ecological concepts, forest types, and representative organisms from the BIOL/MARE 156 exam study guide.

Adaptive shift

When a species evolves to use a new food source, habitat, or way of surviving.

Adaptive radiation

When 1 ancestral species evolves into many different species adapted to different niches.

Ecosystem

All the living and nonliving things interacting in an environment.

Biotic

Living parts of an ecosystem, such as plants and animals.

Abiotic

Nonliving parts, such as sunlight, water, soil, and temperature.

Primary producer

An organism that makes its own food, usually through photosynthesis.

Consumer

An organism that gets energy by eating other organisms.

Decomposer

An organism, like bacteria or fungi, that breaks down dead material and recycles nutrients.

Herbivore

An animal that eats plants or algae.

Carnivore

An animal that eats other animals.

Omnivore

An animal that eats both plants and animals.

Detritivore

An animal that eats dead organic material and waste.

Nectarivore

An animal that eats nectar from flowers.

Frugivore

An animal that eats fruit.

Insectivore

An animal that eats insects.

Food chain

A single pathway showing how energy moves between organisms.

Food web

Multiple connected food chains showing feeding relationships.

Trophic level

An organism's position in a food chain.

Trophic pyramid

A diagram showing how available energy decreases at higher feeding levels.

Lava tube

An underground tunnel left behind after flowing lava drains away.

Troglobite

An animal that lives only in caves and is adapted to cave conditions.

Troglophile

An animal that can live and reproduce inside or outside caves.

Trogloxene

An animal that uses caves but must return outside for some needs, such as feeding.

Intertidal

The shoreline area between high and low tide.

Fringing reef

A coral reef growing directly along a shoreline.

Barrier reef

A coral reef separated from land by a lagoon.

Atoll reef

A ring-shaped coral reef surrounding a lagoon, often formed around a sinking volcanic island.

Zooxanthellae

Microscopic algae living inside coral tissue that provide food through photosynthesis.

Polyps

Small coral animals with tentacles that form coral colonies.

Coral bleaching

When stressed corals lose their symbiotic algae, causing them to turn white.

Benthic

Living on or near the bottom of a body of water.

Biotic attenuation

A reduction or weakening of organisms or biological activity, often along an environmental gradient.

Freshwater

Water containing very little salt, such as in streams and lakes.

Groundwater

Water stored underground in soil and porous rock.

Amphidromous

A life cycle where animals move between freshwater and saltwater, often going to sea as larvae and returning to streams as juveniles.

Insect

An arthropod with 6 legs, 3 body sections, and an exoskeleton.

Arthropod

An animal with an exoskeleton, segmented body, and jointed legs, such as insects and spiders.

Honeycreeper

A group of Hawaiian birds that evolved different beaks and feeding habits from a common ancestor.

Primary succession

Ecosystem development beginning on bare surfaces without developed soil, such as new lava.

Secondary succession

Ecosystem recovery after disturbance where soil remains.

Kīpuka

An area of surviving vegetation surrounded by newer lava flows.

Facilitation

When one species makes the environment better for another species.

Inhibition

When one species prevents or slows another species from establishing.

Tolerance

When species establish without strongly helping or preventing each other.

Disturbance

An event, like fire, lava, or storms, that changes an ecosystem.

Disturbance regime

The usual type, frequency, intensity, and pattern of disturbances in an ecosystem.

Native

A species that occurs naturally in an area without human introduction.

Indigenous

A naturally occurring species found in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere.

Endemic

A species found naturally only in Hawaiʻi.

Non-native

A species brought to Hawaiʻi by humans, intentionally or accidentally.

Geographic isolation

Isolation that occurs when physical barriers separate populations.

Habitat isolation

Isolation that happens when populations live in different environments.

Seasonal isolation

Isolation that occurs when populations reproduce at different times.

Behavioral isolation

Isolation that happens when mating behaviors differ between populations.

Hybrid isolation

Isolation that occurs when offspring cannot survive or reproduce successfully.

Disharmonic biota

An ecosystem condition where some taxonomic groups are unusually common while others are missing or poorly represented because only certain organisms could reach the islands.

Lowland rainforest

A Hawaiian forest type occurring in hot, wet conditions at low elevations, commonly featuring ʻōhiʻa, lama, and hala in suitable areas.

Montane rainforest

A Hawaiian forest type occurring in cooler, very wet conditions at higher elevations, commonly featuring ʻōhiʻa, koa, and hāpuʻu tree ferns.

Mesic forest

A Hawaiian forest type receiving moderate rainfall (neither very wet nor dry), commonly featuring koa, ʻōhiʻa, and lama.

Dry forest

A Hawaiian forest type characterized by hot, dry conditions with limited rainfall, featuring wiliwili, lama, and other dry-forest trees.

Subalpine forest

A Hawaiian forest type found at high elevations characterized by cold, often dry conditions, commonly featuring māmane, naio, and sometimes ʻōhiʻa.

ʻIʻiwi

A nectarivorous Hawaiian honeycreeper with a long, curved beak adapted for drinking flower nectar.

Palila

A granivorous Hawaiian honeycreeper with a thick, strong beak adapted for eating māmane seeds.

ʻĀkepa

An insectivorous Hawaiian honeycreeper with a specialized beak adapted for finding insects in buds and vegetation.

ʻAlalā

A Hawaiian crow (not a honeycreeper) that functions as a frugivore by eating fruit and dispersing seeds.