g

Competitive Exclusion Principle

An ecological concept stating that two species competing for the same resources cannot coexist at constant population values.

Gross Primary Productivity

The total amount of organic matter produced by photosynthetic organisms in an ecosystem.

Net Primary Productivity

The amount of organic matter that remains after respiration by producers; it represents the energy available to consumers.

Carrying Capacity

The maximum population size that an environment can sustain indefinitely without being degraded.

Keystone Species

A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance.

Range of Tolerance

The limits of abiotic factors that an organism can tolerate while maintaining a population.

Species Diversity

The variety and abundance of different species in a given area.

Positive Feedback

A process that amplifies or increases change; moving the system away from its equilibrium state.

Negative Feedback

A process that counteracts change; it stabilizes a system and maintains it in equilibrium.

Trophic Levels

Hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and decomposers.

Ecological Footprint

A measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystem, relating to the amount of natural capital used.

Food Chain

A linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.

Trophic Pyramid

A graphical representation of the distribution of biomass, numbers, or energy among trophic levels.

Producers

Organisms that produce their own food, typically through photosynthesis, serving as the base of the food chain.

Consumers

Organisms that obtain their energy by consuming other organisms.

Niche

The role or function of an organism or species within an ecosystem.

Decomposers

Organisms that break down dead organic material, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem.

Energy Transfer

The movement of energy through a food chain or food web from one trophic level to another.

Biodiversity

The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.