Unit 2: Ecology & Biodiversity Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the Ecology and Biodiversity lecture notes.

Predator-Prey Relationship

An interaction where one organism (the predator) eats another organism (the prey).

Symbiosis

A close and long-term interaction between two species in an ecosystem, including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.

Resource Partitioning

The process of using resources in different ways, places, or at different times to reduce the impact of competition on survival.

Ecosystem Services

Benefits provided to humans by natural ecosystems, categorized into provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services.

Primary Productivity

The rate at which solar energy (sunlight) is converted into organic compounds via photosynthesis over a unit of time.

Gross Primary Productivity

The total rate of photosynthesis in a given area.

Net Primary Productivity

The rate of energy storage by photosynthesizers in a given area, after subtracting the energy lost to respiration.

Net Primary Productivity Formula

$$\text{Net Primary Productivity} = \text{Gross Primary Productivity} - \text{Respiration Loss}$$

Biogeochemical Cycles

Essential cycles for life that transfer matter between the environment and organisms while demonstrating the conservation of matter.

10% Rule

An approximation stating that only about 10% of energy is passed on in the transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next.

Food Chain

A model depicting the flow of energy and matter from producers (autotrophs) to primary consumers (herbivores) and secondary/tertiary consumers (omnivores and carnivores).

Food Web

A model of an interlocking pattern of food chains that depicts the flow of energy and matter across two or more food chains.

Biome

A region containing characteristic communities of plants and animals that result from, and are adapted to, its climate.

Species Richness

The number of different species found in an ecosystem.

Island Biogeography

The study of ecological relationships, species distribution, and community structures of organisms on islands.

HIPPCO

An acronym representing the main factors leading to a decrease in biodiversity: habitat destruction, invasive species, population growth, pollution, climate change, and over exploitation.

Habitat Fragmentation

The breaking of large habitats into smaller, isolated areas due to human activities like road building, agriculture, logging, and pipeline construction.

Ecological Tolerance

The range of environmental conditions (such as temperature, salinity, flow rate, and sunlight) that an organism or species can endure before injury or death results.

Keystone Species

A species whose activities play a particularly significant role in determining community structure within an ecosystem.

Indicator Species

A plant or animal whose presence, abundance, scarcity, or chemical composition demonstrates that a distinctive quality or aspect of an ecosystem is present.