biology ch.15

Ecology

The study of how living things interact with one another and with their physical environment

Habitat

An organisms environment

Biosphere

The relatively thin later of earths surface which life exists

Lithosphere

Land

Hydrosphere

Water

Biome

Large geographic region with characteristic plant and animal life

Ecosystems

Small area within a biome that has it’s own specific environmental conditions and living organisms

Community

Collective term for all the living things in an ecosystem

Population

Group of organisms of the same species living in the same ecosystem

Organism

Individual living thing ; smallest living unit ; each population may be divided into individual living things

Stability

Ability of an ecosystem to withstand and to recover from changes

Carrying capacity

The maximum population size that the ecosystem can currently support

Overpopulation

When the population is above carrying capacity

Biodiversity

The number and variety of species living within an ecosystem

Radiation

The sun provides all the basic energy of an ecosystem

Temperature

Radiation that penetrates the atmosphere warms earth’s surface

Tolerance range

A range of values that us needed for the organism survival

Optimum range

Ideal range of values for an environmental factor in which an organism can thrive

Limiting factor

Any factor outside an organisms tolerance range becomes

Dynamic equilibrium

State in which factors in a system are changing but the system as a whole remains the same

Autotrophs / producers

Organisms that can make their own food

photoautotroph

Autotrophs that obtain energy from sunlight

Chemoautotrophs

Autotrophs that obtain energy from chemical substances

Heterotrophs

They cannot produce their own foods

Herbivores

Consumers that feed on plants

Carnivores

Consumers that feed on other animals

Scavengers

Feed on dead animals

Omnivores

Consumers that feed on both plants and animals

Detritivore

Organism that feeds on detritus but cannot actually convert the detritus into a soil component

Decomposers

Bacterium it fungus that feeds on detritus by secreting enzymes that break it down into simpler molecules

Trophic level

A classification that describes it’s feeding relationship to other organisms in it’s ecosystem

Food chain

Model used by ecologist to show nutritional relationships among organism in an ecosystem ; one way series of steps showing the transfer of food and nutrients from one trophic level to another

Primary consumers

Animal that eats plants directly

Secondary consumers

Animals that eat herbivores

Food web

Model that combines food chains to show all possible feeding relationships at each trophic level

Niche

Function or “ occupation “ of a loving thing

Energy pyramid

Diagram that represents the energy transferred from one trophic level to the next as a pyramid

Biomass pyramid

Diagram the represents the biomass at each trophic level as a pyramid

Biomass

Total mass of living matter per unit area

Number pyramid

Diagram that represents the number of organisms at each trophic level as a pyramid

Symbiosis

Close relationship between two different species over a period of time especially one In which they mutually benefit

Mutualism

Symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit

Parasitism

Symbiotic relationship In which one organism benefits while the other is harmed

Commensalism

Symbiotic relationship in which one organism is benefited and the other is neither harmed not helped

Predation

Relationship in which one organism hunts, kills, and eats another

Competition

Relationship in which two organisms compete for the same limited resource

Amensalism

Relationship in which one organism inhibits another

Herbivory

Relationship in which grazing animals feed on plants by cropping portions of the plant without killing it

Biogeochemical cycle

Cycle that recycles nutrients in an environment ; also called nutrient cycle

Hydrologic cycle

Bio geochemical cycle in which water moves from the soil and from the water surfaces of the earth through the atmosphere and back to the earth again

Carbon oxygen cycle

( nitrogen cycle) atmospheric cycle which recycles carbon and oxygen

Phosphorus cycle

Sedimentary cycle that recycles phosphorus

Climax community

Combination of a regions climax vegetation and it’s animal population

Arctic tundra

Treeless northern biome that has long harsh winters and permafrost

Permafrost

Permanently frozen layer of soil

Alpine tundra

Mountain biome that has vegetation and climate conditions similar to those of arctic tundra but lacks permafrost

Northern coniferous

Northern biome that has long harsh winters and is dominated by conifers ; also called boreal forest and taiga

Temperate deciduous forest

Biome that has well defined seasons and is dominated by deciduous broadleaf trees

Grassland

Biome dominated by grasses with occasional trees

Savanna

Tropical grassland biome

Deserts

Hot dry biome where more water is lost through evaporation then is gained through rain

Tropical rainforests

Tropical biome characterised by abundant rain and a year round growing season

Aquatic biomes

Biome that is located in water

Estuary

Marine ecosystem that occurs where nutrient Rich fresh water from rivers and streams meets and mixes with sea water producing an environment with intermediate salinity

Coral reefs

Marine ecosystem formed from the remains of stony corals and coralline algae ; vast limestone structure made of the limestone cups of a colony

Intertidal zones

Area between the highest and lowest tide along a coast ; littoral zone

Neritic zones

Region to the low tide line to the edge of the continental shelf ; coastal zone

Oceanic zones

Region extending from the edge of the continental shelf into the open ocean

Pioneer species

First organisms to colonise an ecosystem after a disturbance

ecological succession

Replacement do early pioneer species in a disturbed ecosystem by later species in an orderly progression until the climax community is established

Primary succession

Ecological succession that starts with barren ground

Secondary succession

Ecological succession that starts with ready soul and pioneers species

Dominion

Man’s God given authority over nature

Stewardship

Man’s responsibility to manage creation in a way that balances the wise use of natural resources and their conservation

Conservation

Using resources in a responsible way that allows their continues use

Renewable resources

Natural resource that generates very quickly

Non renewable resources

Natural resource that generates slowly , if at all .

Animals

Living organism that moves from place to place in it’s environment

Motile

Able to move from place to place

Sessile

Animal unable to move from place to place

Symmetry

Bilateral symmetry

Radial symmetry

Assume Asymmetry

Vertebrates

Invertebrates