Web of Life

Ecology

The scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment

Environmental Science

Incorporates concepts from the natural sciences and the social sciences and focuses on how people affect the environment and how to address environmental problems

Population

A group of individuals of a single species that live in a particular area and interact with one another

Community

An association of populations of different species in the same area

Biotic

Living components of natural systems

Abiotic

Physical (non-living) components of natural systems

Ecosystem

A community of organisms plus their physical environment

Landscapes

Areas with substantial differences, typically including multiple ecosystems

Biosphere

All living organisms on Earth plus the environments in which they live

Adaptation

A characteristic that improves survival or reproduction

Natural Selection

Individuals with certain adaptations tend to survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other individuals

Producers (autotrophs)

Use energy from an external source (e.g., the sun) to produce their own food

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

Energy captured by producers minus amount lost as heat in cellular respiration

Consumers (Heterotrophs)

Get energy by eating other organisms for their remains

Nutrient Cycle

The continuous recycling of a substance essential for growth and the maintenance of life (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus) between the physical environment and organisms

Climate Change

A directional change in climate (such as global warming) that occurs over 30 years or longer

Replication

Performing each treatment more than once; reduces possibility that results are due to a variable that was not measured or controlled in the study

Statistics

Standardized ways to determine whether observed differences are significant (great enough to be of biological importance)