BIO Chap #1 - Ecology, Evolution, and Classifying Organisms

Organism

all living things (ex. animal, plants, etc)

Abiotic

non-living factors in an environment (ex. rocks, water, minerals in the soil)

Organism

all living things (ex. animal, plants, etc)

Abiotic

non-living factors in an environment (ex. rocks, water, minerals in the soil)

Biotic

living factors in an environment (ex. plants, animals, bacteria)

Hierarchy of Ecosystem Organization

individual —> population —> community —> ecosystem —> biospehere

Individual

one member of a species

population

multiple members of the same species

community

all populations living together in a certain area

ecosystem

one or more communities of organisms interacting with the abiotic factors of their evironment

biosphere

all ecosystems of earth

Conservation of matter

matter cannot be created or destroyed; only transferred

matter

liquid, solid, or gas

conservation of energy

energy cannot be created or destroyed; only transferred

Evolution

change in genetic composition of a population over time

natural selection

evolution occurs when some phenotype increases the chance for survival and reproduces

phenotype

physical trait

prokaryotes

simple cells, usually unicellular can be producers or consumers

eukakryotes

more complex cells, can be unicellular or multicellular

producer / autotroph

creates their own food

consumer / heterotroph

relies other organisms for energy

herbivore

consumes plantsc

carnivore

consumes animals

omnivore

consumes plants and animals

predator

kills and consumes plants or animals

scavenger

consumes dead animals

detritivore

feeds on dead organic matter

decomposer

breaks down dead organic matter

protists

diverse, eukaryotes but don’t fit into other groups

plants

photosynthetic producer

animals

consumers

fungi

consumers (decomposer)

competition

results in a negative effect for both species that depend on the same resource

parasites

one species benefits and the other is harmed

mutualism

both species benefit from the other

commensalism

one species receives a benefit, while the other is unaffected