Ecology Study Guide Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering basic ecology, energy flow, community interactions, and population dynamics based on the lecture notes.

Producer

Plants or autotrophs that can make their own food.

Consumer

Heterotrophs that need to eat; includes herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.

Herbivore

An organism that eats only plants.

Carnivore

An organism that eats only animals (meat).

Omnivore

An organism that eats both plants and animals.

Decomposer

An organism, such as a fungus, that breaks down dead organic material and absorbs it for food.

Biotic factors

Living parts of an environment, such as organisms.

Abiotic factors

Nonliving parts of an environment, such as rocks.

Individual

The first level of organization of life; one living thing.

Population

A group of the same species.

Community

Different species living together.

Ecosystem

The level of organization that includes both biotic and abiotic stuff.

Biome

A really big ecosystem found all over the world, such as a desert or rainforest.

Biosphere

All life on the planet.

Energy Arrows (Food Webs)

The direction of the ENERGY; for example, from grass into a cricket's mouth (grass $\rightarrow$ cricket).

10% rule

Only $10\%$ of the biomass energy goes on to each subsequent level of the pyramid, decreasing as it move up from producers.

Biomagnification

When toxins like DDT INCREASE up the food chain as they accumulate in the muscles/fats of organisms and are transferred to apex predators.

Mutualism

A relationship where both organisms benefit, such as bees pollinating flowers.

Commensalism

A relationship where one organism benefits and the other is unaffected, such as fish living inside a jellyfish.

Parasitism

A relationship where one organism benefits and the other is harmed but NOT EATEN, such as a wasp and a caterpillar.

Keystone species

An organism, such as wolves, that regulates the population growth of everything else; its removal affects the entire ecosystem.

Intraspecific competition

Competition that occurs between organisms of the same species.

Interspecific competition

Competition that occurs between organisms of different species.

Immigration

Organisms coming IN to a population, causing the population size to grow.

Emigration

Organisms moving OUT of a population (EXITING), causing the population size to decline.

Density (Population)

The number of organisms per area, representing crowdedness.

Geographic distribution

The range of an organism or where it lives.

Birth rate

The number of organisms born each year, causing a population to increase.

Death rate

The number of organisms that die each year, causing a population to decrease.

Exponential growth

Growing fast at a constant rate.

Carrying capacity

The number of organisms that an environment can handle or sustain based on factors like food, space, and predators.

Density-dependent limiting factors

Factors like disease and competition that limit growth because of density, affecting large, dense populations more.

Density-independent limiting factors

Factors like natural disasters and human activities that limit growth regardless of density, affecting all populations equally.