Plants and Animals (Biology L3)

Abiotic

Non-living things

Adaptation

A trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce

Actogram

The activity/time graph of an organism

Aggressive

ready to attack or start fights; acting in a hostile way

Agonistic behaviour

Any form of behaviour associated with aggression, including threat, attack, appeasement or flight

Alpha/Beta

Dominant roles in heirarchy

Amensalism

a relationship in which one organism is harmed and the other is unaffected

Antibiosis

the association between two organisms in which one is harmful to the other - usually plants

Auxin

A plant hormone that speeds up the rate of growth of plant cells

Biological Clock

an internal control of natural cycles

Biotic

living things

Chemo

chemical

Circadian

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle

Circannual

occurring on a roughly annual basis

Commensalism

A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected

Competition

the struggle between organisms to survive in a habitat with limited resources

Courtship

The succession of signals that are exchanged between male and female, which culminates in mating

Crepuscular

active at dawn and dusk

Critical day length

photoperiod above which long-day plants flower and below which short-day plants flower

Cytokinins

Stimulates cell division and growth of lateral buds. Causes dormant seeds to sprout.

Diurnal

active during the day

Dominance

behavior enacted with the goal of acquiring or demonstrating power

Dormancy

A period when an organism's growth or activity stops

Endogenous

produced from within; due to internal causes

Exogenous

produced from without; due to external causes

Entrainment

the process of synchronizing a biological rhythm to an environmental stimulus

Exploitation

Any relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed

Free-running period

The period of a biological rhythm in the absence of external environmental cues.

Geo-

Relating to gravity

Group formation

Organisms of one species living together. Benefits outweigh costs.

Habitat

the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.

Herbivory

Form of exploitation in which an herbivore eats all or parts of a plant or alga.

Hibernation

A period of inactivity that some animals experience in winter that allows them to survive on stored body fat

Hierarchy

a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.

Home range

An area that an animal uses for food, but will not defend.

Homing

The ability of an animal to find its way home over unfamiliar territory

Hormones

chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues

Innate

inborn; genetic

Interspecific

between different species

Intraspecific

within a species

K-strategy

Few offspring, large investment of time and energy in offspring, survivorship high

Kin selection

the idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection

Kineses

random, undirected movements of an animal in response to a stimulus

Klinokinesis

The amount of random turning is related to the intensity of stimulus

Long day plant

A plant that flowers only when the light period is longer than a critical length. Usually spring or early summer.

Migration

Mass movement of population over long distance to breed or feed occurring on an annual or seasonal basis.

Mimicry

morphological adaptation in which one species evolves to resemble another species for protection or other advantages

Monogamy

one mate per breeding season/life

Mutualism

A relationship between two species in which both species benefit

Nastic response

reversible, responsive movement of a plant that occurs independent of the direction of the stimulus

Navigation

ability to find route using range of environmental cues/methods

Niche

An organism's particular role in an ecosystem, or how it makes its living.

Nocturnal

active at night

Orthokinesis

The speed of the movement is related to intensity of stimulus

Pair bonding

a mating system in which a male and female form an exclusive mating relationship

Parasitism

A type of exploitation in which one organism lays eggs inside or on host organism.

Parasitoid

an organism that lives in close association with its host, at the host's expense and results in the death of the host.

Phase shift

a shift in the activity of a biological rhythm, typically provided by a synchronizing environmental stimulus

Predation

An interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism

Photo-

relating to light

Photoperiodism

a plant’s response to the differing ratio of light to dark in a day/in its environment

Phytochrome

The photoreceptor responsible for keeping track of the length of day and night; there are two forms of this, Pr (red light absorbing) and Pfr (infrared light absorbing)

Receptors

Special structures that allow living organisms to sense the conditions of their internal or external environment.

R-strategy

A reproductive strategy that includes quick reproduction, lots of offspring with short life expectancy, little/no parental care, are very small at birth, and high death rates in young.

Sexual dimorphism

Differences in physical characteristics between males and females of the same species.

Short day plant

A plant that flowers only when the light period is shorter than a critical length. Usually fall or winter.

Stimulus

a signal to which an organism responds

Submissive

meek; easily yielding to authority

Taxes

Directional movement of aminals towards or away from stimulus.

Territory

Actively defended area to breed and raise offspring

Thigmo-

related to touch

Tropisms

A growth response of a plant toward or away from a stimulus

Zeitgeber

environmental cue that resets the circadian rhythm