Terms SciOly Ecology
Abiotic | Non living (Water, wind, rocks) |
Acid precipitation | Includes acid rain, acid fog, acid snow, and any other form of precipitation that is more acidic that normal (i.e., less that pH 5.6). |
Adaptation | Any genetically controlled structural, physiological, or behavioral characteristic that helps an organism survive under a given set of environmental conditions |
Aerobic | Living or occurring only in the presence of oxygen |
Amensalism | Two organisms in a symbiotic relationship in which one is unaffected and one is harmed (the black walnut tree secretes juglone which kills the plants living at base of tree, but the lack of competition doesn't help or harm the tree). This is a very rare type of symbiosis. |
Ammonification | The process by which decomposers change nitrogen in detritus to ammonium (NH4+) |
Anaerobic, adj. | Lacking or seriously depleted of oxygen |
Assimilation | The process by which plants absorb nitrate or ammonium through root hairs to be used within the plant |
Autotroph | Organism that uses solar or chemical energy to manufacture the organic compounds it needs as nutrients from simple inorganic compounds obtained from its environment (think producers) |
Batesian Mimicry | Resemblance of an unpalatable species by an edible species to deceive predators |
Biodiversity | Variety of different species (species diversity), genetic variability among individuals within a species (genetic diversity), variety of ecosystems (ecological diversity), and functions such as energy flow and matter cycling needed for the survival of a species and biological communities |
Biomass | Organic matter produced by plants and other photosynthetic producers; total dry weight of all living organisms that can be supported at each trophic level in a food chain or web; dry weight of all organic matter in plants and animals in an ecosystem |
Biome | Terrestrial regions inhabited by certain types of life, certain climate and vegetation |
Biosphere | Zone of earth where life is found. It consists of parts of the atmosphere (the troposphere), hydrosphere (mostly surface and ground water), and lithosphere (mostly soil and surface rocks and sediments on the bottoms of oceans and other bodies of water) where life is found. |
Biotic | Living or once living organisms.(Bunny, Dead Bunny) |
Biotic potential | Maximum rate at which the population of a given species can increase when there are no limits on its rate of growth |
Carbon Cycle | Cyclic movement of carbon in different chemical forms from the environment to organisms then back to the environment |
Carrying Capacity | The maximum number of organisms that an environment can support |
Chemosynthesis | Process in which certain organisms (mostly specialized bacteria) extract inorganic compounds from their environment and convert them into organic nutrient compounds without the presence of sunlight |
Climax community | Fairly stable, self-sustaining community in an advanced stage of ecological succession; usually has a diverse array of species and ecological niches; captures and uses energy and cycles critical chemicals more efficiently than simpler, immature communities |
Clumped Distribution | The most common type of population distribution where many members of the population live close together |
Cohort | A group of individuals born around the same time |
Commensalism | An interaction between organisms of different species in which one type of organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed to any great degree |
Community | Populations of all species living and interacting in an area at a particular time |
Competition | Two or more individual organisms of a single species (intraspecific competition) or two or more individuals of different species (interspecific competition) attempting to use the same scarce resources in the same ecosystem |
Consumer | Organism that cannot synthesize the organic nutrients it needs and gets its organic nutrients by feeding off of the tissues of producers or of other consumers |
Decomposer | Organism that digests parts of dead organisms and cast-off fragments and wastes of living organisms by breaking down the complex organic molecules in those materials into simpler inorganic compounds and then absorbing the soluble nutrients |
Deforestation | Removal of trees from a forested area without adequate replanting |
Denitrification | The reduction of nitrates back into nitrogen gas (N2), completing the nitrogen cycle. This process is performed by bacterial species such as Pseudomonas and Clostridium in anaerobic conditions. |
Desert | Biome in which evaporation exceeds precipitation and the average amount of precipitation is less than 25 centimeters a year. Such areas have little vegetation or have widely spaced, mostly low vegetation. |
Desertification | Conversion of rangeland, rain-fed cropland, or irrigated cropland to desert-like land, with a drop of agricultural productivity of 10% or more |
Detritivore | Consumer organism that feeds on detritus, parts of dead organisms, and cast-off fragments and wastes of living organisms |
Detritus | Parts of dead organisms and cast-off fragments and wastes of living organisms |
Distribution | Area over which we can find a species |
Ecology | Study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with their nonliving environment of matter and energy, study of the structure and functions of nature |
Ecosystem | Community of different species interacting with one another and with the chemical and physical factors making up its nonliving environment |
Environment | All external conditions and factors, living and nonliving, that affect an organism or other specified system during its lifetime |
Exponential growth | Growth in which some quantity, such as population size or economic output, increases at a constant rate per unit of time |
Extant | A species that is still alive and reproducing |
Extinct | A species that is no longer living on earth |
Food chain | Series of organisms in which each eats or decomposes the preceding one |
Food web | Complex network of many interconnected food chains and feeding relationships |
Gene pool | The sum total of all the genes that exist among all the individuals of a species |
Global warming | Warming of the earth’s atmosphere because of increases in the concentrations of one or more greenhouse gasses primarily as a result of human activities |
Grassland | Biome found in regions where moderate annual average precipitation (25-76 cm) is enough to support the growth of grass and small plants but not enough to support large stands of trees |
Greenhouse effect | A natural effect that releases heat in the atmosphere near the earth’s surface. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and several other gasses in the lower atmosphere absorb some of the infrared radiation radiated by the earth’s surface. This will eventually increase the temperature of the earth if there are enough of the greenhouse gasses |
Gross primary productivity | The rate at which an ecosystem's producers capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time |
Habitat | Place or type of place where an organism or population of organisms lives |
Herbivore | Plant-eating organism |
Heterotroph | Organism that cannot synthesize the organic nutrients it needs and gets its organic nutrients by feeding off of the tissues of producers or of other consumers |
Indicator Species | A species that gives an early warning that an ecosystem is in a state of flux, often times fish and amphibians or apex predators |
Interspecific competition | Attempts by two or more species to use the same resources in an ecosystem |
Intraspecific competition | Attempts by two or more organisms of a single species to use the same limited resources in an ecosystem |
J-shaped curve | Curve with a shape similar to that of the letter J; can represent prolonged exponential growth |
Keystone species | Species that play roles affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem |
K-selected species | Species that produce a few, often fairly large offspring but invest a freat deal of time and energy to ensure that most of those offspring reach reproductive age |
Limiting factor | Single factor that limits the growth, abundance, or distribution of the population of a species in an ecosystem |
Muellerian Mimicry | Resemblance of two equally unpalatable species in order to increase the concentration of individuals with the warning appearance to increase its efficiency |
Muskeg | An acidic soil type common in Arctic and boreal areas, more-or-less synonymous with bogland |
Mutualism | A symbiotic relationship in which both participate species generally benefit |
Niche | Total way of life or role of a species in an ecosystem. It includes all physical, chemical, and biological conditions a species needs to live and reproduce in an ecosystem |
Nitrification | The process of oxidizing ammonia to create nitrite (NO2−)then oxidizing the nitrite to create nitrate (NO3-) |
Nitrogen Cycle | Cyclistic movement of nitrogen in different chemical forms from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment |
Nitrogen fixation | The process of chemically converting nitrogen gas (N 2 ) from the air into compounds, such as nitrates (NO 3 ), nitrites (NO 2 ), or ammonia (NH 3 ), that can be used by plants in building amino acids and other nitrogen-containing organic molecules. |
Nutrient | Any food or element an organism must take in to live, grow, or reproduce |
Omnivore | Animal that can use both plants and animals as a food source |
Organism | Any form of life |
Parasitism | Interaction between species in which one organism, called the parasite, preys on another organism, the host |
Perennial Herbaceous | A perennial plant that has stems that die at the end of the growing season, but parts of the plant survive under or close to the ground from season to season (for biennials, until the next growing season, when they flower and die). New growth develops from living tissues remaining on or under the ground, including roots, a caudex (a thickened portion of the stem at ground level) or various types of underground stems, such as bulbs, corms, stolons, rhizomes and tubers. |
Phosphorus Cycle | Involves the uptake of phosphorus by organisms. Phosphorus in the environment is mainly found in rocks, and natural weathering processes can make it available to biological systems. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plants and animals in the form of ions PO43- and HPO42- . It is a part of DNA-molecules and RNA-molecules, molecules that store energy (ATP and ADP) and of fats of cell membranes. |
Pioneer community | First integrated set of plants, animals, and decomposers found in an area undergoing primary ecological succession |
Population | Group of individual organisms of the same species living in a particular area |
Predation | A symbiotic relationship in which an organism kills another organism |
Primary consumer | Organism that feeds on all or part of plants or on other producers |
Primary succession | Ecological succession in a bare area that has never been occupied by a community of organisms |
Producer | Organism that uses solar or chemical energy to manufacture the organic compounds it needs as nutrients from simple inorganic compounds obtained from its environment |
r-selected species | Species that reproduce early in their life span and produce large numbers of usually small and short-lived offspring in a short period |
Rhizobia | Soil bacteria that fix nitrogen after becoming established inside root nodules of legumes |
Scavenger | Organism that feeds on dead organisms that were killed by other organisms or died naturally |
Second law of thermodynamics | In any conversion of heat energy to useful work, some of the initial energy input is always degraded to lower quality, more dispersed, less useful energy |
Secondary Consumer | An organism that consumes a primary consumer |
Secondary succession | Ecological succession in an area in which natural vegetation has been removed or destroyed but the soil is not destroyed |
Species diversity | Number of different species and their relative abundances in a given area |
S-shaped curve | Leveling off of an exponential, J-shaped curve when a rapidly growing population exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment and ceases to grow |
Sustainability | Ability of a system to survive for some specified time |
Symbiosis | Any intimate relationship or association between members of two or more species |
Symbiotic relationship | Species interaction in which two kinds of organisms live together in an intimate association. Members of the participating species may be harmed by, benefit from, or be unaffected by the interaction |
Synergy | Is the term used to describe a situation where the final outcome of a system is greater than the sum of its parts. |
Taiga | The largest land biome. Characterized by conifer forests and cold temperatures. Boreal forest is usually used to refer to the more southerly part of the biome. |
Tertiary Consumer | An organism that consumes a secondary consumer. |
Trophic level | All organisms that are the same number of energy transfers away from the orginal source of energy that enters the ecosystem |
Uniform Distribution | A rare type of population distribution where the population is evenly spread out |