Biology Ecology Review – Flashcards
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ecology
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is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their environment.
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biotic factors
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Living factors in an organism's environment
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abiotic factors
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Nonliving factors in an organism's environment
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biosphere
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a thin layer around Earth that extends from several kilometers above the earth's surface down to the bottom of the ocean.
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biome
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a large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of communities.
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ecosystem
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a biological community and all of the abiotic factors that affect it.
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habitat
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an area where an organism lives.
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niche
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the role or position that an organism has in its environment.
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biological community
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a group of interacting populations that occupy the same geographic area at the same time.
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competition
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occurs when more than one organism uses a resource at the same time
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predation
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when one species preys upon and eats another species for food.
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symbiosis
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the close relationship between two species
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parasitism
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when one organism benefits at the expense of another.
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population
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a group of individuals of the same species inhabiting the same area.
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organism
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an individual living system
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latitude
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The distance of any point on the surface of Earth north or south from the equator
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weather
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the condition of the atmosphere at a specific place and time.
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climate
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The average weather conditions in an area
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tundra
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soggy summers; permafrost; cold and dark much of the year
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boreal forest
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summers are short and moist; winters are long, cold, and dry
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temperate forest
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well-defined seasons; summers are hot, winters are cold
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temperate woodland
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summers are very hot and dry; winters are cool and wet
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temperate grassland
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summers are hot; winters are cold; moderate rainfall; fires possible
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desert
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varying temperatures; low rainfall
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tropical savanna
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summers are hot and rainy; winters are cool and dry
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tropical seasonal forest
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rainfall is seasonal
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tropical rain forest
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humid all year; hot and wet
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mountains
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such as temperature and precipitation, change with increasing elevation
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2.5
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percentage of freshwater on the Earth
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littoral zone
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area closest to the shore in lakes and ponds
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limnetic zone
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open water area that is well lit and is dominated by plankton in lakes/ponds
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profundal zone
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deepest areas of a large lake
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wetlands
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Areas of land such as marshes, swamps, and bogs that are saturated with water and that support aquatic plants
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intertidal zone
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a narrow band where the ocean meets land
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photic zone
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is shallow enough that sunlight is able to penetrate; in the ocean
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aphotic zone
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below photic zone; an area where sunlight is unable to penetrate.
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benthic zone
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an area along the ocean floor that consists of sand, silt, and dead organisms
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abyssal zone
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deepest region of the ocean
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mutualism
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the relationship between two or more organisms that benefit each other
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commensalism
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when one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed
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autotrophs
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produce food from abiotic factors (plants, etc.)
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heterotrophs
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get their energy by consuming other organisms
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detritivores
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eat fragments of dead matter and return nutrients to soil, air, and water for reuse
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food chain
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a simple model that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem.
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trophic level
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Each step in a food chain or food web
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biomass pyramid
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shows the relative amounts of energy, mass or numbers of organisms at each trophic level in an organism
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biological magnification
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occurs when toxins become more concentrated in successive levels of a food web
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limiting factor
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Any abiotic factor or biotic factor that restricts the numbers, reproduction, or distribution of organisms
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tolerance
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he ability of any organism to survive when subjected to abiotic factors or biotic factors
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zone of intolerance
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zone where organisms cannot survive
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zone of physiological stress
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zone where small numbers can survive these difficult conditions
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optimal zone
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zone where a stable healthy population survives
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range of tolerance
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An upper limit and lower limit that include the zone of physiological stress and optimal zone in which an organism can survive
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ecological succession
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The change in an ecosystem that happens when one community replaces another as a result of changing abiotic and biotic factors
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primary succession
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the establishment of a community in an area of exposed rock that does not have any topsoil
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secondary succession
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the orderly and predictable change that takes place after a community of organisms has been removed but the soil has remained intact
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population ecology
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The study of populations in relation to their environment
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population density
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the number of organisms per unit area
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population range
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he geographic area where a species lives
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density-independent factor
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Any factor in the environment that does not depend on the number of members in a population per unit area
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density-dependent factor
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Any factor in the environment that depends on the number of members in a population per unit area
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population growth rate
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explains how fast a given population grows
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carrying capacity
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maximum number of individuals in a species that an environment can support for the long term
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demography
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The study of human population size, density, distribution, movement, and birth and death rates
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zero population growth
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occurs when the birthrate equals the death rate
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age structure
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the number of males and females in each of three age groups
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evaporation
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The sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the ocean and turns it into vapor or steam, which goes into the air
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transpiration
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plants releasing water through stomata to atmosphere
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condensation
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Water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds.
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precipitation
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Clouds get heavy and water falls back to the earth in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow
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long term carbon cycle
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cycle where plants and animals die depositing carbon in the ground
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short term carbon cycle
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Plants convert carbon in the air to organic matter
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78%
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how much of the Earth's atmosphere is nitrogen?
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nitrogen fixation
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the process by which nitrogen is taken from its natural form (N2) in the atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds that can be used by plants
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assimilation
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the process of plants absorbing phosphorus through their root hairs
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denitrification
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the reduction of nitrites back into the largely inert nitrogen gas (N2)
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short term phosphorus cycle
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cycle where Phosphorus is cycled from the soil to producers (autotrophs) and then from the producers to consumers (herbivores) and back to the soil.
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long term phosphorus cycle
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Phosphorus deposited in sediment becomes rock.
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eutrophication
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an increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients, such as phosphorous, in an ecosystem
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r-selected species
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many offspring; few of which survive
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k-selected species
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fewer offspring considering significant parental development
