Chapter 13: Principles of ecology study guide for test. – Flashcards
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Abiotic
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Nonliving factor in an ecosystem, such as moisture, temperature, wind, sunlight, soil, and minerals.
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Autotrophs
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Organism that obtains its energy from abiotic sources, such as sunlight or inorganic chemicals.
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Biodiversity
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Variety of life within an area.
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Biogeochemical cycle
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Movement of a chemical through the biological and geological, or living and nonliving, parts of an ecosystem.
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Biomass
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Total dry mass of all organisms in a given area.
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Biome
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Regional or global community of organisms characterized by the climate conditions and plant communities that thrive there.
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Biotic
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Living things, such as plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria.
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Carnivores
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Organism that obtains energy by eating only animals.
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Chemosynthesis
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Process by which ATP is synthesized by using chemicals as an energy source instead of light.
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Community
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Collection of all of the different populations that live in one area.
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Consumers
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Organism that obtains its energy and nutrients by eating other organisms.
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Decomposers
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Detritivore that breaks down organic matter into simpler compounds, returning nutrients back into an ecosystem.
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Detritivores
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Organism that eats dead organic matter.
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Ecology
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Study of the interactions among living things and their surroundings.
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Ecosystem
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Collection of organisms and nonliving things, such as climate, soil, water, and rocks, in an area.
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Energy pyramid
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Diagram that compares energy used by producers, primary consumers, and other tropic levels.
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Food chain
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Model that links organisms by their feeding relationships.
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Food web
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Model that shows the complex network of feeding relationships within an ecosystem.
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Generalists
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Species that does not rely on a single source of prey.
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Herbivores
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Organisms that eats only plants.
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Heterotrophs
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Organism that obtains its energy and nutrients by consuming other organisms.
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Hydrologic cycle
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Pathway of water from the atmosphere to earths surface, below ground, and back.
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Keystone species
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Organism that has unusually large effect on its ecosystem.
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Nitrogen fixation
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Process by which certain types of bacteria convert gaseous nitrogen into nitrogen compounds.
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Omnivores
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Organism that eats both plants and animals.
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Producers
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Organism that obtains its energy from abiotic sources, such as sunlight or inorganic chemicals.
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Specialist
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Consumer that eats only one type of organism.
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Trophic levels
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Level of nourishment in a food chain.
