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Abiotic

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Non-living

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Abyssal Zone

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The portion of the ocean floor where light does not penetrate and where temperatures are cold and pressures intense.

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Age Structure Graph

answer

proportion of people in different age groups in a population

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Ammonia

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A small, very toxic molecule (NH3) produced by nitrogen fixation or as a metabolic waste product of protein and nucleic acid metabolism.

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Atmosphere

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Layers of air surrounding the earth.

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Autotrophs

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Organisms that are able to make their own food

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Background Extinction

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Normal extinction of various species as a result of changes in local environmental conditions.

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Bathyal Zone

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the steep descent of the seabed from the continental shelf to the abyssal zone

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Benthic Zone

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bottom of an aquatic ecosystem; consists of sand and sediment and supports its own community of organisms

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Benthos

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organisms (plants and animals) that live at or near the bottom of a sea

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Biogeochemical Cycles

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carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, water cycles, process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another

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Biomass

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Plant materials and animal waste used especially as a source of fuel.

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Biomes

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a broad, regional type of ecosystem characterized by distinctive climate and soil conditions and a distinctive kind of biological community adapted to those conditions.

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Biosphere

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Consists of all life on Earth and all parts of the Earth in which life exists, including land, water, and the atmosphere.

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Biotic

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Living

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Biotic Potential

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Maximum rate at which the population of a given species can increase when there are no limits on its rate of growth.

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Birth Rate

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the number of births in a population in a certain amount of time

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Broadleaf Evergreen

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Plants that keep most of their broad leaves year-round. Examples are the trees found in the canopies of tropical rain forests.

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Carnivores

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Consumers that eat only animals

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Carrying Capacity

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Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support

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Climate

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Overall weather in an area over a long period of time

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Commensalism

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A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited

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Competitive Exclusion Principal

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Ecological rule that states that no two species can occupy the same exact niche in the same habitat at the same time

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Coniferous Evergreen

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Cone-bearing plants (such as spruces, pines, and firs) that keep some of their narrow, pointed leaves (needles) all year.

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Convergent Boundary

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A plate boundary where two plates move toward each other

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Cultural Carrying Capacity

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the maximum number of people who could live in reasonable freedom and comfort indefinitely, without decreasing the ability of the earth to sustain future generations.

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Cultural Eutrophication

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an increase in biological productivity and ecosystem succession caused by human activities

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Currents

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Mass movements of surface water produced by prevailing winds blowing over the oceans.

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Death Rate

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The number of deaths in a population in a certain amount of time

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Decomposers

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Bacteria that break down nutrients in dead matter into simpler substances

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Demographic Transition

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Change in a population from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates

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Desertification

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Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, primarily because of human actions like excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and tree cutting.

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Detritivore

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organism that feeds on plant and animal remains and other dead matter

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Dieback

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A sudden population decline; also called a population crash

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Divergent Boundary

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A plate boundary where two plates move away from each other

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Ecological Efficency

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percent of biomass in one trophic levelthat is converted into biomass in the next highest level

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Ecology

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Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment

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Ecosystems

answer

...

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El Nino

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A periodic change in the pattern of ocean currents and water temperature in the mid-pacific region

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Emigration

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Migration from a location

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Endangered Species

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A species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction

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Endemic Species

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species that are native to and found only within a limited area

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Environmental Resistance

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All the limiting factors that tend to reduce population growth rates and set the maximum allowable population size or carrying capacity of an ecosystem

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Euphotic Zone

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Upper layer of a body of water through which sunlight can penetrate and support photosynthesis.

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Eutrophic Lake

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Lake with a large or excessive supply of plant nutrients, mostly nitrates and phosphates.

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eutrophication

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A process by which nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, become highly concentrated in a body of water, leading to increased growth of organisms such as algae or cyanobacteria.

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Evolution

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Change in a kind of organism over time; process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.

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Exotic Species

answer

organisms that are not native to a particular area

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Exponential Growth

answer

Growth pattern in which the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate

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Famine

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a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death

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First Law of Thermodynamics

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Heat is a form of energy which can be neither created nor destroyed but can be changed in form

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Foundation Species

answer

Species that plays a major role in shaping communities by creating and enhancing a habitat that benefits other species.

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Gausse's Principle

answer

...

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Generalist Species

answer

Species with a broad ecological niche. They can live in many different places, eat a variety of foods, and tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions. Examples are flies, cockroaches, mice, rats, and human beings. Compare specialist species.

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Genetic Drift

answer

A change in the allele frequency of a population as a result of chance events rather than natural selection.

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Genetic Engineering

answer

Process of making changes in the DNA code of living organisms

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Geographic Isolation

answer

form of reproductive isolation in which two populations are separated physically by geographic barriers such as rivers, mountains, or stretches of water

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Global Warming

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An increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes)

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Greenhouse Effect

answer

Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases

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Habitat

answer

Place where an organism lives

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Herbivores

answer

An organism that eats only plants.

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Heterotrophs

answer

An organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms or their by-products.

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Hydrosphere

answer

All the water at and near the surface of the earth, 97% of which is in oceans

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Igenous

answer

intrusive or extrusive rock that is produced when melted rock from inside Earth cools and hardens

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Immigration

answer

Migration to a new location

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Indicator Species

answer

Species that serve as early warnings that a community or ecosystem is being degraded.

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Infant Mortality Rate

answer

the death rate during the first year of life

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Infiltration/Percolation

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water on the ground surface enters the soil

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Interspecific Competition

answer

Competition between members of different species

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Intraspecific Competition

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Competition among members of the same species

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Keystone Species

answer

A species that influences the survival of many other species in an ecosystem

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K-Strategist

answer

reproduce late in life; few offspring; care for offspring

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La Nina

answer

A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America, occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns.

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Law of Conservation of Matter

answer

Matter is neither created nor destroyed

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Lentic

answer

Small raised areas in the bark of stems and roots that enable gas exchange between living cells and the outside air.

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Life Expectancy

answer

A figure indicating how long, on average, a person may be expected to live. Normally expressed in the context of a particular state.

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Limnetic Zone

answer

area in a freshwater habitat away from the shore but still close to the surface

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Linear Growth

answer

Expansion that increases by the same amount during each time interval.

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Lithosphere

answer

A rigid layer made up of the uppermost part of the mantle and the crust.

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Littoral Zone

answer

a shallow zone in a freshwater habitat where light reaches the bottom and nurtures plants

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Logistic Growth

answer

Growth pattern in which a population's growth rate slows or stops following a period of exponential growth

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Lotic

answer

flowing water

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Mass extenction

answer

when many species become extinct in one period of time

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Mesotrophic

answer

Lakes with moderate amounts of nutrients and phytoplankton productivity intermediate to oligotrophic and eutrophic systems.

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Metamorphic

answer

A type of rock that forms from an existing rock that is changed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions.

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Mimicry

answer

Ability of an animal to look like another more harmful animal

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Mutation

answer

(genetics) any event that changes genetic structure

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Mutualism

answer

A relationship between two species in which both species benefit

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Native Species

answer

Species that normally live and thrive in a particular ecosystem

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Natural Selection

answer

A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.

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Negative Feedback Loop

answer

A feedback loop that causes a system to change in the opposite direction from which it is moving

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Nekton

answer

All organisms that swim actively in open water, independent of currents

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Net Primary Producer

answer

the amount of energy (per unit of time) that producers fix by photosynthesisor other means, minus the amount they use in cellular respiration

question

Niche

answer

Full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions

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Nitrates

answer

Special compounds containing nitrogen and oxygen

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Nitrites

answer

Form in which nitrogen may be found in the soil. Chemical formula NO2

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Nitrogen Fixation

answer

Process of converting nitrogen gas into ammonia

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Non-renewable Resources

answer

a resource that cannot be reused or replaced easily (ex. gems, iron, copper, fossil fuels)

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Oligotrophic

answer

a condition of a lake or other body of water characterized by low nutrients, low productivity, and high oxygen levels in the water column.

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Omnivores

answer

An organism that eats both plants and animals.

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Parasitism

answer

A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed

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Permeability

answer

Ability of rock or soil to allow water to flow through it

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pH

answer

A process by which plants make their own food

question

Phytoplankton

answer

Microscopic, free-floating, autotrophic organisms that function as producers in aquatic ecosystems

question

Plate Tectonics

answer

The theory that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle.

question

Pollution

answer

Addition of more waste than a resource can accommodate.

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Population Growth Rate

answer

rate of natural increase

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Porosity

answer

The percentage of the total volume of a rock or sediment that consists of open spaces.

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Positve Feedback Loop

answer

only a few examples in human body, the stimulus doesn't produce an opposite and counteracting effect

question

Primary Secession

answer

succesion that begins at a place where there had been no life before

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Producers

answer

Make their own food from compounds obtained from their environment

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Profundal Zone

answer

zone in a freshwater habitat that is below the limits of effective light penetration

question

Rain Shadow Effect

answer

Precipitation falls on the windward side of a mountain range, resulting in lush vegetation & a warm, moist climate on one side, but a desert area on the leeward side.

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Renewable Resource

answer

Any natural resource (as wood or solar energy) that can be replenished naturally with the passage of time

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Replacement-Level Fertility

answer

the number of children a couple must have to replace themselves (2.1 developed, 2.7 developing)

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Reproductive Isolation

answer

Separation of species or populations so that they cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring

question

Resillience

answer

strength; ability to withstand

question

Resource

answer

A substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access, and is socially acceptable to use.

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Resource Partitioning

answer

The division of environmental resources by coexisting species such that the niche of each species differs by one or more significant factors from the niches of all coexisting species

question

Rhizobium

answer

A symbiotic bacterium that lives in the nodules on roots of specific legumes and that incorporates nitrogen gas from the air into a form of nitrogen the plant requires

question

R-strategist

answer

Species characterized by rapid growth, high fertility, short lifespan, and exponential population growth

question

Salinization

answer

A process in which mineral salts accumulate in the soil, killing plants; occurs when soils in dry climates are irrigated profusely

question

Second law of Thermodynamics

answer

thermal energy that flows from a warmer material to a cooler material

question

Sedimentary

answer

A type of rock that forms when particles from other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together

question

Soil Erosion

answer

Movement of soil components, especially topsoil, from one place to another, usually by wind, flowing water, or both. This natural process can be greatly accelerated by human activities that remove vegetation from soil.

question

Soil Horizon

answer

The layer of soil that differs in color and texture from the layers above or below it.

question

Soil Profile

answer

All the vertical layers or horizons that make up a soil in a particular place

question

Specialist Species

answer

Species with a narrow ecological niche. They may be able to live in only one type of habitat, tolerate only a narrow range of climatic and other environmental conditions, or use only one type or a few types of food.

question

Speciation

answer

Formation of new species

question

Species Eveness

answer

the relative abundance of each species

question

Species Richness

answer

The number of different species in a community

question

Subduction Zone

answer

The region where oceanic plates sink down into the asthenosphere.

question

Succulent

answer

full of juice or sap. thick, fleshy, waterstoring leaves. highly interesting or enjoyable. (In the desert, most of the leaves are very succulent because water is scarce.)

question

Survival of the Fittest

answer

Process by which individuals that are better suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully; also called natural selection

question

Sustainable

answer

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

question

Synergistic Interaction

answer

Interaction of two or more factors or processes so that the combined effect is greater than the sum of their separate effects

question

Tipping Point

answer

the time at which a change or an effect cannot be stopped

question

Total Fertility Rate

answer

The number of children born to an average woman in a population during her entire reproductive life

question

Tragedy of the Commons

answer

A parable that illustrates why common resources are used more than is desirable from the standpoint of society as a whole- Garrett Hardin

question

Transform Boundary

answer

A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions

question

Trophic Levels

answer

The hierarchical levels of the food chain through which energy flows from primary producers to primary consumers, secondary consumers and so on.

question

Ultraplankton

answer

much smaller plankton, photosynthetic bacteria may be responsible for 70% of the primary productivity near the ocean surface.

question

Upwelling

answer

The movement of deep, cold, and nutrient-rich water to the surface

question

Weather

answer

Conditions in the atmosphere closest to Earth

question

Zero Population Growth

answer

A decline of the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase rate equals zero.

question

Zooplankton

answer

microscopic animals that swim or drift near the surface of aquatic environments

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