Herbivore
Only eats plants
Population
Group of the same species and in the same area
Ecosystem
A collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place together with their nonliving or physical environment
Producer
Make their own food with energy from the sun
Denitrification
Converts nitrates into nitrogen gas
Ecology
The study of interactions among or between organisms and their environment or surroundings
Biosphere
They combined portions of the planet in which all life exist including land water and air or atmosphere
Species
A group of organisms so similar to each other that they can breed and produce fertile offspring
Communities
Assemblages of different populations that live together in a defined area
Biome
Group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar communities
Auto trough
Organisms that make their own food
Photosynthesis
A process auto troughs go through to make their own food
Chemosynthesis
When organisms use chemical energy to produce carbohydrates
Hetero trough's
Organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy/food supply
Consumers
Another word for heterotroph
Carnivore
Only eat animals
Omnivore
Eats both plants and animals
Detritivores
Feed on plants and animal remains and other dead matter
Decomposers
Breaks down organic matter
Food chain
A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten
Food web
Relationships among various organisms in an ecosystem forming a network of complex interactions
Trophic level
Step in a food chain or food web
Ecological pyramid
Diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a few chain or web
Biomass
The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level
Biogeochemical cycles
Matter being passed from one organism to another and from one biosphere to another
Evaporation
Water changing from a liquid to a gas
Transpiration
Water entering the atmosphere by evaporator from the leaves of plants
Nutrients
Chemical substances an organism needs to survive
Nitrogen fixation
Converting nitrogen gas into ammonia
Dentrification
Converts nitrates into nitrogen gas
Primary productivity
The rate at which organic matter is created by producers
Limiting nutrient
When an ecosystem is limited by single nutrient that is scarce or cycles very slow
Algal boom
An immediate increase in the amount of algae and other producers that result from a large input of a limiting nutrient
Biotic factors
Biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem
Habitat
The area where an organism live
Niche
The full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way which an organism uses those conditions
Resource
Any necessity of life such as water nutrients light food or space
Competitive exclusion principle
No two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time
Predation
An interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism
Symbiosis
Any relationship in which two species live closely together
Mutualism
Both species benefit from a relationship
Commensalism
One member of the Association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed
Parasitism
One organism lives on or inside another and harms it
Ecological succession
A series of predictable changes that occur in a community overtim
Primary succession
Succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists
Pioneer species
First species to populated area
Secondary succession
Community interactions restoring the ecosystem to its original condition
Population density
The number of individuals per-unit area
Immigration
The movement of individuals into an area
Emigration
The movement of individuals out of an area
Exponential growth
When individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate
Logistic growth
When a populations growth slows or stops following a period of exponential growth
Carrying capacity
The largest number of individuals that an environment can support
Limiting factor
Factor that causes population growth to decrease
Density dependent limiting factor
The limiting factor that depends on population size
Predator prey relationship
Regulation of a population by predation
Density independent limiting factors
Affects all populations in similar ways regardless of population size
Greenhouse effect
Natural situation in which he is retained in earths atmosphere by carbon dioxide methane water vapor and other gases
Adaptation
Inherited characteristic that increases and organisms chance of survival
Where does all the energy that flows through an ecosystem begin
The sun
Name the three things that can happen to the energy produced or consumed by living things
1. It can be used by the consumer
2. The energy moves into the atmosphere as heat
3. The energy is stored
What do you primary secondary and tertiary consumers eat
Primary consumers eat plants. Secondary consumers may be a carnivore omnivore predator or scavenger and they eat consumers. Tertiary consumers secondary consumers.
Describe the rule of 10
As you go up on the trophic levels of the food chain, the amount of energy decreases by 10%
What is the difference between a food chain and a food web
A food web is a bunch of different food chains put together in an ecosystem
Where are the most individuals in a biomass pyramid?where are the least?
Most- bottom (producers). Least- top
Where is the most energy in an energy pyramid? Where is the least?
Most-bottom least-top
What are the effects seen when an individual is removed from a food chain?
This will affect the other members of the food chain causing them to increase in population size or decrease depending on the role.
List and describe the three types of symbiosis
Parasitism- when one organism is harmed and one is helped
Commensalism - when one organism is help and the other is not harmed nor helped
Mutualism - when both organisms benefit from the relationship
Given example of each of the five types of community interactions
Parasite, bird nesting in a tree, bees in flower, fight over necessities, fox eating a hare
Name one way water gets out of the atmosphere
Precipitation
Name two ways water gets back into the atmosphere
Evaporation and transpiration
Name two ways water moves from land to ocean
Seepage through the ground and run off
How does phosphorus get out of rocks
Erosion
How does phosphorus and get into plants
They absorb it
How does phosphorus to get into animals
The animals eat the plants that have phosphorus in them
How does phosphorus move from being covered by ocean water to be exposed to air
Geological upthrust
Name and describe the two types of succession
Primary - no soil only rock lichens grow
Secondary - soil where simple plants begin to grow
What role do lichens play in primary succession
They are pioneer species and create soil by breaking up rock
What role do mosses play in primary succession
They protect lichens from erosion and hold in the soil and nutrients
What is the benefit of the less complex plants dying and decaying during succession
There's more nutrients which leads to more soil
Once soil is already there whether it due to the work of lichens or because it was already there make a list of a probable progression. Include at least five steps.
1. Simple plants begin to grow
2. They begin to die and decay so more soil is created
3. Bushes and other medium-size plants grow
4. Pines grow
5. Hardwood trees
What is the difference between immigration and emigration
Immigration is species coming into an area. Emigration is species exiting or leaving an area
What is the difference between density dependent and density independent limiting factors
Density dependent factors only occur when the population is high. Density independent limiting factors can happen at any time and effect any ecosystem The same.
In a temperate deciduous forest give two examples of density dependent and density independent limiting factors regarding the deer population
DD- wolf pop. Decreases causing deer pop to increase
Rabbit pop increases causing deer pop to decrease because they both eat the same foods
DI- humans cut down forests
Tornado wipes out habitat
What is the difference between a physical and behavioral Adaptation
Physical adaptations are characteristics of the body of the organism. Behavioral adaptations are activities or actions an organism does that helps it survive.
Why do living things adapt
They adapt so they can find food water sunlight and oxygen that they need to survive in different environments