Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
57 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
ecology
|
the study of interactions between organisms and their environment
|
|
Biosphere
|
the portion of the earth that inhabits life
|
|
abiotic
|
nonliving factors
|
|
biotic
|
living organisms
|
|
species
|
a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring
|
|
population
|
groups of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area
|
|
community
|
assemblages of different populations that live together in a defined area
|
|
ecosystem
|
a collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place together with their nonliving or physical environment
|
|
biome
|
a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities
|
|
producer
|
organisms that turn inorganic substances into organic substances
|
|
autotrophs
|
an organism that makes its own food
|
|
consumers
|
organisms that gain energy by eating other organisms
|
|
heterotrophs
|
an organism that must obtain its food from its environment
|
|
herbivores
|
obtain energy by eating plants only
|
|
carnivores
|
eat animals
|
|
omnivores
|
eat both plants and animals
|
|
detrivores
|
feed on dead and decaying matter
|
|
decomposers
|
break down organic matter
|
|
Plankton and Zooplankton
|
eat microscopic organisms and then in turn they are eaten by small and large fish
|
|
niche
|
roll an organism plays in their environment
|
|
habitat
|
home or organism
|
|
food chain
|
a simple model that scientists use to show how energy flows through an ecosystem
|
|
competition
|
when organisms of the same or different species attempt to use an ecological resource in the same place at the same time
|
|
predation
|
when one organism captures and feeds on another organism
|
|
symbiosis
|
when two species live closely together
|
|
mutualism
|
both species benefit
|
|
commensalism
|
only one species benefits and the other is not harmed or affected
|
|
parasitism
|
one organism benefits and others are harmed
|
|
food web
|
web that links all of the food chains in an ecosystem
|
|
trophic level
|
each level in a food chain where the organism feeds
|
|
levels in a food chain
|
producer
primary consumers secondary consumers |
|
ecological pyramids
|
diagram that shows the amounts of energy in each trophic level in a food chain or food web
|
|
biomass
|
total amount of living matter withing a trophic level
|
|
Biome
|
a large area that is characterized by the land or water, the climate, types of plants, and the types of animals
|
|
terrestrial biomes
|
land biomes
|
|
tropical rain forest
|
most diversity in animal life than any other biome
|
|
top-canopy
|
very big broad leaves from the trees up to ten meters in height
|
|
middle-understory
|
made up of shorter trees
|
|
bottom-forrest floor
|
made up of vines and plants
|
|
savannah
|
grass and isolated trees
large herbivores: elephants, giraffe, and zebra |
|
desert
|
made up of succulents and cacti
bobcats, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and lizards |
|
temperate grasslands
|
no trees
smaller animals |
|
temperate forest
|
deciduous and coniferous trees
deer, rabbits, squirrel, raccoons, skunk |
|
taiga
|
coniferous trees
largest animals-moose, lynx, and beavers |
|
tundra
|
consists of no trees and very short mosses and liverworts
caribou, foxes, and owls |
|
aquatic biomes
|
water biomes
|
|
flowing water ecosystems
|
rivers and streams
|
|
estuary
|
fresh water meets the salt water
|
|
standing water ecosystems
|
lakes and ponds
|
|
wetlands
|
body of water that dries up for part of the year
|
|
marine biomes
|
salt water
|
|
intertidal zone
|
where the water meets the land
|
|
coastal ocean
|
water on the continental shelf and ends where the land slopes off
|
|
open ocean
|
the deep waters of the ocean
|
|
ecological succession
|
the maturing process of establishing or re-estblishing an ecosystem
|
|
primary succession
|
occurs on sites that have not been previously occupied
|
|
secondary succession
|
occurs when a biotic community has been disturbed and then becomes re-established
|