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;
24 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
ecology |
study of the relationships between organisms and their environment |
|
|
ecosystem |
community of living organisms in a particular place and the physical and chemical factors that influence them (biotic-living and abiotic- nonliving) all the plants, animals, soil, water, sunlight, climate, temp, etc |
|
|
species |
organisms that resemble one another physically and genetically and can reproduce with one another to produce fertile offspring |
|
|
fitness |
the ability to reproduce and produce fertile offspring |
|
|
community |
a group of different species of organisms living in an area |
|
|
population |
a group of the same species of organism living in a particular area |
|
|
parasitism |
one organism benefits, the other is harmed tick and human, wasp and aphid |
|
|
commensalism |
one organism benefits, the other is unharmed shark and pilot fish |
|
|
predation |
predator/prey relationship lynx and hare |
|
|
mutualism |
both organisms benefit birds that eat the bugs off other animals |
|
|
Endangered Species Act |
signed into law in 1973, the ESA was written to prevent extinction, recover endangered an threatened plants and animals, and to protect the ecosystems on which these depend |
|
|
extirpated |
local extinction, a species is completely removed from an area |
|
|
ungulates |
hoofed mammals include deer, elk, rhino, giraffe, zebra, etc... |
|
|
depredations |
the killing or loss of livestock by wild animals |
|
|
trophic cascade |
ecological process which starts at the top of the food chain and affects organisms all the way down the food chain (example- how reintroducing wolves changed EVERYTHING in yellowstone) |
|
|
food web vs food chain |
food chain- simplistic diagram of energy/nutrient flow from producers to consumers in an ecosystem food web- complex interaction between many food chains in an ecosystem |
|
|
producers |
bottom of the food chain- use photosynthesis to process energy from the sun everything else relies on producers photoautotroph (produce own energy from the sun) |
|
|
consumers |
heterotrophs/ animals- must get energy from someone or something else |
|
|
primary vs secondary consumers |
primary consumers, 1st degree, herbivores secondary consumer, 2nd degree, eat the herbivores- balance the population of primary consumers |
|
|
decomposers |
-absorb their nutrients- responsible for recycling nutrients back to the soil -help break down large complex molecules into smaller molecules that can be absorbed by plants -fungus, slime mold, bacteria |
|
|
scavenger (nature's undertaker) |
-organisms that feed off dead organisms (carcasses, carrion, roadkill) -vultures, hyenas, raccoons, possums |
|
|
biomagnification |
process by which a compound (pollutant or pesticide) increases its concentration in the tissues of organisms as it travels up the food chain |
|
|
bioaccumulation |
process by which a compound can accumulate in the tissue of a living organism |
|
|
biological indicator |
organism whose presence or absence in an ecosystem indicates the health of the ecosystem |
