Bio. Chapter 3

Front 1

ecology

Back 1

the study of interactions amoung organisms and between organisms and their enviornment

Front 2

bioshpere

Back 2

area containing the combined protions of the planet in which all of life exists includingf land, water, and air

Front 3

species

Back 3

a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring

Front 4

population

Back 4

group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in ther same area

Front 5

communities

Back 5

assemblages of different populations that live together in a defined area

Front 6

ecosystems

Back 6

a collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place together with their nonliving or physical enviornment

Front 7

biome

Back 7

group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar donimant communities

Front 8

autotrophs

Back 8

organisms that can capture energuy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food from inorganic compounds

Front 9

producers

Back 9

organism that can capture energuy from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce food form inorganic compunds

Front 10

photosynthesis

Back 10

process by which plants and some other organisms use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and high energuy carbs such as sugars and starches

Front 11

chemosynthesis

Back 11

process where organisms use chemical energy to produce carbs

Front 12

heterotrophs

Back 12

organisms that rely on other organisms for their energy and food suppy

Front 13

herbivores

Back 13

eat only plants for energy

Front 14

omnivores

Back 14

eat both plants and animals for energy

Front 15

detritivores

Back 15

feed on plant and animal remains and other dead matter collectively called detritus.

Front 16

decomposers

Back 16

another type of heterotroph that breaks down organic matter

Front 17

trophic level

Back 17

each step in a food chain or web

Front 18

ecological pyramid

Back 18

a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained with in each trophic level in a food chain or web

Front 19

biomass

Back 19

the total amount of living tissue within each trophic level

Front 20

biogeochemical cycles

Back 20

process in which elements and chemical compounds and other forms of matter are passed form one organism to another and form one part of thae bioshpere to another

Front 21

evaporation

Back 21

process by which water changes form a liquid form to a gas

Front 22

transpiration

Back 22

the process where water enters the atmosphere by evaporating from the leaves of plants

Front 23

nutrients

Back 23

all chemical substances an organism needs to sustain life

Front 24

nitrogen fixation

Back 24

process of converting nitrogen gas into ammonia

Front 25

denitrification

Back 25

process of converting nitrates into nitrogen gas

Front 26

primary productivity

Back 26

the rate at which organic matter is created by producers

Front 27

limiting nutrient

Back 27

when an ecosystem is limited by a single nurtient that is scarce or cycles very slowly

Front 28

algal bloom

Back 28

an immediate increase in the amount of algal and other producers that result from a large in put of a limiting nutrient

Front 29

biotic factors

Back 29

biological influences on organisms within as ecosystem

Front 30

abiotic factors

Back 30

physical or nonliving factors that shape ecosystems

Front 31

niche

Back 31

is the full range of physical and biological conditions on which an organism lives ans the way in which the organism uses those conditions

Front 32

resource

Back 32

any necessity of life such as water

Front 33

competitive exclusion principle

Back 33

states that no 2 species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time

Front 34

predation

Back 34

an interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism

Front 35

symbiosis

Back 35

any relationship in which 2 species live closely together

Front 36

mutualism

Back 36

any relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship

Front 37

commonsalism

Back 37

one member of the association benefits and the other is not effected

Front 38

parasitism

Back 38

one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it

Front 39

ecological succession

Back 39

a series of predictable changes that occurs in a community over time

Front 40

primary succession

Back 40

on land succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists

Front 41

pioneer species

Back 41

the 1st species to populate the area

Front 42

secondary succession

Back 42

succession following a disturbance that destroys a community without destroying the soil

Front 43

greenhouse effect

Back 43

natural situation in which heat is retained in earths atmosphere by carbon dioxide methane, water vapor and other gases