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;
88 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Plant |
a multicellular, autotrophic eukaryote that has cell walls, carries out photosynthesis, and is adapted to living on land |
|
|
Bryophytes |
non-vascular, seedless plants (mosses) |
|
|
Vascular Plant |
a plant with tissues that transport water and nutrients through the plant body (ferns...still seedless) |
|
|
Seed |
a small plant embryo enveloped in a protective and nurturing coat; allows progeny to withstand harsh conditions and travel longer distances (away from water) |
|
|
Gymnosperms |
seed-producing plants with 'naked' seeds typically in cones |
|
|
Flower |
a reproductive structure that facilitates mating and gives rise to seeds and fruit |
|
|
angiosperms |
seed-bearing flowering plants with seeds typically contained within a fruit |
|
|
animal |
a multicellular, heterotrophic eukaryote that obtains nutrients by ingesting other organisms -no cell walls |
|
|
invertebrate |
an animal lacking a back bone
|
|
|
mollusk |
a soft-bodied invertebrate, generally with a hard shell |
|
|
annelid |
a segmented worm, such as an earthworm |
|
|
arthropod |
an invertebrate with a segmented body, a hard exoskeleton, and jointed appendages |
|
|
exoskeletion |
a hard external skeleton covering the body of many animals |
|
|
insects |
six-legged arthropods with three body segments: head, thorax, and abdomen (the majority of arthropods) |
|
|
vertebrate |
an animal with a bony or cartilaginous backbone |
|
|
endoskeleton |
a solid internal skeleton |
|
|
mammal |
a vertebrate that has mammary glands and a body covered with fur |
|
|
fungus |
a unicellular or multicellular eukaryotic organism that obtains nutrients by secreting digestive enzymes onto organic matter and absorbing the digested products -heterotrophic -have cell walls |
|
|
decomposer |
an organism that digests and uses the organic molecules in dead organisms as sources of nutrients and energy |
|
|
hyphae |
a long, threadlike structure through which fungi absorb nutrients |
|
|
mycelium |
a spreading mass of interwoven hyphae that forms the body of multicellular fungi |
|
|
protist |
a eukaryote that cannot be classified as plant, animals, or fungus; usually unicellular |
|
|
alga |
a uni- or multi-cellular photosynthetic protist |
|
|
folate (folic acid) |
a B vitamin that is an essential nutrient necessary for basic bodily processes, such as DNA replication and cell division. especially important during pregnancy |
|
|
vitamin D |
a fat-soluble vitamin required to maintain a healthy immune system and to build healthy bones and teeth |
|
|
light v dark skin |
light skin likely evolved to help produce vitamin D, dark skin to protect body's folate stores |
|
|
mtDNA |
the DNA in mitochondria that is inherited solely from mothers -dates back to Africa 150,000-200,000 years ago 'mitochondrial Eve' |
|
|
hominid |
any living or extinct member of the biological family Hominid, the great apes-humans, orangutans, chimpanzees-are living. |
|
|
defining characteristic of humanity |
walk upright which freed our hands led to tool usage, development of language, and bigger brains |
|
|
ecology |
the study of the interactions between organisms and between organisms and their non living environment -individual -population -community -ecosystem |
|
|
individual |
a single organism of a particular species |
|
|
population |
a group of individuals of the same species living and interacting in a particular area |
|
|
community |
interacting populations of different species a=in a particular area |
|
|
ecosystem |
all the living organisms in an area and the non living components of the environment with which they interact |
|
|
distribution patterns |
the way organisms are distributed in a geographic space |
|
|
random distribution |
individuals are equally likely to be anywhere within the area (common in plants) |
|
|
clumped distribution |
high-density clumps are separated by areas of low abundance (more common in animals) |
|
|
uniform distribution |
individuals maximize space between them by being regularly spaced (territorial behavior) |
|
|
growth rate |
the difference between the birth rate and death rate of a given population; aka the rate of natural increase: growth=births-deaths |
|
|
exponential growth |
the unrestricted growth of a population increasing at a constant growth rate (rarely found in nature) |
|
|
logistic growth |
starts off fast then levels off as the population reached the carrying capacity |
|
|
carrying capacity |
the max population size that a given habitat can support |
|
|
population density |
number of organisms/given area -depends on abiotic/biotic |
|
|
biotic |
refers to the living components of an environment |
|
|
abiotic |
refers to the non living components of an environment |
|
|
density-dependent factors |
a factor whose influence on population size and growth depends on the number and crowding of individuals in the population (predation, resources, etc.) |
|
|
density-independent factors |
factors that can influence population size and growth regardless of the numbers and crowding within a population (climate, fire, etc.) |
|
|
keystone species |
species on which other species depend, and whose epochal has dramatic impact on community |
|
|
food chains |
the linked series of feeing relationships in a community in which organism further up the chain feed on those below them |
|
|
producers |
autotrophs (plants) |
|
|
consumers |
heterotrophs (animals) |
|
|
predation |
an interaction between two organisms in which one organism (the predator) feeds on the other (prey) |
|
|
herbivory |
predation on plants |
|
|
carnivory |
predation on animals |
|
|
omnivory |
predation on plants and animals |
|
|
trophic levels |
feeding levels, based on positions in a food chain (only about 10% of energy passed to the next level) |
|
|
food webs |
a complex interconnection of feeding relationships in a community |
|
|
symbiosis |
a close and often long term interaction between two or more different biological species |
|
|
mutualism |
both members benefit |
|
|
commensalism |
one member benefits and the other is unharmed/neutral |
|
|
parasitism |
one member benefits at the expense of the other |
|
|
niche |
space, environmental conditions, and resources (including other living species) that a species needs in order to survive and reproduce. |
|
|
competitive exclusion principle |
the concept that when two species compete for resources in an identical niche, one is inevitably driven to extinction |
|
|
pollen |
small, thick-walled plant structures that contain cells that will develop into sperm |
|
|
pollination |
the transfer of pollen from male to females plant structures so that fertilization can occur |
|
|
stamen |
the male reproductive structure of a flower, made up of a stem-like filament topped with a pollen saturated anther |
|
|
pistil |
the female reproductive structure of a flower, made up of a sticky 'landing pad' called a stigma, a tube-like style and an egg containing ovary |
|
|
seed |
the embryo of a plant, together with a starting supply of food, encased in a protective covering |
|
|
habitat |
the physical environment where an organism lives and to which it is adapted |
|
|
ecosystem |
the living and non-living components of an environment, including the communists of organisms present and the physical and chemical environment with which they interact |
|
|
biome |
a large geographic area defined by its characteristic plant life, which in turn is determined by temperature and levels of moisture |
|
|
grassland |
biome characterized by perennial grasses and other non-woody plants |
|
|
aquatic (marine) |
biome characterized by high salt concentration, including oceans, coral reefs, and and estuaries. Marin biomes cover 75% of the earth |
|
|
the nitrogen cycle |
nitrogen atoms cycle between different chemical and biochemical molecules as they move from he air to plants and bacteria (fixation), then up the food chain and finally back into the air sure to decomposers |
|
|
the phosphorus cycle |
phosphorus cycles primarily from soil and rock into producers, then up the food chain, water, and finally back into soil due to decomposers |
|
|
the carbon cycle |
the movement of carbon atoms between organic and inorganic molecules in the environment total amount of carbon on earth remains essentially the same, but it moves around |
|
|
fossil fuel |
a carbon-rosh energy source, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, formed from the compressed, fossilized remains of once-living organisms |
|
|
carbon footprint |
a measure of the total greenhouse gases we produce by our activities |
|
|
greenhouse gas |
any of the gases in earth's atmosphere that absorb heat radiated from the earth's surface and contribute to the greenhouse effect |
|
|
greenhouse effect |
the normal process by which heat is radiated from the earth's surface and trapped by gases in the atmosphere, helping to maintain the earth at a temperature that can sustain life |
|
|
global warming |
an overall increase in the earth's average temperature |
|
|
sustainability |
the use of earth's resources in a way that will not permanently destroy or deplete them; living within the limits of earth's biocapacity |
|
|
natural resources |
raw materials that are obtained from the earth and are considered valuable even in their relatively unmodified, natural form |
|
|
global hectare |
the biological productivity of an average hectare (10,000 sq meters) of land as of 2006 the average ecological footprint was 2.6 global hectares |
|
|
biocapacity |
the ability of the earth to sustain human life given its available natural resources and its ability to absorb waste |
|
|
nonrenewable resources |
natural resources that cannot be replaced |
|
|
renewable resources |
natural resources that are replenished after we use along as the rate of consumption does not exceed the rate of replacement |
|
|
aquifers |
underground layers of porous rock from which water can be drawn for use |
