Campbell Essential Biology Ch 20

Front 1

Biodiversity

Back 1

The variety of living things including genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity

Front 2

Ecosystem services

Back 2

Functions performed by an ecosystem that directly or indirectly benefit people (have been lost)

Front 3

Community

Back 3

an assemblage of species living close enough together for potential interaction

Front 4

Interspecific Interaction

Back 4

Interactions between species

Front 5

Interspecific Competition

Back 5

Between-Species competition where the population growth of a species may be limited by the population densities of competing species as well as by the density of its own population

Front 6

Ecological Niche

Back 6

The sum of a species use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment

Front 7

Competitive Exclusion Principle

Back 7

If the ecological niches of two species are too similar, they cannot coexist in the same place

Front 8

Mutualism

Back 8

Both species benefit from an interaction

Front 9

Predation

Back 9

An interaction in which one species (the predator) kills and eats another (the prey)

Front 10

Cryptic coloration

Back 10

Camouflage, makes potential prey difficult to spot against its background

Front 11

Warning Coloration

Back 11

Bright patterns of yellow, red, or orange in combination with black, often marks animals with effective chemical defenses.

Front 12

Herbivory

Back 12

The consumption of plant parts or algae by an animal

Front 13

Parasite

Back 13

Lives on or in a host from which it obtains nourishment

Front 14

Pathogens

Back 14

Disease causing bacteria, viruses, fungi, or protists that can be thought of as microscopic parasites

Front 15

Tropphic Structure

Back 15

The feeding relationship among the various species in a community

Front 16

Food chain

Back 16

The sequence of food transfer between trophic levels

Front 17

Producers

Back 17

The trophic level that supports all others consists of autotrophs

Front 18

Primary consumers

Back 18

Herbivores - eat plants, algae, or phytoplankton

Front 19

Secondary consumers

Back 19

Carnivores - eat consumers from the level below

Front 20

Tertiary consumers

Back 20

Eat mice and other secondary consumers

Front 21

Quaternary consumers

Back 21

Highest level. Including killer whales and hawks

Front 22

Detritus

Back 22

The dead material left by all trophic levels - including animal wastes, plant litter, and dead organims

Front 23

Detritivores

Back 23

often called scavengers, consume detritus

Front 24

Decomposers

Back 24

Digest molecules in organic material and convert them to inorganic forms

Front 25

Biological magnification

Back 25

Accumulation of toxins in the tissues of consumers in a food chain

Front 26

Omnivores

Back 26

Eat producers as well as co nsumers on different levels

Front 27

Species diversity

Back 27

the variety of species that make up the community, has 2 components:Species richness, and relative abundance

Front 28

Relative abundance

Back 28

the proportional representation of a species in a community

Front 29

Species richness

Back 29

The number of different species in the community

Front 30

Keystone Species

Back 30

A species whose impact on its community is much larger than its total mass or abundance indicates

Front 31

Disturbances

Back 31

episodes that damage biological communities, at least temporarily, by destroying organisms and altering the availability of resources such as mineral nutrients and water

Front 32

Ecological Succession

Back 32

The disturbed area may be colonized by a variety of species, which are gradually replaced by a succession of other species

Front 33

Primary Succession

Back 33

When ecological succession begins in a virtually lifeless area with no soil

Front 34

Secondary Succession

Back 34

Where a disturbance has destroyed an existing community but left the soil intact

Front 35

Ecosystem

Back 35

The community of a species in a given area, includes all the abiotic factors, such as energy, soil characteristics, and water

Front 36

Energy Flow

Back 36

The passage of energy through the components of the ecosystem

Front 37

Chemical Cycling

Back 37

The use and reuse of chemical elements such as carbon and nitrogen within the ecosystem

Front 38

Biomass

Back 38

The amount, or mass, of living organic material in an ecosystem

Front 39

Primary Production

Back 39

The rate at which an ecosystem's producers convert solar energy to the chemical energy stored in biomass

Front 40

Pyramid of Production

Back 40

Illustrates the cumulative loss of energy with each transfer in a food chain

Front 41

Biogeochemical Cycles

Back 41

Chemical cycles in an ecosystem involve both biotic and abiotic components

Front 42

Abiotic Reservoir

Back 42

Where a chemical accumulates or is stockpiled outside of living organisms

Front 43

Nitrogen Fixation

Back 43

Converts gaseous N2 to ammonia and nitrates, which can be used by plants

Front 44

Conservation Biology

Back 44

A goal-oriented science that seeks to understand an counter the loss of biodiversity

Front 45

Restoration Ecology

Back 45

Uses ecological principles to develop methods of returning degraded areas to their natural state

Front 46

Biodiversity Hot Spots

Back 46

Relatively small areas have a large number of endangered and threatened species and an exceptional concentration of endemic species

Front 47

Endemic Species

Back 47

Species that are found nowhere else

Front 48

Landscape

Back 48

A regional assemblage of interacting ecosystems, such as an area with forest, adjacent fields, wetlands, streams, and streamside habitats

Front 49

Landscape Ecology

Back 49

The application of ecological principles to the study of land use patterns

Front 50

Movement Corridor

Back 50

A narrow strip or series of small clumps of suitable habitat connecting otherwise isolated patches

Front 51

Bioremediation

Back 51

The use of living organisms to detoxify polluted ecosystems

Front 52

Sustainable Development

Back 52

Development that ensures an adequate supply of natural and economic resources for future generations

Front 53

Biophilia

Back 53

"love of life", the human desire to affiliate with other life in its many forms