Chapter 50

Front 1

Ecology

Back 1

The study of how organisms interact with the environment.

Front 2

Abiotic

Back 2

Non-living, components-chemical/physical factors.

Front 3

Biotic

Back 3

Pertaining to the living organisms in the environment.

Front 4

Biota

Back 4

All the organisms that are part of an ecosystem.

Front 5

Organismal Ecology

Back 5

Concerned with morphological physiological, and biological ways in which individual organisms meet the challenges posed by their biotic and abotic environments.

Front 6

Population

Back 6

A localized group of individuals that belong to the same biological species.

Front 7

Population Ecology

Back 7

Study of populations in relations to the environment, including environmental influences on population density and distribution, age structure, and variation in population size.

Front 8

Community

Back 8

All the organisims that inhabit a particular area.

Front 9

Community Ecology

Back 9

The study of how interactions between species affect community structure and organizations.

Front 10

Ecosystem

Back 10

All the organisms in a given area as the abiotic factors with which they interact in a community and its physical environments.

Front 11

Ecosystem Ecology

Back 11

The study of energy flow and the cycling or chemicals among the various biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.

Front 12

Landscape Ecology

Back 12

The study of past, present, and future pattern of landscape use, as well as ecosystem management and the biodiversity of interacting ecosystems.

Front 13

Patchiness

Back 13

Localized variation in enviromental conditions within an ecosystem.

Front 14

Enviromentalism

Back 14

Advocating for the protection or preservation of natural environment.

Front 15

Precautionary Principle

Back 15

A guiding principle in making decisions about the environment cautioning to consider carefully the potential consequences of actions.

Front 16

Disperal

Back 16

The distribution of individuals within geographic population boundaries (critical to understand both geographic isolation in evolution/distrubution of species)

Front 17

Climate

Back 17

The prevailing weather conditions at a locality.
(Temperature/Water/ Sunlight/ Wind)

Front 18

Macroclimate

Back 18

Large-scale variation in climate; entire region.

Front 19

Microclimate

Back 19

Very fine scale of climate.

Front 20

Turnover

Back 20

The mixing of waters as a result of changing water.

Front 21

Biome

Back 21

Any of the world's major ecosystems, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptation of organisms to that particular enviroment.

Front 22

Photic Zone

Back 22

The narrow top slice of the ocean, where light permeates sufficiently for photosynthesis to occur.

Front 23

Aphotic Zone

Back 23

The part of the ocean beneath the photic zones, where light does not penetrate sufficiently for photosyntheis to occur.

Front 24

Benethic Zone

Back 24

The bottom surface of an aquatic environment.

Front 25

Bentho

Back 25

The communties of organisms living in the benthic zone of an aquatic biome.

Front 26

Detrius

Back 26

Dead organic matter.

Front 27

Themocline

Back 27

An narrow stratum of rapid temperature changes in the ocean and in many temperate-zone lake.

Front 28

Climatograph

Back 28

A plot of the temperature and precipitation in a particular region (pattern of climate variation.)

Front 29

Canopy

Back 29

The uppermost layer of vegetation in a terrestrial biome.

Front 30

Ecotone

Back 30

The transition from one type of habitat or ecosystem to another such as the transition from a forest to a grassland.