Ecology Vocab: Chapter 13

Front 1

ecology

Back 1

study of the interactions among living things and their surroundings;defines what ecology is; it helps us to study the interactions of organisms in the desert.

Front 2

community

Back 2

collection of all the different populations that live in one area; find out about different communities around world; desert is part of a community.

Front 3

ecosystem

Back 3

collection of organisms and non living things, such as climate, soil, water, and rocks, in an area; ecology studies the different habits of each ecosystem; the desert has ecosystems.

Front 4

biome

Back 4

regional or global community of organisms characterized by the climate conditions and plant communities that thrive there; ecology splits the world into different biomes; the desert is a biome.

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biotic

Back 5

living things, such as plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria; ecology discusses the traits and characteristics of biotic factors; the desert has many biotic factors.

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abiotic

Back 6

nonliving factor in an ecosystem, such as moisture, temperature, wind, sunlight, soil, and minerals; ecology has different traits assigned for abiotic factors; the desert has many abiotic factors.

Front 7

biodiversity

Back 7

variety of life within an area; ecology talks about the variety of life on the planet; desert has alot of biodiversity.

Front 8

keystone species

Back 8

organism that has an unusually large effect on its ecosystem; keystone species can affect ecology such as the absence of human life; the desert has some keystone species.

Front 9

producer

Back 9

organism that obtains its energy from abiotic sources, such as sunlight or inorganic chemicals; they are at the bottom of every food chain and affect ecology greatly; desert has many cacti and trees that are producers.

Front 10

autotroph

Back 10

organism that obtains its energy from abiotic sources, such as sunlight, or inorganic chemicals; ecology shows the differences among organisms such as how they obtain food; the desert has some organisms that are autotrophs.

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consumer

Back 11

obtains its energy and nutrients by eating other organisms; is a large part of ecology's fauna; the desert has many consumers.

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heterotroph

Back 12

organism that obtains its energy and nutrients by consuming other organisms; helps maintain the balance of other organisms; the desert is full of heterotrophs.

Front 13

chemosynthesis

Back 13

process by which ATP is synthesized by using chemicals as an energy source instead of light; ecology has many organisms that cannot use photosynthesis due to lack of light; the desert does not have an organism using chemosynthesis due to constant presence of sun.

Front 14

food chain

Back 14

model that links organisms by their feeding relationships; shows us how each animal can be connected with another based on eating patterns; the desert has many food chains.

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herbivore

Back 15

organism that eats only plants; without hebivores, there would be no animal to eat the energy from plants; desert has many herbivores.

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carnivore

Back 16

organism that obtains energy by eating only animals; there would be nothing maintaning an animals population; the desert is filled with carnivores.

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omnivore

Back 17

organism that eats both plants and animals;they can survive on whatever is available and provide a balance; the desert has many omnivores.

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detritivore

Back 18

organism that eats dead organic matter; without them the world would become a giant waste land; desert has detritivores.

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decomposer

Back 19

detritivore that breaks down organic matter into simpler compounds; returns nutrients back into an ecosystem; desert has decomposers.

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specialist

Back 20

consumer that eats only one type of organism; keeps a certain population under control; desert has no specialists.

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generalist

Back 21

species that does not rely on a single source of prey; makes it less prone to dies out if one of its food source disappears from its environment; desert is filled with generalists.

Front 22

trophic level

Back 22

level of nourishment in a food chain; all organisms fit into a trophic level; desert has about 4 trophic levels.

Front 23

food web

Back 23

model that shows the complex network of feeding relationships within an ecosystem; shows feeding relationships of organisms; desert has many different foos webs.

Front 24

hydrologic cycle

Back 24

pathway of water from the atmosphere to Earth's surface, below ground, and back; how everything gets its water, each biome has its own cycle; desert has a limited cycle due to lack of rain.

Front 25

biogeochemical cycle

Back 25

movement of a chemical through the biological and geological, or living and nonliving, parts of an ecosystem; shows how energy flows and how much energy you can get; desert has a biogeochemical cycle.

Front 26

nitrogen fixation

Back 26

process by which certain types of bacteria convert gaseous nitrogen into nitrogen compounds; how bacteria play a role in ecology; desert has some bacteria that may do this.

Front 27

biomass

Back 27

total dry mass of all organisms in a given area; each area has a different biomass and each can affect the other; deserts around the world have different biomass than one another.

Front 28

energy pyramid

Back 28

diagram that compares energy used by producers, primary consumers, and other trophic levels; ecology studies the energy needed and used by each trophic level; desert has an energy pyramid.