Environmental Science Vocab Chapter 5

Front 1

abiotic factors

Back 1

nonliving factors that influence the life and activities of an organism

Front 2

biomass

Back 2

any accumulation of organic material produce by living things

Front 3

biotic factors

Back 3

living portions of the environment

Front 4

carbon cycle

Back 4

the cyclic flow of carbon from the atmosphere to living organisms and back to the atmospheric reservoir

Front 5

carnivore

Back 5

animal that eats other animals

Front 6

coevolution

Back 6

two or more species of organisms that influence the evolution of each other

Front 7

commensalisms

Back 7

the relationship between two species where one organism is benefitted and the other is unaffected

Front 8

community

Back 8

interacting groups of different species

Front 9

competition

Back 9

interaction between two organisms in which both need the same resources, which results in harm to both

Front 10

consumer

Back 10

organism that uses other organisms as food

Front 11

decomposer

Back 11

small organisms that cause the decay of dead organic matter and recycle nutrients

Front 12

dentrifying bacteria

Back 12

bacteria that converts nitrogen compounds into nitrogen gas

Front 13

detritus

Back 13

tiny particles of organic material that result from fecal waste material or the decomposition of plants and animals

Front 14

ecology

Back 14

the interrelationship between organisms and their environment

Front 15

ecosystem

Back 15

a group of interacting species along with their physical environment

Front 16

ectoparasite

Back 16

a parasite that is adapted to live on the outside of its host

Front 17

endoparasite

Back 17

a parasite that is adapted to live on the inside of a host

Front 18

environment

Back 18

everything that affects an organism during its lifetime

Front 19

evolution

Back 19

a change in the structure, behavior, of physiology of a population of organisms as a result of some organisms with favorable characteristics having greater reproductive success than those organisms with less favorable characteristics

Front 20

extinction

Back 20

the death of a species

Front 21

food chain

Back 21

the series of organism involved in the passage of energy from one trophic level to another

Front 22

free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Back 22

bacteria that live in the soil and can convert nitrogen gas in the atmosphere into forms that plants can use

Front 23

habitat

Back 23

the place where a particular kind of organism lives

Front 24

herbivore

Back 24

an animal that eats plants

Front 25

host

Back 25

the organism a parasite uses for its source of food

Front 26

interspecific competition

Back 26

competition between members of different species for a limited resource

Front 27

intraspecific competition

Back 27

competition among members of the same species for a limited resource

Front 28

keystone species

Back 28

one that has a critical role to play in the maintenance of specific ecosystems

Front 29

limiting factor

Back 29

the one primary condition of the environment that determines the population size of an organism

Front 30

mutualism

Back 30

the association between organisms in which both benefit

Front 31

mycorrhizae

Back 31

root-fungus associations

Front 32

natural selection

Back 32

a process that determines which individuals within a species will reproduce more effectively and therefor results in changes in the characteristics within a species

Front 33

niche

Back 33

the total role an organism plays in its ecosystem

Front 34

nitrogen cycle

Back 34

the series of stages in the flow of nitrogen in ecosystems

Front 35

nitrifying bacteria

Back 35

bacteria that are able to convert ammonia to nitrite which can be converted to nitrate

Front 36

nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Back 36

bacteria that are able to convert the nitrogen gas in the atmosphere into forms that plants can use

Front 37

omnivore

Back 37

animal that eats both plants and animals

Front 38

parasite

Back 38

an organism adapted to survival by using another living organism for nourishment

Front 39

parasitism

Back 39

when a parasite lives in or on another animal to get nourishment while harming the host

Front 40

predation

Back 40

when one organism kills and eats another organism

Front 41

predator

Back 41

an animal that kills and eats another organism

Front 42

prey

Back 42

an organism that is killed by the predator

Front 43

primary consumer

Back 43

an animal that eats plants directly

Front 44

producer

Back 44

an organism that can manufacture food from inorganic compounds and light energy

Front 45

range of tolerance

Back 45

the anility that organisms have to survive under certain conditions

Front 46

secondary consumer

Back 46

animals that eat animals that have eaten plants

Front 47

speciation

Back 47

the process of developing new species

Front 48

species

Back 48

a groupd of organisms that can interbreed and produce offspring capable of reproduction

Front 49

symbiosis

Back 49

a close, long-lasting physical relationship between members of two different species

Front 50

symbiotic nitrogen- fixing bacteria

Back 50

bacteria that grow within a plant's root system and that can convery nitrogen gas from the atmosphere to nitrogen compounds that the plant can use

Front 51

trophic level

Back 51

a stage in the energy flow through ecosystems

Front 52

vector

Back 52

an organism that carries a disease from one host to another