Espm C12 Midterm 1

Front 1

Biome

Back 1

is a class of ecosystems that have similar biological characteristics which are determined mainly by climate.

Front 2

Symbiosis

Back 2

is the close spatial proximity of two organisms

Front 3

Species

Back 3

a class of organisms that can or do interbreed

Front 4

Myth

Back 4

is a body of traditional stories that embody the values of a people.

Front 5

Metaphor

Back 5

is a figure of speech in which a term is transferred from the object it ordinarily designates to an object it may designate only by implicit comparison or analogy.

Front 8

Commensalism

Back 8

is a relationship between two organisms in which one benefits and the other is indifferent

Front 9

Ecotone

Back 9

is a bordering region of transition between two different ecosystems

Front 10

Mutualism

Back 10

is a relationship between two organisms in which both organisms benefit from each other

Front 11

Genotype

Back 11

is all or part of the genome of an organism

Front 12

Indicator species

Back 12

are species who directly reflect the successional stage of an ecosystem or a an environment in which an ecosystem functions normally.
Examples: trout, salmon, amphibians, spotted owl, migratory songbirds, polar bear.

Front 14

Succession:

Back 14

is a process in which changes in the characteristics of an ecosystem over timescales of years to centuries: primary if no prior vegetation has existed in the ecosystem, secondary if prior vegetation has existed.

Front 15

A sustainable process

Back 15

does not undermine the conditions that are required for its continued existence.
Example: Annual river water use remaining below 25 % of the total river water that is available annually.
Example: Global agricultural land use for crops remaining below 15 % of the global icefree land surface.

Front 16

Watershed

Back 16

is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place.

Front 17

Trophic pyramid

Back 17

is a graphical representation design to show the biomass or biomass productivity at each trophical level in a given ecosystem

Front 19

Selective pressure

Back 19

is any phenomena which alters the behavior and fitness of living organisms within a given environment. It is the driving force of evolution and natural selection, and it can be divided into two types of pressure: biotic or abiotic.

Front 20

Allele

Back 20

is one of the versions of a gene that may exist at a locus.

Front 21

Ecosystem

Back 21

is a domain of any size in which organisms interact among themselves and with their immediate surroundings

Front 22

Disturbances

Back 22

are major changes in the characteristics of an ecosystem over short periods of time as compared to that for succession.
Causes of Disturbance:
• Fires
• Severe Weather: Hurricanes, Tornados,Windstorms, Floods
• Climate Change
• Invasions: Pathogens & Insects, Plants & Animals, Humans

Front 25

Apex consumer

Back 25

is the highest consumer level (the top predator) of a food chain or food pyramid.

Front 26

Animism

Back 26

is a view of the world (the one described in Richard Nelson’s “The Watchful World” in which it is supposed that most things in the world, animals, plants, bodies of water, winds, planets and stars, stones, places, various invisible spirits are conscious in more or less the way human beings are conscious.

Front 28

Endemic Species

Back 28

are species who are native to an ecosystem or a geographic region and found only there.
Examples: Channel Islands National Park’s bush poppy, manzanita, fence lizard, spotted skunk, and island fox.

Front 29

Evolution

Back 29

is a process in which changes in the genetic composition of a population occur over successive generations.

Front 30

Pathetic fallacy

Back 30

also called anthropomorphic fallacy, is the attribution of human thoughts, feelings and sensations to objects that do not have them

Front 31

Net primary productivity

Back 31

is the rate at which the amount of organic matter that is made available annually to the heterotrophs (“consumers”) by the autotrophs (“producers”) per unit area in a biome.

Front 32

Natural selection

Back 32

is the theory holding that competition exists within species, determining which species live to have offspring, and pass their traits on to those offspring.

Front 33

Natural selection

Back 33

, also called “survival of the fittest” principle is the process by which some genes within a population are selected to be replicated more frequently within a population because those favorable genes allow the individuals who have them to survive the best and reproduce the most. These favorable genes are represented in further populations more so than unfavorable genes.

Front 37

Keystone species

Back 37

are species who have major effects on ecosystem structure and function; their removal can completely disrupt trophic relationships.
Examples: wolf, sea otter, blue fin tuna, shark.

Front 39

Watershed

Back 39

is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place.

Front 40

Phenotype

Back 40

is the evident characteristics of an organism: its structure, physiology, behavior

Front 41

A resilient population, community, or ecosystem

Back 41

does not undergo permanent catastrophic changes in its structure and functioning under the stress of a disturbance.

Front 42

Predation

Back 42

is the interaction between two species in which one species preys upon or consumes the other.