Glencoe Biology Ch. 2

Front 1

autotroph

Back 1

organisms that use energy from the sun or energy

Front 2

abiotic

Back 2

nonliving parts of an organism's environment; air currents, temperature, moisture, light and soil are examples

Front 3

biological

Back 3

a community made up of interacting populations in a certain area at a certain time

Front 4

biomass

Back 4

the total mass or weight of all living matter in a given area.

Front 5

biosphere

Back 5

portion of Earth that supports life; extends from high in the atmosphere to the bottom of the oceans.

Front 6

biotic

Back 6

all the living organisms that inhabit an environment.

Front 7

commensalism

Back 7

symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither harmed nor benefited.

Front 8

community

Back 8

collection of several interacting populations that inhabit a common environment.

Front 9

decomposers

Back 9

organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms.

Front 10

ecology

Back 10

scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environments.

Front 11

ecosystem

Back 11

interactions among populations in a community; the community's physical surroundings, or abiotic factors.

Front 12

food chain

Back 12

simple model that shows how matter and energy move through an ecosystem.

Front 13

food web

Back 13

model that shows all the possible feeding relationships at each trophic level in a community.

Front 14

habitat

Back 14

place where an organism lives out its life.

Front 15

heterotrophs

Back 15

organisms that cannot make their own food and must feed on other organisms for energy and nutrients.

Front 16

mutualism

Back 16

a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.

Front 17

niche

Back 17

role or position a species has in its environment; includes all biotic and abiotic interactions as an animal meets its needs for survival and reproduction.

Front 18

parasitism

Back 18

symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits at the expense of another, usually another species.

Front 19

population

Back 19

group of organisms all of the same species, which interbreed and live in the same place at the same time.

Front 20

scavengers

Back 20

animals that feed on animals that have already died.

Front 21

symbiosis

Back 21

permanent, close association between two or more organisms of different species.

Front 22

trophic

Back 22

organism that represents a feeding step in the movement of energy and materials through an ecosystem.