Unit 2 Ecology

Front 1

Photic zone

Back 1

The vertical portion in the water that light penetrates.

Front 2

Aphotic zone

Back 2

The vertical portion in the water where light does not penetrate.

Front 3

Flowing-water ecosystems

Back 3

Rivers, streams, creeks, and brooks.

Front 4

Standing-water ecosystems

Back 4

Lakes and ponds.

Front 5

Freshwater

Back 5

Wetlands Ecosystems where water covers soil for all or part of the year.

Front 6

Estuaries

Back 6

Bodies of water formed where rivers meet the ocean.

Front 7

Detritus

Back 7

Tiny pieces of organic material, including dead organisms and organism waste that settle to the bottom of aquatic ecosystems.

Front 8

Intertidal zone

Back 8

The ocean zone that is submerged with water for a portion of everyday.

Front 9

Coastal Ocean zone

Back 9

The ocean zone that extends from the low tide to the outer edge of the continental shelf.

Front 10

Emigration

Back 10

The movement of individuals out of a population.

Front 11

Immigration

Back 11

The movement of individuals into a population.

Front 12

Exponential growth

Back 12

When the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate.

Front 13

Logistic growth

Back 13

When a population's growth slows or stops following a period of exponential growth.

Front 14

Carrying capacity

Back 14

The largest numbers of individuals of a population that a given environment can support.

Front 15

Density-Dependent limiting factors

Back 15

Factors that depend on the population size.

Front 16

Density-independent limiting factors

Back 16

Factors that affect all populations in similar ways regardless of population size.

Front 17

Competition

Back 17

When organisms of the same or different species compete for the same resources in the same place at the same time.

Front 18

Competitive exclusion principle

Back 18

No two species can occupy the same niche and same habitat at the same time and both survive.

Front 19

Predation

Back 19

When one organism captures and feeds on another organism.

Front 20

Symbiosis

Back 20

When two or more organisms live closely together.

Front 21

Mutualism

Back 21

When both species benefit from the relationship.

Front 22

Parasitism

Back 22

When one organism lives on or in another organism and harms it.

Front 23

Commensalism

Back 23

When one organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed.

Front 24

Ecological Succession

Back 24

A series of predictable changes that occur in a community over time.

Front 25

Primary Succession

Back 25

A series of predictable changes that occur on land where no soil exists.

Front 26

Secondary Succession

Back 26

A series of predictable changes that occur when a disturbance destroys a community without destroying the soil.

Front 27

Pioneer species

Back 27

The first species to populate an area during primary succession.

Front 28

Ecosystem diversity

Back 28

Measures the variety of habitats, living communities, and ecological processes in the living world.

Front 29

Species diversity

Back 29

Measures the number of different species in the biosphere.

Front 30

Genetic diversity

Back 30

Measures the different number of genetic information carried by all organisms currently living on Earth.

Front 31

Habitat Fragmentation

Back 31

Splitting of ecosystems into small fragments that are unable to support large populations and communities of organisms.

Front 32

Deforestation

Back 32

The destruction of forests for human use.

Front 33

Pollution

Back 33

The addition of harmful material into the biosphere through land, air, or water. Pollutants can destroy ecosystems and communities.

Front 34

Agriculture

Back 34

The use of farming.

Front 35

Invasive species

Back 35

Organisms that have been introduced to ecosystems where they are not native.

Front 36

Biogeochemical cycles

Back 36

Processes in which elements, chemical compounds, other forms of matter are passed from on organism to another and form one part of the biosphere to another.

Front 37

Water cycle

Back 37

The movement of water between the atmosphere, ground, and bodies of water.

Front 38

Carbon cycle

Back 38

Involves four main processes: respiration, combustion, decomposition, and photosynthesis.

Front 39

Nitrogen cycle

Back 39

Conversion of nitrogen gas from the atmosphere into usable compounds.

Front 40

Phosphorus cycle

Back 40

The movement of phosphorus through land, ocean sediments, and organisms, but not the atmosphere.

Front 41

Ecology

Back 41

The scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment.

Front 42

Species

Back 42

A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.

Front 43

Population

Back 43

A group of organisms of the same species that live in same area.

Front 44

Community

Back 44

An assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area.

Front 45

Ecosystem

Back 45

A collection of all the organisms that live in a particular place together with their nonliving environment.

Front 46

Habitat

Back 46

The area where an organism lives within an ecosystem.

Front 47

Niche

Back 47

The full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organisms lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions within an ecosystem.

Front 48

Biome

Back 48

A group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities(same types to plants and animals).

Front 49

Biosphere

Back 49

The part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere.

Front 50

Biotic factors

Back 50

The living components on an ecosystem.

Front 51

Abiotic factors

Back 51

The physical, non-living components of an ecosystem.

Front 52

Climate

Back 52

The average, year after year conditions of temperature and precipitation region.

Front 53

Polar Zone

Back 53

A cold climate zone where the sun's rays strike Earth at a very low angle.

Front 54

Temperate Zone

Back 54

A moderate climate zone between the polar zones and the tropics.

Front 55

Tropical Zone

Back 55

A warm climate zone that receives direct or nearly direct sunlight year round.

Front 56

Food chain

Back 56

Shows the pathway of energy flow among organisms in an ecosystem.

Front 57

Food web

Back 57

A group of interconnected food chains.

Front 58

Trophic

Back 58

Level A step in the food chain.

Front 59

Autotroph

Back 59

(Producer) an organism that can capture from sunlight or chemicals and use it to produce its own food.

Front 60

Phototroph

Back 60

An organism that coverts light energy from the sun through a process of photosynthesis.

Front 61

Chemotroph

Back 61

An organism that converts chemical energy from inorganic molecules through the process of chemosynthesis.

Front 62

Heterotroph

Back 62

(Consumer) is an organism that obtains energy from the food it eats or absorbs.

Front 63

Herbivores

Back 63

Organisms that obtain energy by eating producers.

Front 64

Carnivores

Back 64

Organisms that obtain energy by eating other consumers.

Front 65

Omnivores

Back 65

Organisms that obtains energy eating both producers and consumers.

Front 66

Detrivores

Back 66

Organisms that obtain energy by eating detritus made of the remains of once living organisms.

Front 67

Energy Pyramid

Back 67

Shows the amount energy available at each tropic level.

Front 68

Biomass Pyramid

Back 68

Shows the total amount of living by mass (weight) at each trophic level.

Front 69

Numbers pyramid

Back 69

Shows the number of individual organisms at each trophic levels.