Unit 8

Front 1

dispersal patterns

Back 1

(clumped, uniform, random), age structure, survivorship curves, reproductive tables

Front 2

limiting factors

Back 2

density-dependent, density-independent

Front 3

exponential growth

Back 3

Growth of a system in which the amount being added to the system is proportional to the amount already present: the bigger the system is, the greater the increase

Front 4

logistic growth

Back 4

both food and disease become important as conditions become crowded. There is an upper limit to the number of individuals the environment can support.

Front 5

carrying capacity

Back 5

the maximum, equilibrium number of organisms of a particular species that can be supported indefinitely in a given environment.

Front 6

interspecific competition

Back 6

Arising or occurring between species.

Front 7

niche

Back 7

competitive exclusion

Front 8

competitive exclusion

Back 8

The act of excluding, or of shutting out, whether by thrusting out or by preventing admission; a debarring; rejection; prohibition; the state of being excluded

Front 9

keystone species

Back 9

A species whose presence and role within an ecosystem has a disproportionate effect on other organisms within the system. A keystone species is often a dominant predator whose removal allows a prey population to explode and often decreases overall diversity. Other kinds of keystone species are those, such as coral or beavers, that significantly alter the habitat around them and thus affect large numbers of other organisms

Front 10

Predation

Back 10

predation describes a biological interaction where a predator species destroys and eats other organisms, known as prey.

Front 11

predator

Back 11

predator species destroys and eats other organisms, known as prey.

Front 12

parasite

Back 12

an organism that lives on or in an organism of another species, known as the host, from the body of which it obtains nutriment.

Front 13

parasitoid

Back 13

Any of various insects, such as the ichneumon fly, whose larvae are parasites that eventually kill their hosts.

Front 14

herbivore

Back 14

n animal that feeds chiefly on plants

Front 15

Symbiosis

Back 15

mutualism (+/+), commensalism (+/0), parasitism (+/-)

Front 16

Symbiosis

Back 16

the living together of two dissimilar organisms, as in mutualism, commensalism, amensalism, or parasitism.

Front 17

mutualism

Back 17

An association between organisms of two different species in which each member benefits.

Front 18

commensalisms

Back 18

A symbiotic relationship between two organisms of different species in which one derives some benefit while the other is unaffected.

Front 19

parasitism

Back 19

a relation between organisms in which one lives as a parasite on another.

Front 20

co evolution

Back 20

is the mutual evolutionary influence between two species

Front 21

cryptic coloration

Back 21

coloring that conceals or disguises an animal's shape

Front 22

warning coloration

Back 22

a bold, distinctive pattern of color characteristic of a poisonous or unpalatable organism, as the skunk or the monarch butterfly, that functions as a warning to and defense against predators.

Front 23

mimicry

Back 23

the close external resemblance of an organism, the mimic, to some different organism, the model, such that the mimic benefits from the mistaken identity, as seeming to be unpalatable or harmful.

Front 24

primary succession

Back 24

the development of plant and animal life in an area without topsoil; the development of biotic communities in a previously uninhabited and barren habitat with little or no soil

Front 25

pioneer species

Back 25

is a plant species which colonizes previously uncolonized land, usually leading to ecological succession

Front 26

climax community

Back 26

An ecological community in which populations of plants or animals remain stable and exist in balance with each other and their environment. A climax community is the final stage of succession, remaining relatively unchanged until destroyed by an event such as fire or human interference

Front 27

secondary succession

Back 27

The gradual and orderly process of ecosystem development brought about by changes in community composition and the production of a climax characteristic of a particular geographic region.

Front 28

tropical rain forest

Back 28

A dense evergreen forest with an annual rainfall of at least 406 centimeters (160 inches). Rainforests are often, but not always, located in tropical regions.

Front 29

savanna

Back 29

a plain characterized by coarse grasses and scattered tree growth, esp. on the margins of the tropics where the rainfall is seasonal, as in eastern Africa.

Front 30

temperate grassland

Back 30

an area, as a prairie, in which the natural vegetation consists largely of perennial grasses, characteristic of subhumid and semiarid climates.

Front 31

deciduous forest

Back 31

a type of forest characterized by trees that seasonally shed their leaves

Front 32

desert

Back 32

a dry, barren, treeless region, usually sandy: an oasis in a desert. Waste emphasizes lack of inhabitants and of cultivation; it is used of wild, barren land

Front 33

taiga,

Back 33

the coniferous evergreen forests of subarctic lands, covering vast areas of northern North America and Eurasia.

Front 34

tundra

Back 34

one of the vast, nearly level, treeless plains of the arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America.

Front 35

freshwater

Back 35

of or living in water that is fresh or not salt

Front 36

primary producers

Back 36

is the production of organic compounds from atmospheric or aquatic carbon dioxide, principally through the process of photosynthesis

Front 37

carbon cycle

Back 37

the circulation of carbon atoms in the biosphere as a result of photosynthetic conversion of carbon dioxide into complex organic compounds by plants, which are consumed by other organisms: the carbon returns to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide as a result of respiration, decay by fungi, bacteria, etc., and combustion of fossil fuels

Front 38

water cycle

Back 38

the natural sequence through which water passes into the atmosphere as water vapor, precipitates to earth in liquid or solid form, and ultimately returns to the atmosphere through evaporation.

Front 39

nitrogen cycle

Back 39

the continuous sequence of events by which atmospheric nitrogen and nitrogenous compounds in the soil are converted, as by nitrification and nitrogen fixation, into substances that can be utilized by green plants, the substances returning to the air and soil as a result of the decay of the plants and denitrification.

Front 40

phosphorus cycle

Back 40

is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of phosphorus through the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere

Front 41

greenhouse effect

Back 41

an atmospheric heating phenomenon, caused by short-wave solar radiation being readily transmitted inward through the earth's atmosphere but longer-wavelength heat radiation less readily transmitted outward, owing to its absorption by atmospheric carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and other gases; thus, the rising level of carbon dioxide is viewed with concern

Front 42

ozone depletion

Back 42

a slow, steady decline of about 4 percent per decade in the total amount of ozone in Earth's stratospher

Front 43

acid rain

Back 43

precipitation, as rain, snow, or sleet, containing relatively high concentrations of acid-forming chemicals, as the pollutants from coal smoke, chemical manufacturing, and smelting, that have been released into the atmosphere and combined with water vapor: harmful to the environment

Front 44

desertification

Back 44

the rapid depletion of plant life and the loss of topsoil at desert boundaries and in semiarid regions, usually caused by a combination of drought and the overexploitation of grasses and other vegetation by people

Front 45

over-exploitation

Back 45

exploitation to the point of diminishing returns