Unit 9 Flash Cards

Front 1

Habitat

Back 1

Combined biotic and abiotic factors found in the area where an organism lives

Front 2

Ecological niche

Back 2

all of the physical, chemical and biological factors an organism needs to survive, stay healthy and reproduce in an ecosystem.

Front 3

Competitive exclusion

Back 3

Theory that states that no two species can occupy the same niche at the same time.

Front 4

Competition

Back 4

ecological relationship in which two organisms attempt to obtain the same resources.

Front 5

predation symbiosis

Back 5

a process by which one organism hunts and kills another one for food.

Front 6

mutualism

Back 6

ecological relationship between two organism where each species gets a benefit from the relationship

Front 7

Commensalism

Back 7

an ecological relationship where one species benefits while the other species is not affected one way or another

Front 8

parasitism

Back 8

ecological relationship in which one organism benefits by hurting another

Front 9

population density

Back 9

The number of organisms in a species in one area

Front 10

Population dispersion

Back 10

way in which a population is spread out in one area

Front 11

Surviviorship

Back 11

probability of surviving to a specific age

Front 12

Weather

Back 12

the state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc.

Front 13

Climate

Back 13

average long term weather pattern of a region

Front 14

Biome

Back 14

A type of land form

Front 15

Biogeochemical cycle

Back 15

a pathway by which a chemical element or molecule moves through both biotic and abiotic compartments of Earth.

Front 16

Hydraulic Cycle

Back 16

the natural sequence through which water passes into the atmosphere as water vapor, precipitates to earth, and returns to the atmosphere through evaporation.

Front 17

Carbon Cycle

Back 17

Ecology The combined processes, including photosynthesis, decomposition, and respiration, by which carbon as a component of various compounds cycles between its major reservoirs the atmosphere, oceans, and living organisms.

Front 18

Nitrogen Cycle

Back 18

Ecology The circulation of nitrogen in nature, consisting of a cycle of chemical reactions in which atmospheric nitrogen is compounded, dissolved in rain, and deposited in the soil, where it is assimilated and metabolized by bacteria and plants, eventually returning to the atmosphere by bacterial decomposition of organic matter.

Front 19

Nitrogen Fixation

Back 19

The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds, such as ammonia, by natural agencies or various industrial processes.

Front 20

Phosphorus cycle

Back 20

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

Front 21

Carrying capacity

Back 21

the number of individuals an environment can handle

Front 22

Limiting Factor

Back 22

environmental factor that limits the size and growth of an ecosystem