Terms : Hide Images
| 5084134668 | Population | a localized group of individuals of the same species that can interbreed, producing fertile offspring | 0 | |
| 5084134669 | Community | all the organisms that inhabit a particular area; as assemblage of populations of different species living close enough together for potential interaction | 1 | |
| 5084134670 | Ecosystem | all the organisms in a given area as well as the abiotic factors with which they interact | 2 | |
| 5084134671 | Biotic | pertaining to the living organisms in the environment | 3 | |
| 5084134672 | Abiotic | nonliving; referring to physical and chemical properties of an environment | 4 | |
| 5084134673 | Biosphere | the entire portion of earth inhabited by life; the sum of all the planet's ecosystems | 5 | |
| 5084134674 | Niche | the sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment | 6 | |
| 5084134678 | Population Ecology | the study of populations in relation to their environment, including environmental influences on populations, on population density and distribution, age structure, and variations in population size | 7 | |
| 5084134679 | Birth Rate | rate of annual birth within a population | 8 | |
| 5084134680 | Death Rate | rate of annual death within a population | 9 | |
| 5084134683 | Immigration Rate | the rate of influx of new individuals INTO a population from other areas | 10 | |
| 5084134684 | Emigration Rate | the rate of movement of individuals OUT of a population | 11 | |
| 5084134685 | Carrying Capacity | the maximum population size that can be supported by the available resources, (symbolized by K) | 12 | |
| 5084134686 | Density Dependent | any characteristic that varies according to an increase in population density | 13 | |
| 5084134687 | Exponential Growth | growth of a population in an ideal, unlimited environment, (represented by a J-Shaped curve when population size is plotted over time) | 14 | |
| 5084134688 | Logistical Growth | population growth that levels off as population size approaches carrying capacity | 15 | |
| 5084134689 | K-Selected | stabilize around carrying capacity, have fewer offspring later in life, mature later, live longer and invest more parental care | 16 | |
| 5084134690 | R-Selected | reside in unstable environment, have many offspring early in life, mature earlier, shorter life span, no parental care | 17 | |
| 5084134691 | Survivorship Curve | the plot of the proportion or numbers in a cohort still alive at each age | 18 | |
| 5084134692 | Type I Surivorship Curve | low death rates during early/middle life then increase among older age groups (humans) | 19 | |
| 5084134693 | Type II Surviorship Curve | constant death rate over the organism's life span | 20 | |
| 5084134694 | Type III Surviorship Curve | very high death rates for the young and then declines for those few individuals that survive the early period (insects) | 21 | |
| 5084134695 | Symbiosis | an ecological relationship between organisms of two different species that live together in direct and intimate contact | 22 | |
| 5084134696 | Commensalism | a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits but the other is neither helped nor harmed | 23 | |
| 5084134697 | Mutualism | a symbiotic relationship in which both participants benefit | 24 | |
| 5084134698 | Parasitism | a symbiotic relationship in which one organism (the parasite) benefits at the expense of another (the host) by living either within or on its host | 25 | |
| 5084134699 | Intraspecific Competition | interactions between the same species competing for resources | 26 | |
| 5084134700 | Interspecific Competition | competition for resources between individuals of two or more species when resources are in short supply | 27 | |
| 5084134701 | Predation | an interaction between species in which one species (the predator) eats the other (the prey) | 28 | |
| 5084134706 | Pioneer Species | the first species to colonize previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems, beginning a chain of ecological succession that ultimately leads to a more biodiverse steady-state ecosystem | 29 | |
| 5084134707 | Climax Community | in a community of organisms in a specific area there is one state of equilibrium controlled solely by climate | 30 | |
| 5084134708 | Succession | the process by which the structure of a biological community evolves over time | 31 | |
| 5084134709 | Primary Succession | a type of ecological succession that occurs in an area where there were originally no organisms present and where soil has not yet formed | 32 | |
| 5084134710 | Secondary Succession | a type of succession that occurs where an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil or substance intact | 33 | |
| 5084134713 | Herbivore | an animal that eats mainly plants or algae | 34 | |
| 5084134714 | Carnivore | an animal that mainly eats other animals | 35 | |
| 5084134715 | Detritivore | a consumer that derives its energy and nutrients from nonliving organic material such as corpses, fallen plant material, and the wastes of living organism (a decomposer) | 36 | |
| 5084134716 | Food Chain | the pathway along which food energy is transferred from trophic level to trophic level, beginning with producers | 37 | |
| 5084134717 | Food Web | the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem | 38 | |
| 5084134718 | Trophic Levels | the positions organisms occupy in a food chain |  | 39 |
| 5084134719 | Secondary Consumer | a carnivore that eats herbivores | 40 | |
| 5084134720 | Primary Consumer | a herbivore; an organism that eats plants or other autotrophs | 41 | |
| 5084134721 | Biogeochemical Cycles | any of the various chemical cycles, which involve both biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems | 42 | |
| 5084134722 | Carbon Cycle | forming the framework of organic molecules, photosynthesis & cellular respiration circulate this nutrient | 43 | |
| 5084134723 | Phosphorus Cycle | cycling of this nutrient through geologic processes such as erosion and sedimentation | 44 | |
| 5084134724 | Nitrogen Cycle | this nutrient is converted to compounds that can be assimilated by plants then returned in gas form to the atmosphere; all processes rely on bacteria | 45 | |
| 5084134725 | Nitrogen Fixation | the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia | 46 | |
| 5084134727 | Water Cycle | this nutrient cycle involves evaporation from the earth & transpiration from plants and falls then by precipitation back down to the earth to begin the cycle again | 47 | |
| 5084134729 | Competitive Exclusion Principle | the concept that when populations of two similar species compete for the same limited resources, one population will use the resources more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the elimination of the other population | 48 | |
| 5084134730 | Resource Partitioning | the division of environmental resources by coexisting species such that the niche of each species differs by one or more significant factors from the niches of all the coexisting species | 49 | |
| 5084134734 | Keystone Species | a species that is not necessarily abundant in a community yet experts strong control on community structure by the nature of its ecological role or niche | 50 | |
| 5084134738 | Decomposers | organisms that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic material such as corpses, fallen plant material, the wastes of living organisms and converts them into inorganic forms; a detritivore | 51 | |
| 5084134742 | Invasive Species | a species often introduced by humans, that takes hold outside its native range | 52 | |
| 5084134750 | Taxis | directed movement towards or away from a stimulus | 53 | |
| 5084134751 | Kinesis | movement in response to a stimulus that is not directional | 54 | |
| 5084134753 | Density dependent factor | factor that affects population based on size (disease, predation etc) | 55 | |
| 5084134754 | Density independent factor | factor that affect population regardless of size (weather, humans etc) | 56 | |
| 5084134755 | Species diversity | variety of organisms in a community | 57 | |
| 5084134756 | Species richness | the number of different species in a community | 58 | |
| 5084134757 | Relative abundance | evenness of distribution of individuals among species in a community | 59 |
