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AP Environmental Science - Ecology Flashcards

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8554712334EcologyThe branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings. (The study of connections in nature)0
8554712335EcosystemA community where populations of different species interact with one another and with their nonliving environment of matter and energy.1
8554712336PopulationA group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area.2
8554712337SpeciesA group of organisms that resemble one another in appearance, behavior, chemistry, and genetic makeup.3
8554712338HabitatAn environment that provides an organism or species with the means to live, grow, and reproduce. (Can be as large as the ocean or as small as an animal's intestine)4
8554712339Abiotic factorsNon-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems.5
8554712340Biotic factorsThe living factors in the environment such as producers, consumers, and decomposers.6
8554712341nicheThe place or function of a given organism within its ecosystem7
8554712342Fundamental nicheentire set of conditions under which an animal (population, species) can survive and reproduce itself.8
8554712343Realized nichethe part of fundamental niche that an organism occupies as a result of limiting factors present in its habitat.9
8554712344Limiting factorsenvironmental conditions that limit the growth, abundance, or distribution of an organism or a population of organisms in an ecosystem. ... also competition between individuals of a species10
8554712345Carrying Capacitythe size of a population that a region can support without environmental degradation.11
8554712346Population dynamicsthe size and age composition of populations as dynamical systems, and the biological and environmental processes driving them12
8554712347S & J population curvesPatterns of growth in an environment13
8554712348Communitythe study of the interactions between species in communities on many different scales14
8554712350PhotosynthesisA process used by some autotrophs to capture light energy and use it to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and glucose 6CO2 + 6H2O + light --> C6H12O6 + 6O215
8554712351Trophic leveleach of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that SHARE the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy16
8554712353Productivityhe rate of production of new biomass by an individual, population, or community; the fertility or capacity of a given habitat or area.17
8554712354Gross primary productivity (GPP)the total amount of biomass produced via photosynthesis over a given amount of time18
8554712355Net primary Productivity (NPP)The energy captured by producers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire19
8554712356BiomesBroad, regional types of ecosystems characterized by distinctive climates and soil conditions and distinctive kinds of biological communities adapted to those conditions.20
8554712357BiosphereAll of the Earth's ecosystems, or the global ecosystem where all life in interconnected.21
8554712358Salinitythe concentration of dissolved salts in water22
8554712359Species diversitynumber of different species that are represented in a given community23

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