these terms all come from the book, but many of them follow different definitions. covers all six chapters.
Terms : Hide Images
| 82906578 | ecology | the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment | |
| 82906579 | abiotic factors | temperature, water, sunlight, wind, rocks, soil | |
| 82906580 | biotic factor | predation, competition, available mates, abundance of food, contagious diseases | |
| 82906581 | ecological time | Shorter than evolutionary time (Minutes, Months, Years) | |
| 82906582 | evolutionary time | Longer than ecological time (Decades, Centuries, Millenia, and longer) | |
| 82906583 | organismal ecology | The branch of ecology concerned with the morphological, physiological, and behavioral ways in which individual organisms meet the challenges posed by their biotic and abiotic environments | |
| 82906584 | population | a group of organisms of the same species populating a given area | |
| 82906585 | community | a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other | |
| 82906586 | ecosystem | a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment | |
| 82906587 | landscape ecology | The study of past, present, and future patterns of landscape use, as well as ecosystem management and the biodiversity of interacting ecosystems | |
| 82906588 | biosphere | the regions of the surface and atmosphere of the Earth (or other planet) where living organisms exist | |
| 82906589 | precautionary principle | When a threat is of serious environmental damage, we should not wait for scientific proof before taking action. | |
| 82906590 | biogeography | dealing with the geographical distribution of organisms | |
| 82906591 | dispersal | the movement of organisms from one place to another | |
| 82906592 | climate | the weather in some location averaged over some long period of time | |
| 82906593 | biome | a natural community of plants and animals, its composition being largely controlled by climatic conditions. | |
| 82906594 | microclimate | climate within a small area that differs significantly from the climate of the surrounding area | |
| 82906595 | detritus | dead organic matter | |
| 82906596 | littoral zone | the region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean | |
| 82906597 | limnetic zone | In a lake, the well-lit, open surface waters farther from shore. | |
| 82906598 | profundal zone | zone in a freshwater habitat that is below the limits of effective light penetration | |
| 82906599 | oligotrophic lake | A nutrient-poor, clear, deep lake with minimum phytoplankton. | |
| 82906600 | eutrophic lake | Lake with a large or excessive supply of plant nutrients, mostly nitrates and phosphates. | |
| 82906601 | mesotrophic lake | Lake with a moderate supply of plant nutrients. | |
| 82906602 | intertidal zone | The shallow zone of the ocean where land meets water | |
| 82906603 | neritic zone | area of ocean that extends from the low-tide line out to the edge of the continental shelf | |
| 82906604 | oceanic pelagic biome | the open ocean where waters are constantly mixed by currents and nutrient content is lower than other zones; most ocean water is here | |
| 82906605 | canopy | dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rain forest trees | |
| 82906606 | permafrost | ground that is permanently frozen | |
| 82906607 | savanna | a flat grassland in tropical or subtropical regions | |
| 82906608 | desert | an arid region with little or no vegetation, usually very hot or very cold | |
| 82906609 | chaparral | temperate coastal biome dominated by dense evergreen shrubs | |
| 82906610 | temperate grassland | a terrestrial biome dominated by grasses | |
| 82906611 | deciduous forest | A biome with four seasons, plants shed leaves in the fall and grow new ones in the spring. | |
| 82906612 | coniferous forest | forest populated by cone-bearing evergreen trees; mostly found in northern latitudes | |
| 82906613 | tundra | a vast treeless plain in the arctic regions between the ice cap and the tree line or on high altitudes | |
| 82906614 | behavior | what an animal does and how it does it | |
| 82906615 | ethology | the branch of zoology that studies the behavior of animals in their natural habitats | |
| 82906616 | fixed action pattern (FAP) | A sequence of behavioral acts that is essentially unchangeable and usually carried to completion once initiated. | |
| 82906617 | sign stimulus | an external sensory stimulus that triggers a fixed action pattern | |
| 82906618 | optimal foraging theory | The basis for analyzing behavior as a compromise of feeding costs versus feeding benefits. | |
| 82906619 | learning | the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge | |
| 82906620 | maturation | ongoing developmental changes in neuromscular systems | |
| 82906621 | imprinting | a learning process in early life whereby species specific patterns of behavior are established | |
| 82906622 | habituation | a general accommodation to unchanging environmental conditions | |
| 82906623 | sensitive period | A limited phase in an individual animal's development when learning of particular behaviors can take place. | |
| 82906624 | associative learning | learning that certain events occur together | |
| 82906625 | classical conditioning | conditioning that pairs a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that evokes a reflex | |
| 82906626 | operant conditioning | a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher | |
| 82906627 | play | behavior that has no apparent eternal goal but involves movements closely associated with goal-directed behavior | |
| 82906628 | cognition | all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating | |
| 82906629 | kinesis | A change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus. | |
| 82906630 | taxis | movement toward or away from a stimulus | |
| 82906631 | landmark | A familiar object in the landscape serving as a guide to an area otherwise easily lost track of. | |
| 82906632 | cognitive map | a mental representation of the layout of one's environment | |
| 82906633 | social behavior | any kind of interaction between two or more animals, usually of the same species | |
| 82906634 | sociobiology | the branch of biology that conducts comparative studies of the social organization of animals with regard to its evolutionary history | |
| 82906635 | agonistic behavior | A type of behavior involving a contest of some kind that determines which competitor gains access to some resource, such as food or mates. | |
| 82906636 | ritual | the use of symbolic activity, with no serious harm done to either combatant | |
| 82906637 | reconciliation behavior | Post-conflict behavior that renews friendly relations. | |
| 82906638 | dominance hierarchy | form of social ranking within a group in which some individuals are more subordinate than others | |
| 82906639 | territory | an area that an individual defends, usually excluding other members of its own species | |
| 82906640 | courtship | behavioral patterns that lead up to mating | |
| 82906641 | parental investment | The resources, including time, physical effort, and risk to life that a parent spends in procreation and in the feeding, nurturing and protecting offspring | |
| 82906642 | promiscuity | mating where no strong pair-bonds or lasting relationship exists | |
| 82906643 | monogamous | having one mate | |
| 82906644 | polygamous | having multiple mates | |
| 82906645 | polygyny | involving a single male and many females | |
| 82906646 | polyandry | involving a single female and many males | |
| 82906647 | signal | a behavior that causes a change in behavior in another animal | |
| 82906648 | communication | transmission of, reception of, and response to signals | |
| 82906649 | pheromones | chemical signals emitted by odor-communicating animals | |
| 82906650 | altruism | the quality of unselfish concern for the welfare of others | |
| 82906651 | coefficient of relatedness | The probability that a particular gene present in one individual will also be inherited from a common parent or ancestor in a second individual. | |
| 82906652 | hamilton's rule | for natural selection to favor an altruistic act, the benefit to the recipient multiplied by the coefficient of relatedness must exceed the cost to the altruist | |
| 82906653 | reciprocal altruism | behavior that benefits another with the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future | |
| 82906654 | dispersion | the pattern of spacing among individuals within the geographic boundaries of the population | |
| 82906655 | life table | age-specific summary of the survival pattern of a population | |
| 82906656 | survivorship curve | a plot of the proportion of numbers in a cohort still alive at each age | |
| 82906657 | reproductive table (fertility schedule) | age-specific summary of the reproductive rates in a population | |
| 82906658 | iteroparity | repeated reproduction, a life history in which adults produce large numbers of offspring over many years | |
| 82906659 | semelparity | A life history in which adults have but a single reproductive opportunity to produce large numbers of offspring, big-bang reproduction | |
| 82906660 | zero population growth (ZPG) | when the birth rate equals the death rate | |
| 82906661 | intrinsic rate of increase | rate at which the population of a species would grow if it had unlimited resources | |
| 82906662 | carrying capacity | largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support | |
| 82906663 | allee effect | reduction in reproduction or survival where populations are too small | |
| 82906664 | K-selection | takes place in stable environments, few offspring with lots of parental investment | |
| 82906665 | R-selection | takes place in variable environments, many offspring with little parental investment | |
| 82906666 | demographic transition | change in a population from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates | |
| 82906667 | age structure | the relative number of individuals of each age | |
| 82906668 | ecological footprint | The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to support a person or population. | |
| 82906669 | species richness | the number of different species in a community | |
| 82906670 | relative abundance | how rare or common a species is in a community | |
| 82906671 | individualistic hypothesis | A theory that depicts a plant community as a chance assemblage of species found in the same area simply because they happen to have similar abiotic requirements | |
| 82906672 | interactive hypothesis | A theory that depicts communities being assemblages of dependent closely linked species | |
| 82906673 | rivet model | suggests that most of the species in a community are associated tightly with other species in a web of life | |
| 82906674 | redundancy model | most of the species in a community are not tightly associated with each other, and the web of life is very loose | |
| 82906675 | interspecific competition | in a community competition for resources between members of different species | |
| 82906676 | the competitive exclusion principle | states that no two species can occupy the same niche | |
| 82906677 | ecological niche | the sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment | |
| 82906678 | resource partitioning | the differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a community | |
| 82906679 | character displacement | evolution of anatomical differences that reduce competition between similar species | |
| 82906680 | predator adaptations | acute senses, claws, teeth, fangs, stingers, poison, chemical sensors, heat sensors, camouglage | |
| 82906681 | plant defenses against herbivores | chemical toxins, antipredator spines and thorns | |
| 82906682 | animal defenses against predators | hiding, fleeing, alarm calls, coloration, mechanical or chemical defenses, mimicry | |
| 82906683 | cryptic coloration | Camouflage, making potential prey difficult to spot against its background | |
| 82906684 | aposematic coloration | The bright coloration of animals hat acts as a warning to predators | |
| 82906685 | batesian mimicry | A type of mimicry in which a harmless species looks like a species that is poisonous or otherwise harmful to predators. | |
| 82906686 | müllerian mimicry | evolution of two species both of which are unpalatable and have poisonous stingers or some other defense mechanism to resemble each other | |
| 82906687 | endoparasites | parasites that live within their hosts | |
| 82906688 | ectoparasites | parasites that feed on the external surface of a host | |
| 82906689 | parasitoidism | parasites who lay eggs on living hosts | |
| 82906690 | coevolution | process by which two species evolve in response to changes in each other | |
| 82906691 | trophic structure | The different feeding relationships in an ecosystem, which determine the route of energy flow and the pattern of chemical cycling | |
| 82906692 | trophic levels | The hierarchical levels of the food chain through which energy flows from primary producers to primary consumers, secondary consumers and so on. | |
| 82906693 | energetic hypothesis | The concept that the length of a food chain is limited by the inefficiency of energy transfer along the chain. | |
| 82906694 | dynamic stability hypothesis | The idea that long food chains are less stable than short chains. | |
| 82906695 | dominant species | have the highest biomass in a community | |
| 82906696 | biomass | the sum weight of all the individuals in a population | |
| 82906697 | keystone species | are not especially abundant in a community, but nonetheless exert strong control on community structure through their ecologic roles or niches | |
| 82906698 | bottom-up model | says that mineral nutrients control community organization, because they control plant numbers, which control consumer numbers | |
| 82906699 | top-down model | says that predation controls community organization because predators control herbivores, which control plants, which control nutrient levels | |
| 82906700 | nonequilibrium model | in which communities are seen as constantly changing after being buffeted by disturbances | |
| 82906701 | succession | gradual change in living communities that follows a disturbance | |
| 82906702 | primary succession | an ecological succession that begins in a an area where no soil has yet formed | |
| 82906703 | secondary succession | succession where the soil remains in tact | |
| 82906704 | heterogeneity | the quality of being diverse and not comparable in kind | |
| 82906705 | species-area curve | the larger the geographic area of a community sampled, the greater the number of species supported | |
| 82906706 | heterotrophs | organisms that cannot make their own food and rely on primary producers | |
| 82906707 | standing crop | total biomass of photosynthetic autotrophs present at a given time | |
| 82906708 | limiting nutrient | single nutrient that either is scarce or cycles very slowly, limiting the growth of organisms in an ecosystem | |
| 82906709 | eutrophication | process by which a body of water becomes too rich in dissolved nutrients, leading to plant growth that depletes oxygen | |
| 82906710 | secondary production | The amount of chemical energy in consumers' food that is converted to their own new biomass during a given time period | |
| 82906711 | production efficiency | the fraction of food energy that is not used for respiration | |
| 82906712 | trophic efficiency | the percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next | |
| 82906713 | pyramid of production | in which the trophic levels are stacked in blocks with the primary producers forming the foundation | |
| 82906714 | biomass pyramid | in which each tier represents the standing crop in a trophic level | |
| 82906715 | turnover time | The time required to replace the standing crop of a population or group of populations, calculated as the ratio of standing crop biomass to production | |
| 82906716 | pyramid of numbers | in which the size of each block is proportional to the number of individual organisms present in each trophic level | |
| 82906717 | green world hypothesis | the conjecture that terrestrial herbivores consume relatively little plant biomass because they are held in check by a variety of factors, including predators, parasites, and disease | |
| 82906718 | nitrogen fixation | process of converting nitrogen gas into ammonia | |
| 82906719 | nitrification | the oxidation of ammonium compounds in dead organic material into nitrates and nitrites by soil bacteria (making nitrogen available to plants) | |
| 82906720 | denitrification | process in which fixed nitrogen compounds are converted back into nitrogen gas and returned to the atmosphere | |
| 82906721 | ammonification | decomposers convert organic waste into ammonia, recycling nitrogen back to the soil | |
| 82906722 | critical load | the amount of added nutrient, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, that can be absorbed by plants without damaging ecosystem integrity. | |
| 82906723 | cultural eutrophication | Overnourishment of aquatic ecosystems with plant nutrients (mostly nitrates and phosphates) because of human activities such as agriculture, urbanization, and discharges from industrial plants and sewage treatment plants. | |
| 82906724 | biological magnification | increasing concentration of a harmful substance in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain or food web | |
| 82906725 | ecosystem services | Important environmental benefits, that ecosystems provide | |
| 82906726 | introduced (invasive) species | species moved by humans from the native location to new geographic regions | |
| 82906727 | small population approach | An approach to species conservation concerned with the factors that drive a small population to extinction, such as genetic drift, inbreeding, etc. | |
| 82906728 | extinction vortex | A downward population spiral in which positive-feedback loops of inbreeding and genetic drift cause a small population to shrink, and unless reversed, become extinct. | |
| 82906729 | minimum viable population size (MVP) | The number of individuals needed for long-term survival of rare and endangered species | |
| 82906730 | effective population size | An estimate of the size of a population based on the numbers of females and males that successfully breed; generally smaller than the total population. | |
| 82906731 | declining population approach | A proactive approach to species conservation that focuses on detecting, diagnosing and preventing population declines in order to keep the population above a minimum viable size. | |
| 82906732 | movement corridor | a series of small clumps or a narrow strip of quality habitat (usable by organisms) that connects otherwise isolated patches of quality habitat | |
| 82906733 | biodiversity hot spot | A relatively small area with an exceptional concentration of endemic species and a large number of endangered and threatened species | |
| 82906734 | bioremediation | the use of living organisms to detoxify polluted ecosystems | |
| 82906735 | Sustainable Biosphere Initiative | a research agenda with the goal to define and acquire the basic ecological information necessary for the intelligent and responsible development, management, and conservation of resources |
