 | Term | Definition |
| |
parasite |
nourishes off of HOST organism |
| |
food chain |
how the sunlight flows in one direction in a feeding relationship |
| |
producer |
creates ATP-chemical energy; autotrophs |
| |
mutualism |
relationship where both organisms benefit |
| |
primary |
1st consumer |
| |
secondary |
2nd consumer |
| |
tertiary |
3rd consumer |
| |
quarternary |
4th consumer |
| |
quintary |
5th consumer |
| |
food web |
represents many food chains or feeding relationships |
| |
pyramid of numbers |
counts the amount of organisms in a given area |
| |
symbiosis |
organisms living together in a close relationship |
| |
pathogen |
a microbe that causes a disease |
| |
insectivore |
eats insects |
| |
filter feeder |
feeds off of food particles in water by straining |
| |
ecological pyramid |
the loss of heat energy from digestion, absorption from the atmosphere, into detritus |
| |
energy pyramid |
shows how energy is loss from one trophic level to the next |
| |
10% |
the amount of energy lost at each pyramid level |
| |
biomass pyramid |
shows the decreasing organic living matter at each trophic level |
| |
grams and kilograms |
measurements used in biomass pyramids |
| |
top carnivore |
a consumer at the top of the food chain with no predators |
| |
vegetarian |
a human that chooses not to eat animals |
| |
autotroph |
organism that makes its own food |
| |
heterotroph |
organism that obtains its energy and mass from other organisms |
| |
plankton |
microscopic marine organisms |
| |
phytoplankton |
microscopic marine producers |
| |
zooplankton |
microscopic marine consumers |
| |
scavenger |
animal that eats dead animals but doesn't kill them |
| |
detritus |
dead and waste matter that is not eaten by consumers |
| |
carrion |
alternative word for detritus |
| |
decomposer |
an organism that consumes detritus |
| |
detrivore |
animal that eats detritus |
| |
saprophyte |
microbe that lives on detritus |
| |
commensalism |
relationship where one organism benefits and the other is neither benefited or harmed |
| |
sessile |
you can't move |
| |
parasitism |
relationship where one organism benefits and the other is harmed |
| |
ecological niche |
the job or role a species has in a community |
| |
niche |
food preference, time of day, time of year, and within the habitat |
| |
exception to niche splitting rule |
birds on one tree eat the same insect but occupy different areas |
| |
intraspecific competition |
competition within 2 species |
| |
interspecific competition |
competition between 2 species |
| |
fundamental niche |
entire range or conditions an organism needs to occupy a habitat |
| |
realized niche |
a part or portion of the fundamental niche |
| |
humus |
the dark rich organic matter in the topsoil |
| |
subsoil |
leading perrolating zone |
| |
accumulation zone |
partially weathered/altered |
| |
bedrock |
unaltered/unweathered |
| |
biome |
many ecosystems having the same climate & dominant/climax community |
| |
biosphere |
areas on earth with living organisms |
| |
photic zone |
zone of light near the water's surface |
| |
ecological succession |
the process by which 1 biotic community is replaced by another |
| |
primary succession |
occurs on barron rock or land that hasn't been disturbed |
| |
secondary succession |
occurs after a climax community has been disturbed or affected by a natural disaster/event-phenomena |
| |
secondary succession takes less time to happen |
which succession takes less time to happen? |
| |
aphotic zone |
layer in the ocean that is permanently dark |
| |
estuary |
wetland formed where rivers meet the sea |
| |
wetland |
ecosystem ehich water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface of the soil for at least part of the year |
| |
desert |
arid land with sparse, drought-resistant plants |
| |
grassland |
largest terrestrial biome that supports small plants and grasses, but few trees |
| |
tundra |
treeless land where only small plants and grasses grow during the long summer days |
| |
tropical rain forest |
warm, wet land that supports many species of organisms |
| |
taiga |
land with coniferous forests, peat swamps, and long, harsh winters |
| |
temperate forest |
land populated with broad-leaved hardwood trees that lose their leaves annually |
| |
intertidal zone |
zone where it is sometimes submerged in sea water and sometimes exposed to air and sunlight |
| |
coastal ocean |
receives sunlight and extends from the low-tide mark to the outer edge of the continental shelf |
| |
open ocean |
exposed to high pressure, frigid temperatures and total darkness |
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