Ecology
The study of the relationships between organisms and their environment.
Ecosystem
Living organisms interacting with each other and their nonliving environment.
Biosphere
Includes all the air, land, and water where life exists.
Organism
A living thing.
Habitat
The place an organism lives.
Environment
The place an organism lives.
Biotic factor
A living part of the environment.
Examples of biotic factors
Plants, Animals, Fungi, Protists ( algae), and Monerans (bacteria)
Abiotic factor
A non-living part of the environment.
Examples of abiotic factors
water, soil, light , minerals, wind, air, temperature, pollution, etc.
Population
All the organism of one species living in a specific area.
Death rate
The number of deaths in a population in a certain amount of time.
Birth rate
The number of births in a population in a certain amount of time.
Migration rate
The number of organisms that move in and out of a specific area.
Limiting factors
The resources that organisms need to survive. When unavailable these factors limit a populations' ability to grow/increase.
Example: when resources such as food, water or space become limited
Community
All populations of different organisms living together in a specific area.
Succession
A gradual change in a community over time.
Niche
An organism's role (job) within its' community.
Producer
An organism that makes it's own food, usually using sunlight by a process called photosynthesis.
Examples of producers
Plants, algae
Autotroph
An organism that can make its own food, usually using sunlight by a process called photosynthesis.
Consumer
An organism that can not make it's own food and must eat another organism.
Examples of consumers
People and animals
Heterotroph
an organism that needs to get its own food by eating another organism.
Decomposer
An organism that decays dead matter and recycles its' nutrients back into the soil.
Examples of decomposers
bacteria, fungi and worms
Food Chain
A model of how energy/food is transferred between organisms, by eating and being eaten.
Food Web
A model of many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.
Energy Pyramid
Shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web. The amount of energy available as you move from the bottom to the top of the pyramid decreases at each feeding level.
Predator
An animal that hunts other animals for food
Symbiosis
A close relationship between two organisms.
Prey
An organism that is killed and eaten by another organism
Parasitism
A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed
Host
The organism on which a parasite lives.
Parasite
An organism that feeds on a living host
Camouflage
An organism that hides by blending its' appearance with its environment
Mimicry
The ability of an animal to look like another animal that may be harmful or poisonous.
Mutualism
A close relationship between two organisms in which they both benefit/help each other
Adaptation
Any feature an organism has to help it survive in its' environment.
Competition
Organisms will compete with each other for resources such as food, water, living space, shelter, and mates.
Sampling
A method used by scientists to estimate the numbers of individuals in a population.
Scavenger
An organism that the feeds on the bodies of dead animals.
Example: maggots, vultures and hyenas
Biome
A large region that has a specific type of climate and certain types of plant and animal communities
Climax Community
The final stage of succession. A stable community in an ecosystem that no longer goes through major ecological changes. It consists of dominant species of plants and animals.
Capture, Mark & Release
A technique used by scientists to count the numbers of individuals in a population and find out about their health.
Omnivore
An organism that eats meat and plants
Herbivore
An organism that eats mostly plants
Carnivore
An organism that eats mostly meat
Detritivore
An organism that eats organisms that are already dead.