front 1 endotherms | back 1 generate their own body heat through metabolism |
front 2 ectotherms | back 2 lack internal mechanisms for body temperature control, regulate behaviorally with cool or warm places |
front 3 behavior | back 3 how organisms cope with their environments |
front 4 instinct | back 4 inborn, unlearned behavior |
front 5 learning | back 5 a change in behavior brought about by an experience |
front 6 imprinting | back 6 a form of learning that occurs during a brief period of time, usually early in an organism's life (parental, sexual, song) |
front 7 critical period | back 7 a window of time when the animal is sensitive to certain aspects of the environment |
front 8 habituation | back 8 form of learning that occurs when an animal learns not to respond to a stimulus |
front 9 circadian rhythm | back 9 a natural oscillation that repeats roughly every 24 hours. internal alarm clocks |
front 10 pheromones | back 10 chemical signals between members of the same species that stimulate olfactory receptors and affect behavior |
front 11 agonistic behavior | back 11 aggressive social behavior as a result of competition for food / resources |
front 12 dominance hierarchies (pecking orders) | back 12 social behavior in which members in a group establish which is the most dominant (competition and tension become reduced after it is decided) |
front 13 territoriality | back 13 the behavioral, psychological, or legal attempt by individuals, groups, or animals to claim, control, and defend specific geographic areas, resources, or spaces (occurs when food and nesting sites in short supply) |
front 14 altruistic behavior | back 14 unselfish behavior that benefits another organism in the group at the individual's expense because it advances the genes of the group |
front 15 symbiotic relationship | back 15 a close, prolonged association between two or more different biological species |
front 16 mutualism | back 16 symbiotic relationship in which both organisms win |
front 17 commensalism | back 17 symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives off another with no harm to the host |
front 18 parasitism | back 18 symbiotic relationship in which organism harms host |
front 19 photoperiodism | back 19 plants flower in response to changes in the amount of daylight and darkness they receive |
front 20 tropism | back 20 a turning in response to a stimulus |
front 21 phototropism | back 21 plants respond to sunlight (bend towards light) |
front 22 gravitropism | back 22 plants respond to gravity (stems = negative gravitropism, move up; roots = positive gravitropism, move down) |
front 23 thigmotropism | back 23 plants respond to touch (grow around objects) |
front 24 auxins | back 24 plant hormone that promotes growth, phototropism, cell elongation, and fruit development (usually at tip of plant) |
front 25 gibberellins | back 25 plant hormone that promotes cell elongation |
front 26 cytokinins | back 26 plant hormone that promotes cell division and differentiation |
front 27 ethylene | back 27 plant hormone that induces leaf abscission and promotes fruit ripening |
front 28 abscisic acid | back 28 plant hormone that inhibits abscission and promotes bud and seed dormancy |
front 29 ecology | back 29 the study of interactions between living things and their environments |
front 30 biosphere | back 30 entire part of Earth where living things exist |
front 31 ecosystem | back 31 interaction of living and nonliving things |
front 32 community | back 32 a group of populations interacting in the same area |
front 33 population | back 33 a group of individuals that belong to the same species and interbreed |
front 34 biotic factors | back 34 living things |
front 35 abiotic factors | back 35 nonliving things like water, humidity, temperature, soil / atmosphere composition, and light radiation |
front 36 carbon cycle | back 36 the continuous, natural process by which carbon atoms move between the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, soil, rocks, and living organisms |
front 37 niche | back 37 an organism's position or function in a community |
front 38 food chain | back 38 the way different organisms depend on one another for food |
front 39 producers (autotrophs) | back 39 photosynthetic or chemosynthetic organisms, make own food |
front 40 consumers (heterotrophs) | back 40 find energy sources in the outside world (do not produce themselves) |
front 41 primary consumers | back 41 eat producers (herbivores) |
front 42 secondary consumers | back 42 eat producers and primary consumers (carnivores and omnivores) |
front 43 tertiary consumers | back 43 eat primary, secondary, and producers (everything below in the trophic pyramid) |
front 44 decomposers | back 44 break things down |
front 45 keystone species | back 45 one organism particularly important to an ecosystem |
front 46 10% rule | back 46 in a food chain, only 10 percent of energy is transferred from one level to the next |
front 47 ecological pyramid | back 47 represents energy flow, biomass, and members within an ecosystem (highest = least biomass, energy, and numbers) |
front 48 bioaccumulation | back 48 the gradual buildup of persistent, harmful chemicals (like mercury or pesticides) in an organism's tissues faster than they can be metabolized or excreted |
front 49 biomagnification | back 49 the increasing concentration of toxic, persistent substances (like mercury or DDT) in the tissues of organisms at higher trophic levels within a food chain |
front 50 Simpson's diversity index | back 50 measure of the diversity of a community, greater = more diverse |
front 51 population growth | back 51 number of births - number of deaths divided by the size of the population: r = (births-deaths) / N OR (Change in Population Size / Change in Time) = Birth Rate - Death Rate |
front 52 carrying capacity | back 52 the maximum number of individuals of a species that a habitat can support |
front 53 population density | back 53 the concentration of individuals within a species in a specific geographic locale |
front 54 density independent factors | back 54 affect population, regardless of density (e.g. severe storms, extreme climates) |
front 55 density dependent factors | back 55 effects depend on population density (e.g. resource depletion, competition, predation) |
front 56 r-strategists | back 56 thrive in areas that are barren or uninhabited , colonize and produce quickly (common weeds, dandelions, bacteria) |
front 57 k-strategists | back 57 best suited for survival in stable environments (large animals with long lifespans) |
front 58 ecological succession | back 58 the predictable procession of plant communities over a relatively short period of time (decade or centuries) |
front 59 primary succession | back 59 the process of ecological succession in which no previous organisms have existed (lichen and seres) |
front 60 sere | back 60 A complete succession of plant communities, which results in the climax community. A sere is composed of a series of different plant communities that change with time. These communities are known as seral stages or seral communities. |
front 61 pioneer organisms | back 61 resilient species that are the first to colonize barren environments, or to repopulate disrupted biodiverse steady-state ecosystems |
front 62 climax community | back 62 final community after ecological succession, MOST STABLE |
front 63 secondary succession | back 63 when a new community develops where another community has been destroyed or disrupted, develop more quickly than primary |
front 64 greenhouse effect | back 64 atmospheric gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) trap heat near Earth's surface, keeping the planet warm enough to sustain life |
front 65 ozone depletion | back 65 the steady decline of the Earth's stratospheric ozone layer, caused by human-made chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that release chlorine and bromine in the atmosphere |
front 66 acid rain | back 66 any form of precipitation—rain, snow, fog, or dust—that contains high levels of sulfuric and nitric acids, typically with a pH below 5.6 |
front 67 desertification | back 67 when a land is overgrazed by animals, it turns grasslands into deserts and reduces available habitats for organisms |
front 68 deforestation | back 68 when forests are cleared (especially by slash and burn method), erosion, floods, and changes in weather patterns occur |
front 69 pollution | back 69 toxic chemicals in the environment like DDT and pesticides |
front 70 reduction in biodiversity | back 70 as different habitats have been destroyed, many plants and animals have become extinct that could have provided medicines or products |
front 71 introduction and spread of disease | back 71 human travel disrupts habitats and brings disease, immediate selective pressures that can leave an ecosystem forever changed |