Bio 2.6 Ecological Patterns Vocab

Question 1

What is Ecology?

Answer 1

The study of how different species interact with the environment.

Question 2

What is an Ecosystem?

Answer 2

A community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment, interacting as a system.

Question 3

What are Abiotic factors?

Answer 3

A non-living characteristic of the environment.

Question 4

What are Biotic factors?

Answer 4

The living organisms/relationships that impact on an organism.

Question 5

What is a Community?

Answer 5

All the different populations that live together in an area.

Question 6

What is a Population?

Answer 6

All the members of one species in a particular area.

Question 7

What is Tolerance?

Answer 7

An organism’s capacity to survive variation in environmental conditions.

Question 8

What is a Habitat?

Answer 8

The physical area where an organism lives.

Question 9

What are Interspecific interactions?

Answer 9

Interactions between members of different species.

Question 10

What are Intraspecific interactions?

Answer 10

Interactions between members of the same species.

Question 11

What is Mutualism?

Answer 11

A relationship in which both species benefit.

Question 12

What is Commensalism?

Answer 12

One species benefits while the other is unaffected.

Question 13

What is Exploitation?

Answer 13

Where one member in the relationship benefits while the other is harmed, generally relating to food supply.

Question 14

What is Parasitism?

Answer 14

A relationship in which one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it.

Question 15

What is a Predator?

Answer 15

The organism that kills another for food.

Question 16

What is Prey?

Answer 16

Organisms that predators kill for food.

Question 17

What is Predation?

Answer 17

Where one animal (predator) hunts and kills the other (prey).

Question 18

What is Herbivory?

Answer 18

Where one animal (herbivore) eats the plant (producer).

Question 19

What is Competition?

Answer 19

When two or more species compete for the same resources; food, space. Both organisms are harmed.

Question 20

What is a Scavenger?

Answer 20

An organism that mostly consumes decaying biomass.

Question 21

What is Structural adaptation?

Answer 21

A part of the organism that helps it obtain resources or survive more efficiently than if they didn’t have it.

Question 22

What is Behavioural adaptation?

Answer 22

An action that helps the organism survive or reproduce more efficiently.

Question 23

What is Physiological adaptation?

Answer 23

A process that occurs within the body that enables the organism to tolerate environmental conditions better.

Question 24

What is a Niche?

Answer 24

The role of an organism in its habitat (abiotic, biotic, resources, adaptations).

Question 25

What is Gause’s Principal?

Answer 25

Interspecific competition which occurs when two different species attempt to utilize the same resource and there is not enough of the resource for both species.

Question 26

What is a Fundamental niche?

Answer 26

The set of resources a population is theoretically capable of using under ideal conditions.

Question 27

What is a Realised niche?

Answer 27

The resources a population actually uses.

Question 28

What is Zonation?

Answer 28

The distribution of plants or animals into specific zones according to such abiotic factors as altitude or depth, each has its dominant species.

Question 29

What is the Splash zone?

Answer 29

Zone that is only covered during storms and extremely high tides and that is moistened by the spray of the breaking waves.

Question 30

What is the Intertidal zone?

Answer 30

The area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide.

Question 31

What is the High tide zone?

Answer 31

Most of the time exposed to air.

Question 32

What is the Mid tide zone?

Answer 32

Submerged and flooded for approximately equal periods of time per tide cycle.

Question 33

What is the Low tide zone?

Answer 33

Most of the time submerged.

Question 34

What is the Subtidal zone?

Answer 34

Always submerged.

Question 35

What is Biodiversity?

Answer 35

Diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems.

Question 36

What are Rock pools?

Answer 36

Offer better survival chances for animals and plants that need to be submerged all the time.

Question 37

What is Salinity?

Answer 37

Amount of salt dissolved in a body of water.

Question 38

What is a Kite diagram?

Answer 38

Graph that shows the density or distribution of species that have been found along an environmental gradient.