Ecology Vocab

Question 1

What is an abiotic factor?

Answer 1

Non-living parts of an ecosystem (e.g., sunlight, water, temperature).

Question 2

What is age structure?

Answer 2

The distribution of individuals in different age groups within a population.

Question 3

What is Batesian mimicry?

Answer 3

When a harmless species mimics a harmful one for protection.

Question 4

What are biogeochemical cycles?

Answer 4

The movement of elements (e.g., water, carbon, nitrogen) through living and non-living systems.

Question 5

What is biomass?

Answer 5

The total mass of living organisms in a given area.

Question 6

What is the biosphere?

Answer 6

The global sum of all ecosystems where life exists.

Question 7

What is a biotic factor?

Answer 7

Living parts of an ecosystem (e.g., plants, animals, bacteria).

Question 8

What are carnivores?

Answer 8

Organisms that eat only animals.

Question 9

What is carrying capacity?

Answer 9

The maximum number of individuals an environment can support.

Question 10

What is chemical cycling?

Answer 10

The movement of chemical elements through ecosystems (e.g., carbon, nitrogen cycles).

Question 11

What does clumped mean in ecology?

Answer 11

A dispersion pattern where individuals are grouped together in patches.

Question 12

What is commensalism?

Answer 12

A relationship where one species benefits, and the other is unaffected.

Question 13

What is a community in ecology?

Answer 13

All the different species living in an area.

Question 14

What is the competitive exclusion principle?

Answer 14

No two species can occupy the same niche indefinitely without one outcompeting the other.

Question 15

What is a consumer?

Answer 15

Organisms that eat other organisms for energy.

Question 16

What are decomposers?

Answer 16

Organisms (e.g., fungi, bacteria) that break down dead matter.

Question 17

What is detritus?

Answer 17

Dead organic material, such as fallen leaves and animal waste.

Question 18

What is a detritivore?

Answer 18

Organisms that feed on detritus (e.g., earthworms, some insects).

Question 19

What are dispersion patterns?

Answer 19

How individuals in a population are spread out in an area.

Question 20

What are disturbances in an ecosystem?

Answer 20

Events (natural or human-caused) that change ecosystems (e.g., fire, storms).

Question 21

What is ecological succession?

Answer 21

The process of ecosystem change over time after a disturbance.

Question 22

What is ecology?

Answer 22

The study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment.

Question 23

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 23

A community of organisms and their abiotic environment.

Question 24

What is energy flow?

Answer 24

The movement of energy through an ecosystem, from producers to consumers.

Question 25

What is an energy pyramid?

Answer 25

A diagram showing energy loss at each trophic level in a food chain.

Question 26

What is the exponential growth model?

Answer 26

A population growth model where the population increases rapidly without limits.

Question 27

What is a food chain?

Answer 27

A linear sequence of organisms showing who eats whom.

Question 28

What is a food web?

Answer 28

A complex network of interconnected food chains.

Question 29

What is a fundamental niche?

Answer 29

The full range of environmental conditions a species can occupy.

Question 30

What is a habitat?

Answer 30

The physical environment where an organism lives.

Question 31

What are herbivores?

Answer 31

Organisms that eat only plants.

Question 32

What is interspecific competition?

Answer 32

Competition between different species for resources.

Question 33

What is intraspecific competition?

Answer 33

Competition between members of the same species.

Question 34

What is a keystone species?

Answer 34

A species that has a major impact on its ecosystem.

Question 35

What are limiting factors?

Answer 35

Factors that control population size (e.g., food, weather).

Question 36

What is the logistic growth model?

Answer 36

A population growth model where growth slows as resources become limited.

Question 37

What is Müllerian mimicry?

Answer 37

When two harmful species evolve to look alike.

Question 38

What is mutualism?

Answer 38

A relationship where both species benefit.

Question 39

What is a niche?

Answer 39

The role a species plays in its ecosystem.

Question 40

What is an organism?

Answer 40

A living individual (e.g., plant, animal, bacteria).

Question 41

What is parasitism?

Answer 41

A relationship where one species benefits and the other is harmed.

Question 42

What is a population?

Answer 42

A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area.

Question 43

What is population density?

Answer 43

The number of individuals per unit area.

Question 44

What is population ecology?

Answer 44

The study of how populations change over time.

Question 45

What is predation?

Answer 45

An interaction where one organism (predator) kills and eats another (prey).

Question 46

What is a predator?

Answer 46

An organism that hunts and eats other organisms.

Question 47

What is prey?

Answer 47

An organism that is eaten by a predator.

Question 48

What are primary consumers?

Answer 48

Herbivores that eat producers.

Question 49

What is primary succession?

Answer 49

The establishment of life in areas without soil (e.g., after a volcanic eruption).

Question 50

What are producers?

Answer 50

Organisms that make their own food (e.g., plants, algae).

Question 51

What is a pyramid of biomass?

Answer 51

A diagram showing the total mass of organisms at each trophic level.

Question 52

What is a pyramid of energy?

Answer 52

A diagram showing energy loss at each trophic level.

Question 53

What is a pyramid of numbers?

Answer 53

A diagram showing the number of organisms at each trophic level.

Question 54

What are quaternary consumers?

Answer 54

Top predators that eat tertiary consumers.

Question 55

What is a realized niche?

Answer 55

The actual environment a species occupies due to competition.

Question 56

What is resource partitioning?

Answer 56

When species share resources by using them differently.

Question 57

What are secondary consumers?

Answer 57

Carnivores that eat primary consumers.

Question 58

What are survivorship curves?

Answer 58

Graphs showing how survival rates change with age.

Question 59

What is Type I survivorship?

Answer 59

High survival in early/mid-life, then drops (e.g., humans).

Question 60

What is Type II survivorship?

Answer 60

Constant survival rate (e.g., birds).

Question 61

What is Type III survivorship?

Answer 61

Low early survival, few reach adulthood (e.g., fish).

Question 62

What are tertiary consumers?

Answer 62

Carnivores that eat secondary consumers.

Question 63

What is a trophic level?

Answer 63

A step in a food chain (e.g., producer, consumer).

Question 64

What is uniform dispersion?

Answer 64

A dispersion pattern where individuals are evenly spaced.