Module 3 Flashcards
Vocabulary
what is ecology?
the study of the interactions between living organisms
population?
a group of interbreeding organisms coexisting together.
community?
a group of populations living and interaction in the same area.
ecosystem?
an association of living organisms and their physical environment
biome?
a group of ecosystems classified by climate and plant life.
biosphere?
the sum of all of Earth’s ecosystems in land, water, or air.
species?
a unit of one or more populations of individuals that can reproduce under normal conditions, produce fertile offspring, and are reproductively isolated from other such units.
biotic factors?
any living part of an environment.
abiotic factors?
the nonliving physical and chemical conditions affecting organism.
producers?
organism that produce their own food.
consumers?
organisms that eat living producers and/or other consumers for food.
decomposers?
organisms that break down the dead remains of other organisms.
primary consumer?
an organism that eats producers.
secondary consumer?
organism that eat primary consumers.
tertiary consumer?
organisms that eat secondary consumers.
quaternary consumer?
organisms that eat tertiary consumers.
food chain?
a series of steps in which organism transfer energy by eating and being eaten.
food web?
links all the food chains in an ecosystem together.
biomass?
a measure of the total amount of living tissue of organisms within a trophic level in an ecosystem.
Primary productivity?
rate at which producer in an ecosystem build biomass.
ecological pyramid?
pyramid shaped diagrams that show the amount of energy or matter at each trophic level in an ecosystem.
transpiration?
evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant.
greenhouse effect?
the process by which certain gases (principally water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) trap heat that would otherwise escape the earth and radiate into space.
habitat?
the specific environment of an organism, both biotic and abiotic.
