Food chain: describes where energy and nutrients go as they move from one organism to another

Food web: interconnection of food chains to form complex

webs of feeding relationships

Autotrophs: produce organic material from inorganic

constituents through the use of an external energy source

Heterotrophs: must consume organic material to obtain

energy

Detritus: dead plant material (leaves, etc.), fecal wastes, dead bodies

Biomass: the total combined (net dry) weight of organisms

Biomass pyramid: the different levels of producer and consumer mass

Primary production: (production of organic molecules from the sun) is only 2% of the incoming solar energy

Disturbance: a significant change that kills or displaces many community members

Ecological succession: transition from one biotic community to another

• Pioneer species: colonize a newly opened area   first

• Species can create conditions favorable to other   species and less favorable to them

Primary succession: the process of initial invasion and

progression from one biotic community to another

• In an area lacking plants and soil (e.g., a   retreating glacier)

Secondary succession: an area cleared by some disturbance (fire, floods, humans) is re invaded by plants and animals from surrounding areas

A biome: a large geographical biotic community

• Controlled by climate

• Is named after the dominant vegetation

• Has fuzzy boundaries

Climate: a description of the average temperature and

precipitation (weather) of a region

• Regulated by latitude and altitude

Microclimate: the conditions in a specific, localized area