Term
|
Definition
| The scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A population or group of populations whose members have similar characteristics and can interbreed with one another, but not with members of other such groups. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A strongly interacting species that has a large effect on energy flow and on community structure and composition disproportionate to its abundance or biomass. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A species that has large, community-wide effects by virtue of its size or abundance, its strong competitive ability, or its provision of habitat or food for other species, also called a foundation species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An abiotic event that kills or damages some organisms and thereby creates opportunities for other organisms to grow and reproduce. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
The change in species composition over time as a result of abiotic and biotic agents of change;
Succession that involves the colonization of habitats devoid of life. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
The change in species composition over time as a result of abiotic and biotic agents of change.
Succession that involves the reestablishment of a community in which most, but not all, of the organisms have been destroyed |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The localized death of all members of a species |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The worldwide death of all members of a species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The chemical energy in an ecosystem generated by autotrophs, derived from the fixation of carbon during photosynthesis and chemosynthesis. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Energy in an ecosystem that is derived from the consumption of organic compounds produced by other organisms. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Gross Primary Production - The gross amount of energy that autotrophs capture by photosynthesis and chemosynthesis. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Net Primary Productivity - The amount of energy (per unit time) that autotrophs capture by photosynthesis and chemosynthesis, minus the amount used in cellular respiration. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A term used to describe the diversity of important ecological entities that span multiple spatial scales, from genes to species to communities. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The enhancement of a soil's natural nutrient quantities by human activity. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A chemical procedure for determining the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. It is not a precise quantitative test, although it is widely used as an indication of the organic quality of water. It is most commonly expressed in milligrams of oxygen consumed per litre of sample during 5 days of incubation at 20 °C and is often used as a robust surrogate of the degree of organic pollution of water. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Precipitation with low pH. Caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
a balance sheet of energy income against expenditure.
Production = Consumption -Respiration loss -Urinary loss -Fecal loss |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
The debate amongst conservation ecologists over which is better: A single, large preserve, or several small reserves?
SL: Since species richness increases with habitat area, a larger block of habitat would support more species than any of the smaller blocks.
SS: If the smaller reserves had unshared species, then it was possible that two smaller reserves could have more species than a single large reserve. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal, esp. a mammal or an insect, affecting the behavior or physiology of others of its species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The effect of certain gasses to allow energy to enter the biosphere, but block the reflection of that energy out into space - similar to the glass of a glasshouse. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Genetically modified organisms. Done through molecular modification by scientists in a lab. Not to be confused with breeding techniques. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Humanity increases past its K by producing too many humans. |
|
|
Term
| Consumptive overpopulation |
|
Definition
| Humanity increases past its worldwide K by lowering K. AKA increases in living standards lead to overuse of resources. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A change in the rate of consumption at one trophic level that results in a series of changes in species abundances and species compositions at lower trophic levels. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A group of individuals of the same species that live within a particular area and interact with one another. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A group of interacting species that occur together at the same place and time. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A community of interacting organisms plus the physical environment in which they live. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The highest level of biological organization, consisting of all living organisms on Earth plus the environments in which they live; the biosphere is located between the lithosphere and the troposphere. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Change in the DNA of a gene. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (1) Change in allele frequencies in a population over time. (2) Descent with modification; the process by which organisms gradually accumulate differences from their ancestors. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A process in which chance events determine which alleles are passed from one generation to the next, thereby causing allele frequencies to fluctuate randomly over time; the effects of genetic drift are most pronounced in small populations. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The maximum population size that can be supported indefinitely by the environment; the concept of a carrying capacity is represented by the term K in the logistic equation |
|
|
Term
| Name the 5 forms of interaction. |
|
Definition
Mutualism (+/+)
Commensalism (+/0)
Amenalism (-/0)
Predation/Parasitism (+/-)
Competition (-/-) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A relationship in which two species live in close physiological contact with each other. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An interaction between two species in which individuals of both species are harmed when both species use a resource that limits their ability to grow and reproduce. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A mutually beneficial interaction between individuals of two species (a +/+ relationship). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An interaction between two species in which individuals of one species benefit while individuals of the other species do not benefit and are not harmed. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Behavior by an individual that increases the fitness of another individual while decreasing the fitness of the actor. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| When predators are flooded with potential prey, they can consume only a certain amount, so by occurring at high densities prey benefit from a safety in numbers effect. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The principle by which no two species can use the same resources in the same way for an extended period of time. Natural selection will either cause one to go extinct, or more often will cause one species to use the resource in a different fashion. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The carrying capacity of an environment for a species. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The carrying capacity of an environment for a species, taking into account interactions with humans. Could also be called the species density which the human population will tolerate. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A form of interaction where one species is negatively impacted by another, which is unaffected. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A terrestrial biological community shaped by the regional climate, soil, and disturbance patterns where it is found, usually classified by the growth form of its most abundant plants. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A unit of heredity in a living organism. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The genetic makeup of an individual. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The observable characteristics of an organism. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The collection of alleles within a community. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The physical and biological conditions that a species needs to grow, survive, and reproduce. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The environment in which a species lives. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
(1) The natural world, encompassing both living and non-living aspects.
(2) The area in which an organism lives, encompassing both biotic and abiotic factors. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The ability of an organism to pass on its genes to the next generation. Measured by the average contribution to the gene pool of the next generation that is made by an average individual of the specified genotype or phenotype. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A physiological, morphological, or behavioral trait with an underlying genetic basis that enhances the survival and reproduction of its bearers in their environment. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The ability of an organism to physically spread its progeny around. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A repository of plant seeds to protect against plant extinction. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The fall to the ground of wind-dispersed seeds or spores. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| The long-term description of weather, based on averages and variation measured over decades. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Integrated Pest Management. An integrated approach of crop management to solve ecological problems when applied in agriculture. Focused on an ecological perspective. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An animal that regulates its body temperature primarily through internal metabolic heat generation. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| An animal that regulates its body temperature primarily through energy exchange with its external environment. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Any phenotype that tricks another organism into not seeing or interacting with it. This includes camouflage, mimicry, nocturnalism, |
|
|
