Ecology

Enduring Understandings:

1.  All living things respond to stimuli, need energy, and maintain homeostasis!

2.  All living things are interconnected through energy pathways, nutrient cycles, and communal interactions

Book Chapter:

• Chapter 6

Vocabulary introduced during this unit:

• "Abiotic" - "A term that describes a nonliving factor in an ecosystem"

• "Agriculture" - "The artificial cultivation of food, fiber, and other goods by the systematic growing and harvesting of various organisms"

• "Aquatic" - "A term that describes an organism associated with a water environment."

• "Biochemical Conversion" - "The changing of organic matter into other chemical forms such as fuels."

• "Bioenergetics" - "The study of energy flow (energy transformation) into and within living systems."

• "Biogeochemical Cycles" - "The movement of abiotic factors between the living and nonliving components within ecosystems; also known as nutrient cycles (ie., water cycle, carbon cycle, oxygen cycle, and nitrogen cycle)."

• "Biome" - "A large area or geographical region with distinct plant and animal groups adapted to that environment."

• "Biosphere" - "The zone of life on Earth; sum total of all ecosystems on Earth."

• "Biotic" - "A term that describes a living or once living organism in an ecosystem."

• "Community (Ecological)" - "Different populations of organisms interacting in a shared environment."

• "Competition" - "When individuals or groups of organisms compete for similar resources such as territory, mates, water, and food inthe same environment."

• "Consumer (Ecological)" - "An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms or their remains."

• "Decomposer" - "An organism that obtains nutrients by consuming dead and decaying organic matter which allows nutrients to be accessible to other organisms."

• "Ecology" - "The study of the relationships between organisms and their interactions with the environment."

• "Ecosystem" - "A system composed of organisms and nonliving components of an environment."

• "Endemic Species" - "A species that is found in its originating location and is generally restricted to that geographic area."

• "Energy Pyramid" - "A model that illustrates the biomass productivity at multiple trophic levels in a given ecosystem."

• "Energy Transformation" - "A process in which energy changes from one form to another form while some of the energy is lost to the environment."

• "Environment" - "The total surroundings of an organism or a group of organisms."

• "Food Chain" - "A simplified path illustrating the passing of potential chemical energy (food) from one organism to another organism."

• "Food Web" - "A complex arrangement of interrelated food chains illustrating the flow of energy between interdependent organisms."

• "Habitat" - "An area that provides an organism with its basic needs for survival."

• "Limiting Factor" - "Chemical or physical factor that limits the existence, growth, abundance, or distribution of an individual organism or a population."

• "Nonnative Species" - "A species normally living outside a distribution range that has been introduced through either deliberate oraccidental human activity; also can be known as introduced, invasive, alien, nonindigenous, or exotic."

• "Population" - "A group of individuals of the same species living in a specific geographical area and reproducing."

• "Producer (Ecological)" - "An organism that uses a primary energy source to conduct photosynthesis or chemosynthesis."

• "Species" - "The lowest taxonomic level of biological classification consisting of organisms capable of reproduction that results in fertile offspring."

• "Succession" - "A series of predictable and orderly changes within an ecosystem over time."

• "Terrestrial" - "A term that describes an organism associated with a land environment."

• "Trophic Level" - "The position of an organism in relation to the flow of energy and inorganic nutrients through an ecosystem (e.g., producer, consumer, and decomposer)."

• Abiotic Factor - Any nonliving part of the environment

• Apex Predator - The top predator in an ecosystem, an animal which is a predator with no natural predators of its own, it is on the top of one or more food chain/s with nothing above

• Autotroph - Organisms that use solar or chemical energy to produce "food". Also called primary producers

• Biogeochemical Cycle - The pathway elements take as they pass from one organism to another organism and among parts of the biosphere

• Biological Process - Any and all activities performed by living organisms

• Biomass - The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level

• Biome - A group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms

• Biosphere - All life on earth and all parts of the Earth in which life exists. This includes land, water, and the atmosphere.

• Biotic factor - Any living part of the environment with which an organism might interact

• Carnivore - Organisms that kill and eat other animals

• Carrying Capacity - Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support

• Chemical and Physical Processes - The interaction of matter that causes weather based on molecular interactions

• Chemosynthesis - Chemical energy is harnessed from inorganic molecules to produce carbohydrates

• Climate - The average year-to-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in an area over a long period of time

• Commensalism - The symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed

• Community - Assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area

• Consumer - Organisms that rely on other organisms for energy and nutrients

• Decomposers - Organisms that feed by chemically breaking down organic matter. The decay caused by decomposers is part of the process that produces detritus

• Denitrification - Conversion of nitrates into nitrogen gas. this process occurs naturally by bacteria

• Detritivores - Organisms that feed on detritus

• Detritus - Small pieces of dead and decaying plant and animal remains

• Ecological Pyramid - Shows the relative amount of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web

• Ecological Succession - A series of gradual changes that occur in a community following a disturbance

• Ecology - The study of organisms interacting with each other, with their surroundings, and/or with the environment

• Ecosystem - All the organisms that live in a place, together with their physical environment

• Food Chain - A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten

• Food Web - A network of feeding interactions which shows different pathways in which energy may be transferred

• Fossil Fuels - Coal, oil, and natural gas. carbon compounds formed by geological forces upon dead organisms. When burned they release CO2

• Geological Processes - Major movements of matter within, below, and on the surface of the earth

• Greenhouse Effect - The process in which certain gasses (carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor) trap sunlight energy in Earth's atmosphere as heat

• Habitat - An area where an organism lives. Includes both biotic and abiotic factors that affect it. The organisms ecosystem.

• Herbivores - Organisms that obtain energy by eating plant leaves, roots, seeds, or fruits

• Herbivory - An interaction which one animal (the herbivore) feeds on producers (such as plants)

• Heterotrophs - Must acquire energy from other organisms by ingesting them

• Human Activity - The effects on cycles of matter that are caused by humans

• Keystone Species - A species whose impact on its community or ecosystem are much larger and more influential than would be expected from mere abundance

• Limiting Nutrient - The nutrient whose supply limits ecological productivity (in autotrophs)

• Mutualism - The symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship

• Niche - The full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organisms lives and the way in which the organism uses those resources. It is what an organism does and how it interacts with its environment.

• Nitrogen Fixation - The conversion of nitrogen gas into ammonia. this process occurs naturally by bacteria

• Nonrenewable Resource - A resource that cannot be replenished by natural processes within a reasonable amount of time

• Nutrient - Chemicals that an organism needs to sustain life

• Omnivores - Animals whose diets naturally include a variety of different foods that usually include both plants and animals

• Parasitism - The symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it

• Photosynthesis - Captures light energy and uses it to power chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy-rich carbohydrates (i.e.. starch)

• Pioneer Species - The first species to populate an area during succession

• Population - A group of individuals that belong to the same species living in the same area

• Predation - An interaction where one animal (the predator) captures and feeds on another animal (the prey)

• Primary Producer - The first producers of energy-rich compounds that are later used by other organisms

• Primary Succession - Succession that occurs in an area in which no trace of a previous community is present

• Renewable Resource - A resource that can be produced or replaced by healthy ecosystem functions

• Resource - Any necessity of life (water, nutrients, light, food, space)

• Scavengers - Animals that consume carcasses of other animals that have been killed by predators or have died of other causes

• Secondary Succession - A type of succession that occurs in an area that was only partially destroyed by disturbances

• Species - A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring

• Symbiosis - A relationship in which two species live closely together

• Trophic level - Each step in a food chain or food web