Ecosystems 1
The maximum number of individuals of a species that an ecosystem can sustainably support based on available resources.
What is carrying capacity?
The position in the food web an organism occupies. Examples include Producer, 1st Consumer, 2nd Consumer, etc.
What is a trophic level?
An organism that uses the sun’s energy to create carbohydrates usually through photosynthesis.
What is a producer?
When one organism eats another one.
What is predation?
The process plants use to change CO2 into carbohydrates like glucose.
What is photosynthesis?
An inherited trait that increases an organism's fitness (ability to survive and reproduce) in its specific environment.
What is an adaptation?
A resource or condition (biotic or abiotic) that limits the growth, abundance, or distribution of a population in an ecosystem.
What is a limiting factor?
An organism that eats other organisms in order to obtain energy.
What is a consumer?
When all the members of a species die.
What is extinction?
The process all organisms use to break down carbohydrates like glucose.
What is cellular respiration?
When organisms that are better adapted to their environment are able to survive and reproduce.
What is natural selection?
The total mass of all organisms or a population of organisms in an ecosystem.
What is biomass?
An organism that breaks down dead organisms and returns them to the soil
What is a decomposer?
The ability of an ecosystem to withstand change.
What is resilience?
A process that happens without oxygen.
What is anaerobic?
A species that can thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions, such being able to nest in different places.
What is a generalist species?
Species that aren’t native to an area that come in and disrupt the ecosystem.
What is an invasive species?
A consumer that eats herbivores.
What is a 2nd consumer?
The variety of different species within an ecosystem.
What is biodiversity?
A process that requires oxygen.
What is aerobic?
A species that relies on very specific environmental conditions or resources to survive, such as a bird that only nests in one specific type of seagrass.
What is a specialist species?
A specific role or "job" an organism has in its habitat.
What is a niche?
A consumer that eats plants; 1st consumer.
What is an herbivore?
A species that has a large or balancing effect on an ecosystem even though their population may be small.
What is a keystone species?
An ecosystem or part of an ecosystem that absorbs more CO2 than it releases back into the atmosphere.
What is a carbon sink?