Ecology Vocabulary
A large group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms.
Biome
largest number of individuals in a species that an environment can support long-term
carrying capacity
act of one organism feeding on another organism
predation
The disappearance of a species when the last of its members die
Extinction
any living factor in an organism's environment
biotic factor
environmental factor, such as predation, disease, and competition that depends on the number of members in a population per unit area
density dependent factor
anything that takes up space and has mass
matter
number of organisms per unit of living area
population density
biological community and all the nonliving factors that affect it
ecosystem
number of different species living in a specific area
biodiversity
process by which one community replaces another community because of changing abiotic and biotic factors
ecological succession
An organism that gets its energy by feeding on other organisms.
Consumers
any resources replaced by natural processes more quickly than it is consumed
renewable resource
symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is neither helped nor harmed
commensalism
An organism that makes its own energy/food using sunlight.
Producers
The process by which green plants and some organisms make their own food by capturing the suns light, along with carbon dioxide and water to make it own food.
Photosynthesis
Model that shows many interconnected food chains and pathways in which energy and matter flow through an ecosystem
food web
parasitism
environmental factors, such as storms and extreme heat or cold that affects populations regardless of their density
density independent factor
each step in a food chain or food web
trophic level
movement of individuals away from a population
emigration
Orderly change that occurs in a place where soil remains after a community of organisms has been removed
secondary succession
role or position of an organism in its environment
niche
exchange of matter through the biosphere involving living organisms, chemical processes and geological processes
biogeochemical processes
biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the number, distribution or reproduction within a community
limiting factor