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Autotroph
Organisms that use energy from the sun or energy stored in chemical compounds to manufacture their own nutrients.
Symbiosis
Permanent, close association between 2 or more organisms of different species
Density-Independent Factor
Factor such as temperature, storms, floods, drought, or habitat disruption that affects all population, regardless of density.
Ozone Layer
Layer of the atmosphere that helps to protect living organisms on earths surface from damaging doses of ultraviolet radiation from the sun
Heterotroph
Organisms that cannot make their own food and must feed on other organisms for energy and nutrients
Limiting Factor
Any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts the existence, numbers, reproduction, or distribution, of organisms
Density-Dependent Factor
Limiting factors such as disease, parasites, or food availability that affect the growth of a population
Conservation Biology
Field of biology that studies methods and implements plans to protect biodiversity.
Decomposer
Organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, that break down and absorb nutrients from dead organisms.
Population
A group of organisms all of the same species, which interbreed and live in the same place at the same time.
Biomass
The total mass or weight of all living matter in a given area
Trophic level
Organism that represents a feeding step in the movement of energy and materials through an ecosystem.
Biome
Group of ecosystems with the same climax communities
Ecosystem
Interactions among populations in a community
Biodiversity
Variety of life in an area
Succession
Orderly, natural changes, and species replacements that take place in communities of an ecosystem over time.
Carrying Capacity
Number of organisms of one species that an environment can support indefinitely.
Exponential Growth
Growth pattern where a population grows faster as it increases in size.
Extinction
The disappearance of a species when the last member dies
Niche
Role or position a species has in its environment.