| A | B |
|---|
| Ecology | the scientific study of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their environment/surroundings |
| Biosphere | contains the combined portions of the planet in which all life exist, including land, water and air/atmosphere |
| Species | a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can breed and produce fertile offspring |
| Population | groups of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area |
| Community | assemblages of different populations that live together in a defined area |
| Ecosystems | a collection of all the organisms that live together in a particular place together with their non-living/physical environment |
| Biomes | a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities |
| Population density | the number of individuals per unit area |
| Immigration | the movement of individuals into an area |
| Emigration | the movement of individuals out of an area |
| Exponential Growth | growth that occurs when individuals reproduce at a constant rate |
| Logistic Growth | occurs when a population stops growing or slows following a period of exponential growth |
| Carrying Capacity | the population size that a given environment can support. It is recognized when the average growth rate equals zero |
| Autotroph | organisms that obtain energy from sunlight or chemicals and use that energy to produce food |
| Producer | autotrophs that capture energy from sunlight or chemical energy to provide/produce the ecosystem |
| Photosynthesis | the process of using sunlight to create glucose/energy |
| Heterotroph | organisms that rely on other organisms for their food supply |
| Consumer | heterotrophs that eat the producers |
| Herbivore | organisms that obtain energy by eating only plants |
| Carnivore | Organisms that obtain energy by eating animals and only animals |
| Omnivore | organisms that feed on both plants and animals |
| Biomass | the total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level |
| Detritivore | organisms that feed off of plant/animal remains and decomposing/dead matter |
| Food chain | a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten |
| Food web | relationships among the varying organisms in an ecosystem |
| Trophic level | a step in a food chain or food web (example: producer, consumer) |
| Ecological pyramid | a diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy contained within each trophic level in a food chain or food web |
| Weather | the day to day condition of earth’s atmosphere at a particular time and place |
