| A | B |
|---|
| Adaptation | genetically controlled structural, physiological, or behavioral characteristic that helps an organism survive under a given set of environmental conditions |
| Amensalism | Two organisms in a symbiotic relationship in which one is unaffected (not helped or harmed) and one is harmed |
| Batesian Mimicry | resemblance of an unpalatable species by an edible species to deceive predators |
| Biomass | total dry weight of all living organisms that can be supported at each trophic level in a food chain or web |
| Clumped Distribution | the most common type of population distribution where many members of the population live close together |
| Competition | two or more individual organismsattempting to use the same scarce resources in the same ecosystem |
| Decomposer | organism that digests parts of dead organisms and cast-off fragments and wastes of living organisms by breaking down the complex organic molecules in those materials into simpler inorganic compounds and then absorbing the soluble nutrients |
| Denitrification | the reduction of nitrates back into nitrogen gas (N2), completing the nitrogen cycle |
| Detritivore | consumer organism that feeds on detritus |
| Detritus | parts of dead organisms and cast-off fragments and wastes of living organisms |
| Distribution | area over which we can find a species |
| Extant | a species that is still alive and reproducing |
| Exponential growth | growth in which some quantity, such as population size or economic output, increases at a constant rate per unit of time |
| Global warming | warming of the earth’s atmosphere because of increases in the concentrations of one or more greenhouse gasses primarily as a result of human activities |
| Greenhouse effect | a natural effect that releases heat in the atmosphere near the earth’s surface. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and several other gasses in the lower atmosphere absorb some of the infrared radiation radiated by the earth’s surface. This will eventually increase the temperature of the earth if there are enough of the greenhouse gasses |
| Indicator Species | a species that gives an early warning that an ecosystem is in a state of flux, often times fish and amphibians or apex predators |
| J-shaped curve | can represent prolonged exponential growth |
| Keystone species | species that play roles affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem |
| Muskeg | an acidic soil type common in Arctic and boreal areas, more-or-less synonymous with bogland |
| Nitrification | the process of oxidizing ammonia to create nitrite (NO2−)then oxidizing the nitrite to create nitrate (NO3-) |
