1. Vocabulary Review Ecology

2. The study of the interactions between organisms and the other living and nonliving components of their environment Ecology

3. The dependence of every organism on its connections with other living and nonliving parts of its environment Interdependence

4. A model that represents or describes the relationships between the components of an ecological system Ecological model

5. The part of the Earth where life exists; includes all of the living organisms on Earth Biosphere

6. A community of organisms and their abiotic environment Ecosystem

7. A group of various species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other Community

8. A group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific geographical area and interbreed Population

9. The place where an organism usually lives Habitat

10. An environmental factor that is associated with or results from the activities of living organisms Biotic factor

11. An environmental factor that is not associated with the activities of living organisms Abiotic factor

12. A graph of the performance of an organism versus the value of an environmental variable Tolerance curve

13. An organism’s change in response to a change in the organism’s environment Acclimation

14. A state in which seeds, spores, bulbs, and other reproductive organs stop growth and development and reduce their metabolism, especially respiration Dormancy

15. In general, any movement of individuals or populations from one location to another; specifically, a periodic group movement that is characteristic of a given population or species Migration

16. The unique position occupied by a species, both in terms of its physical use of its habitat and its function within an ecological community Niche

17. An organism that can make organic molecules from inorganic molecules; a photosynthetic or chemosynthetic autotroph that serves as the basic food source in an ecosystem Producer

18. The production of carbohydrates through the use of energy from inorganic molecules instead of light Chemosynthesis

19. The rate at which organic matter is assimilated by plants and other producers during a period of time over a certain area Gross primary productivity

20. Any organic material that has been produced in an ecosystem Biomass

21. Each step in a food chain or food web; first level is producers, then consumers, which make up second, third, and higher levels Trophic Level

22. A diagram that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food chain or web; 3 types: energy, biomass, and pyramids of numbers\ Ecological Pyramid

23. The rate at which biomass accumulates in an ecosystem Net primary productivity

24. An organism that eats other organisms or organic matter instead of producing its own nutrients or obtaining nutrients from inorganic sources Consumer

25. An organism that eats only plants Herbivore

26. An organism that eats animals Carnivore

27. An organism that eats a variety of other organisms, including animals and plants Omnivore

28. A consumer that feeds on dead organisms or on the parts of wastes of other organisms Detritivore

29. An organism that feeds by breaking down organic matter from dead organisms; examples include bacteria and fungi Decomposer

30. An organism’s relative position in a sequence of energy transfers in a food chain or food pyramid, examples include producers and primary, secondary, and teriary consumers Trophic level

31. The pathway of energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms Food chain

32. A diagram that shows the feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem Food web

33. Cycle the circulation of substances through living organisms from or to the environment Biogeochemical cycle

34. Any relationship in which two species live closely together Symbiosis

35. Both species benefit from the relationship Mutualism

36. One member of the relationship benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed Commensalism

37. One orgasm lives on or inside another organism and harms it Parasitism

38. The water that is beneath the Earth’s surface Groundwater

39. The continuous movement of water between the atmosphere, the land, and the oceans Water Cycle

40. The process by which plants release water vapor into the air through stomata; also, the release of water vapor into the air by other organisms Transpiration

41. The movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back Carbon cycle

42. The process in which nitrogen circulates among the air, soil, water, plants, and animals in an ecosystem Nitrogen cycle

43. The process by which gaseous nitrogen is converted into nitrates, compounds that organisms can use to make amino acids and other nitrogen- containing organic molecules Nitrogen fixation

44. A bacterium that converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia Nitrogen-fixing bacteria

45. The formation of ammonia compounds in the soil by the action of bacteria on decaying matter Ammonification

46. The process by which nitrites and nitrates are produced by bacteria in the soil Nitrification

47. The liberation of nitrogen from nitrogen-containing compounds by bacteria in the soil Denitrification

48. The cyclic movement of phosphorus in different chemical forms from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment Phosphorus cycle