Honors Bio Chapter 37 Vocab
Word
Community
Species diversity
Definition/description
a group of people living in the same place or having a particular
characteristic in common.
the number and relative abundance of species found in a given
biological organisation
Trophic structure
the partitioning of biomass between trophic levels
Competition
the direct or indirect interaction of organisms that leads to a change in
fitness when the organisms share the same resource.
Competitive exclusion
principle
the exclusion of one of the species when the realized niche of the
superior competitor encompasses the fundamental niche of the
inferior competitor
Niche
the role an organism plays in a community
Resource partitioning
the division of limited resources by species to help avoid competition in
an ecological niche
Predation
one organism kills and consumes another
Predator
an organism that consumes all or part of the body of another—living or
recently killed—organism, which is its prey. "
Prey
Batesian mimicry
mullerian mimicry
organisms that predators kill for food
a form of biological resemblance in which a noxious, or dangerous,
organism (the model), equipped with a warning system such as
conspicuous coloration, is mimicked by a harmless organism
a form of biological resemblance in which two or more unrelated
noxious, or dangerous, organisms exhibit closely similar warning
systems, such as the same pattern of bright colours.
Keystone species
an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem
Herbivores
Coevolution
an organism that feeds mostly on plants
the process of reciprocal evolutionary change that occurs between
pairs of species or among groups of species as they interact with one
another
Symbiotic relationship
a close ecological relationship between the individuals of two (or
more) different species
Parasitism
one organism, the parasite, lives off of another organism, the host,
harming it and possibly causing death
Pathogens
1. a bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause
disease.
Commensalism
an association between two organisms in which one
benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm.
Mutualism
symbiosis that is beneficial to both organisms involved.
Disturbances
Ecological succession
Primary succession
Secondary succession
Food chain
the interruption of a settled and peaceful condition.
limit the growth, abundance, or distribution of an organism or a
population of organisms in an ecosystem
ecological succession that begins in essentially lifeless areas,
type of ecological succession (the evolution of a biological
community's ecological structure) in which plants and animals
recolonize a habitat after a major disturbance
the sequence of transfers of matter and energy in the form of food
Producers
from organism to organism
organisms that produce energy
Primary consumers
eat producers
Secondary consumers
eat primary consumers
Tertiary consumers
Quaternary consumers
a carnivore at the topmost level in a food chain that feeds on other
carnivores;
often top predators within the environment, and they eat the tertiary
consumers
Detritivores/decomposers
break up other consumers for nutrients
Detritus
Decomposition
Food web
Ecosystem
waste or debris of any kind.
the break up of an organism
how a ecosysem reacts to each other
animals in a certain area
Energy flow
how the energy flows through an ecosystem
Chemical cycling
systems of repeated circulation of chemicals between other
compounds, states and materials, and back to their original state
Biomass
renewable organic material that comes from plants and animals.
Primary production
Biogeochemical cycles
Abiotic reservoir