Ecology
Create a table in your lab notebook with these headings. You
will probably use the front and back of a page (maybe more). There
are 24 vocabulary words underlined, the definition column
should be the largest.
Word
Definition
Organism Any living thing
Picture
Examples
Trees,
lions, frog
Biosphere
Ecosystem
Community
Population
Organism
Levels of Ecological Organization
- way of grouping like things ecologically
Biosphere
Part of Earth that supports life, top
portion of Earth’s crust, all waters on
Earth and the surrounding atmosphere
Biome
Large geographic areas with similar climates
and ecosystems: includes tundra, taiga,
desert, temperate deciduous forest,
temperate rain forest, tropical rain forest,
freshwater, saltwater and grassland
Community
All the populations in an
ecosystem of different species
Ex. population of seals, sharks,
whales, etc.
Population
All organisms in an ecosystem that
belong to the same species.
(more than one of the same species)
Ex. School of fish or a flock of birds
Organism
Any living thing. Ex. Plant, animal,
etc.
Habitat
Where an organism lives
Ex. Tree’s are a woodpeckers habitat.
Bears live in a cave.
Symbiosis
A close, long-term relationship
between 2 or more species.
Three types of symbiosis:
»Mutualism
»Commensalism
»Parasitism
• Mutualism – a symbiotic relationship in which both organisms
benefit.
Example – Egyptian Plover (bird)
eats insects off a crocodiles back
and sometime the crocodile will
open its mouth for the bird to eat
leeches offs its tongue.
• Commensalism – a symbiotic relationship in which one species
benefits while the other is unaffected.
Ex. – Remora attach themselves to
sharks, and feed on their scraps after
a sharks meal.
• Parasitism – a symbiotic relationship where
one organism benefits while the other is
harmed.
– The parasite is the organism that benefits.
– The host is the organism that is harmed.
• Ex. Leeches suck the blood out of
organisms.
Producer
Organisms that use the sun to
make food (photosynthesis)
Consumer
Organism that cannot make their own food,
eat other organisms.
–4 types of consumers:
»Herbivores
»Carnivores
»Omnivores
»Decomposers
Herbivores: eat plants
(primary consumer)
Carnivores: animals
that eat other animals
Omnivores: eat both plants
and animals
Decomposers: consumes
waste and dead organisms
Niche
How an organisms survives.
• Obtains food & shelter
• Finds mate & cares for young
Predator – hunts prey for food
Prey – gets hunted by predator
Biodiversity
• Is known as the variety of life that is
always changing to help the sustainability
of an ecosystem.
A
a. The more organisms you have living in a biome
creates more biodiversity.
b. The less organisms you have living in a biome
creates a lack in biodiversity.
B
Habitat
• the place or environment where a plant or
animal naturally or normally lives and
grows.
Microhabitat
• the microenvironment where a plant or
animal normally lives and grows.
– An example could be a decaying log
Terrestrial
• an area referring to land.
Aquatic
• an area referring to water.