Vocab Study Sheet for Castle Learning

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Assignment: Ecology Due 4/30 Course: Biology/Living Environment Teacher: Ms. Cho Class: 82 Report Date: 11/20/15 8:27 AM

abiotic factor

A physical factor of the environment such as water, light, temperature, soil, air.

antibiotic

A substance that kills bacteria.

ATP (adenosine triphosphate)

The main energy carrying molecule in the cell. When the third phosphate is removed, energy is released and it becomes ADP (adenosine diphosphate).

autotroph

An organism that can use the energy from the Sun or chemical reactions to make organic nutrients from inorganic materials.

biodiversity

Differences and variety in the organisms and their roles in an ecosystem.

biosphere

The portion of the Earth on which living things exist.

biotic

Living; alive.

carbon dioxide

(CO2) An inorganic clear colorless gas released as an end product of respiration; one of the starting materials needed for photosynthesis.

carnivore

An organism that eats other animals.

carrying capacity

The maximum number of organisms that an ecosystem can support without deteriorating.

competition

The struggle that results when more than one species has the same requirements for survival.

consumer

A heterotroph; an organism that cannot make its own food and must ingest (eat) organic nutrients.

decomposers

Organisms of decay which convert organic compounds into inorganic compounds.

deforestation

The removal or destruction of a forest by cutting down or burning the trees without replacing them.

dynamic equilibrium

A balanced state of the body or a system; for example, homeostasis or a predator-prey relationship.

ecology

The study of the interactions of living things and their environment.

ecosystem

The interaction of living things and their nonliving environment.

environment

All the living and nonliving things that surround a living thing.

evolution

The process of change in living things through time.

extinction

The destruction of all members of a particular species.

food chain

A series of organisms, starting with a producer, through which food energy is passed in an ecosystem.

food web

A series of interconnecting food chains in an ecosystem.  Arrows show the direction that energy is moving in. The diagram below shows an example of a food web.

habitat

The portion of the environment in which an organism exists.

herbivore

A heterotroph that only feeds on plants.

heredity

The sum total of genetically inherited characteristics which are passed from parents to offspring.

heterotroph

An organism that cannot make its own food and therefore must ingest (eat) organic nutrients.

host

An organism that a parasite lives on and from which it obtains nutrients.

interbreed

To mate members of different species.

limiting factor

A nonliving, physical factor that limits the type of organisms that can exist in a particular ecosystem.

mutation

A change in the genetic material.

niche

An organism's particular role in the community.

nutrients

Food; molecules used by the cell for its metabolic activities including energy, growth, repair and regulation.

organism

An individual living thing.

parasites

Heterotrophic organisms that live on or in another living thing and do harm to it.

photosynthesis

The process by which green plants (autotrophs) convert light energy to chemical-bond energy stored in organic nutrients.

population

All the members of the same species living together in a given region and capable of interbreeding.

predator

A carnivore that hunts and kills and eats its prey.

producers

Organisms that can use the energy from the Sun or chemical reactions to make organic nutrients from inorganic materials.

recycling

The process of reusing materials rather than throwing them away.

refuge

A protected area.

scavenger

A carnivore that feeds on dead animals it finds.

species

A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

succession

The replacement of one type of community by another until the stable climax community is reached, which remains in place until it is destroyed by some catastrophe.