1. Pyramid numbers and biomass
Primary succession
Secondary succession
Trophic cascade
Keystone species
Pyramid numbers and biomass
biomagnification
Climax community
Pioneer species
Lichen
Cedar glade
Endemic species
biomass
DDT
Cane toad
Invasive species
producer
Tertiary consumer
Chemo-
autotroph
niche
Food web
Food chain
Primary consumer
Generalist
specialist
10% rule
predation
Symbiosis
Mutualism
commensalism
parasitism

2. An organism that feeds on the producer; a herbivore
The accumulation of chemicals in the tissues of organisms at the top of the food chain (DDT, selenium at Kesterson, mercury)
The total amount of living tissue increases as you go down the food chain (most in producers) while the # of individuals decreases as you go down (few top predators)
A species with a huge role in maintaining balance in an ecosystem due to their diet or habits. Can be from any tropic level
Ex: wolves, sea otters, whales. When a process at the top of the food chain affects all the lower steps below it
When the plant community is lost (fire, logging) but soil remains and the plant community returns and changes over time
When bare rock is colonized (volcanic islands, eroded rock) and soil must form. Lichen on bare rock is the first step
The amount of material of living thing: can be calculated for each trophic level and decreases as you go up
A species with a very limited geographic range; native to only a single or few locations
An ecosystem unique to the southeast (esp TN) in which domes of limestone approach close to the surface, making shallow soil and habitat for rare plant species
A mutualism between an algae and a fungus; the firs colonizer of bare rock in primary succession
The first species to colonize in succession. On bare soil, tends to be grasses with wind dispersed seeds
The long term, stable community that occurs at the end of successional change and will persist indefinitely. In VA, its hardwood forests whose seedlings can tolerate the shade of their parents
Archaebacteria living on oceanic volcanic trenches in the deep ocean who convert sulfur compounds into food. The base of the deep sea food chain
An upper level carnivore. They must eat an organism that ate an organism that ate a herbivore
An organism capable of trapping energy into compounds that are useable for storing energy; plants doing photosynthesis
A species that begins reproducing and spreading in an environment that is not its native range. Often ‘r’ selected and generalist
An invasive species brought to Australia to control sugar cane pests that has now covered much of the northern continent
A pesticide widely used in the 40s and 50s that seemed safe for humans but which caused bird eggshells to thin. Exposed by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
A species is reliant on only one or a very small number of food items. Vulnerable to environmental change due to limited diet
A species whose diet is wide ranging. Able to cope with a changing environment, better able to switch to new foods (and become invasive)
An organism that feeds on the producer; a herbivore
A single flow of energy in an ecosystem
All the interacting food webs in an ecosystem. More complex food webs are more resistant to withstanding changes
An organism’s role in the ecosystem, including all the biotic and abiotic features with which it interacts
A symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and another loses. Example: parasitoid wasps that lay their eggs on caterpillars
A symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is unharmed. Example: remora fish riding on a shark
A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit. Example: pollinators and flowers
A close relationship between two species
When one organism kills and consumes a prey species for food
Due to metabolic costs and heat energy loss due to inefficiency, 90% of energy is not passed to the next tropic level