1. General Ecology Terms
1. Biotic of or relating to life; caused or produced by living beings. Ex. plants, animals, any organism.
2. Community all the populations of organisms living in a given area.
3. Consumer There are two kinds: Primary consumers are organisms that eat plants. Secondary consumers are organisms that eat animals that eat plants. Also called carnivores.
4. Decomposers An organism that feeds on dead material and causes its mechanical or chemical breakdown. For example: Fungi and bacteria are decomposers.
5. Ecosystem All the living organisms interacting with each other and the non-living characteristics of an area.
6. Habitat A native environment of an animal or plant which provides food, water, shelter and space suitable to its needs.
7. Limited factor The condition which inhibits the expansion of a species.
8. Populations individuals of one species that occupies a particular geographic area
9. Producer Green plants that produce their own food from soil and sunlight.
10. Succession The gradual change of one community by another.

2. Ecology Terms
11. organic Pertaining to compounds containing carbon. Also refers to living things or the materials made by living things.
12. inorganic Not containing carbon. Not from living things. Ex., minerals, water, oxygen, etc.
13. biosphere The portion of the earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.
14. heterotroph "eats others." An organism that must consume other organisms to fuel its metabolism
15. autotroph "self eater." Organisms capable of producing their own food.

3. Ecology
branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their environments.

4. Photosynthesis & Chemosynthesis
Producer Green plants that produce their own food from soil and sunlight
autotroph "self eater." Organisms capable of producing their own food.

5. Food Chain
food chain/food web All the interactions of predator and prey, included along with the exchange of nutrients into and out of the soil. These interactions connect the various members of an ecosystem, and describe how energy passes from one organism to another.

6. Food Web

7. Ecological Pyramids
Ecologist use ecological pyramids to represent the energy relationships among trophic levels.
There are 3
types of
ecological
pyramids.

8. Pyramid of Energy
A pyramid of energy the total amount of incoming energy at each successive level.
Notice that energy (in the form of heat) is lost going from one trophic level to another.

9. Pyramid of Biomass
A pyramid of biomass show the total mass of living tissue at each level.
This pyramid of biomass shows for example, that a large amount of grass is needed to feed a single rabbit and a large number of rabbits is needed to nourish a single hawk.

10. Pyramid of Numbers
A pyramid of numbers illustrates the total number of organisms at each level
In a grassland, for
example, a large amount of grass (producers) is needed to support the herbivores (primary consumers).
2000 grass plants 25 voles 1 barn owl
“However”

11. Pyramid of Numbers
pyramids of numbers do not always appear as pyramids. Look at this one
If the producer (in this example an oak tree) is a large plant, then the number of primary consumers which feed on the producer (caterpillars in this example) will be much larger in numbers.

12. Water Cycle

13. Carbon and Oxygen Cycle

14. Phosphorus cycle

15. Nitrogen Cycle
Denitrification: When nitrogen in compounds is released into the air
79% of the air is nitrogen
Nitrogen fixation the assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen by soil bacteria and its release for plant use
Nitrification the oxidation of ammonium compounds in dead organic material into nitrates and nitrites by soil bacteria (making nitrogen available to plants)

16. Biotic Factors Biotic relating to, or caused by living organisms
Biotic factor Factors such as parasitism, disease, competition and predation (one animal eating another) would also be classified as biotic factors.

17. Abiotic Factors refers to nonliving objects, substances or processes.
: The abiotic factors of the environment include light, temperature, and atmospheric gases.

18. Symbiosis - Organisms and their interactions with other organisms
Parasitism-relationship in which one species, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host

19. Symbiosis- Mutualism
An association between organisms of two different species in which each member benefits

20. Symbiosis - Commensalism
relationship between two organisms of different species in which one derives some benefit while the other is unaffected.

21. Succession
The gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax community is established.  
* Lichens*

22. Pond Succesion

23. Mount St. Helens
1982
1982
2002

24. Growth of Populations
To study the relationships between organisms, ecologists need to know how organisms change over time. How many individuals are born? How many die? How many organisms live in an area at any given time? To answer these questions, ecologist study populations.

25. Exponential growth
Growth is accelerating. When introduced into a favorable environment with an abundance of resources, a small population may undergo geometric, or exponential growth.

26. Logistic Growth
When growth encounters environmental resistance, (competition, predation, parasitism, crowding and death due to natural disasters) populations experience an S-shaped or logistic growth curve.

27. Limiting Factors

28. Density Dependent Factors
Become limiting only when the population density (the number of organism per unit area) reaches a certain level.
These factors operate most strongly when a population is large and dense
They do not affect small, scattered populations greatly.
Predation

29. Density Independent Factors
Affect all populations in similar ways, regardless of the population size
Unusual weather, natural disasters, seasonal cycle, and certain human activities, such as damming rivers and clear-cutting forests are all examples of density-independent limiting factors
Tsunami

33. Using Your Conservation Project Answer the following Questions.
Identify four different populations.
Identify four biotic factors.
Name one primary consumer.
Identify two autotrophs.
Identify two heterotrophs.
Identify four abiotic factors.
Identify four organic items.
Name one secondary consumer.

34. 9. Identify two producers.
10. Identify four inorganic items.
11. Identify two decomposers.
12. Using 4 organisms illustrate a basic food chain.
13. Using 10 organisms illustrate a basic food web.
14. Using 4 organisms illustrate a energy pyramid.
15. Explain the problem that is causing your environment to be destroyed. (at least 20 words)