Ecology

Word Definition Picture Examples

Organism Any living thing Trees, lions, frog

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.

Biosphere

Ecosystem

Community

Population

Organism

Levels of Ecological Organization

- way of grouping like things ecologically

BiospherePart 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

CommunityAll the populations in an

ecosystem of different speciesEx. population of seals, sharks,

whales, etc.

PopulationAll 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

OrganismAny living thing. Ex. Plant, animal,

etc.

HabitatWhere an organism lives

Ex. Tree’s are a woodpeckers habitat.

Bears live in a cave.

SymbiosisA 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.

ProducerOrganisms that use the sun to

make food (photosynthesis)

ConsumerOrganism 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

NicheHow 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. 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. A 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.