ecosystem - organisms interacting in their environment with other organisms and with non-living factors
community - two or more organisms of different species
individual - one single organism
abiotic / biotic - non-living / living
producer - an organism that converts light energy into chemical energy (food). Plants are producers, as are green algae and blue-green bacteria
consumer - any organism that is not able to make its own food and must consume food from another source
decomposer - organisms that obtain food by breaking down dead material into chemicals that can be recycled through the ecosystem
food web - a diagram showing the feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem; arrows show the flow of energy in the food web
energy - the ability to do work; comes in many forms - chemical energy, heat energy, electrical energy, etc.
carbon dioxide - a gas which makes up less than 4% of our atmosphere, but is necessary for photosynthesis; chemical symbol: CO2
autotroph/ heterotroph - an autotroph is an organism which makes its own food (like a plant); a heterotroph is an organism that must eat other organisms for its energy needs
trophic level: the position of an organism in an ecosystem related to its feeding habits; e.g.: producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, etc.
carbohydrate - a sugar or starch; the source of energy in many foods; chemical formula contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
calorie - the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one milliliter of water one degree Celsius
reproductive potential - the number of offspring that an individual might possibly give birth to
limiting factor - any influence which reduces the reproductive capacity of a population
carrying capacity- the ability of an ecosystem to sustain (keep alive) a certain number of individuals
"10% rule" - on average, only 10% of energy and matter consumed by an organism at a lower trophic level is passed on to the next higher consumer level because most energy is used by any given organism to perform life processes.
detritivore - an organism like a worm or beetle that eats dead material (detritus) but doesn't break the material down into its simplest form (and is therefore not referred to as a decomposer in our book)
clutch - a group of eggs laid by a milkweed bug (or other animals)
molting - complete shedding of outer layer of skin by animals like insects and
proboscis - a tube-like beak that insects use to suck fluids from plants
metamorphosis - a series of changes during the lifespan of an organism
community - two or more organisms of different species living together
ecosystem - organisms interacting in their environment with other organisms and with non-living factors
autotroph (producer) - an autotroph is an organism which makes its own food (like a plant); an organism that converts light energy into chemical energy (food). Plants are producers, as are green algae and blue-green bacteria
heterotroph (consumer) a heterotroph is an organism that must eat other organisms for its energy needs; any organism that is not able to make its own food and must consume food from another source
carbon dioxide - a gas which makes up less than 4% of our atmosphere, but is necessary for photosynthesis; chemical symbol: CO2
matter - the substance that anything is made of; molecules and atoms, "building blocks"
energy - the ability to do work; comes in many forms - chemical energy, heat energy, electrical energy, etc.
trophic level: the position of an organism in an ecosystem related to its feeding habits; e.g.: producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, etc.
food web - a diagram showing the energy flow through an ecosystem
herbivore, carnivore, omnivore - consumers in a food web: herbivores eat producers (plants). carnivores eat meat (other consumers), omnivores (like bears and humans) eat both plants and animals
detritivore - an organism like a worm or beetle that eats dead material (detritus) but doesn't break the material down into its simplest form (and is therefore not referred to as a decomposer in our book)
10% rule - only a small percentage (about 10%) of food is converted to biomass at each trophic level, therefore consumers must eat a lot to maintain their body mass and functions; each trophic level is approximately 1/10 the size of the next lower trophic level (forming an "energy pyramid")
reproductive potential - the number of offspring that an individual might possibly give birth to
limiting factor - any influence which reduces the reproductive capacity of a population
carrying capacity- the ability of an ecosystem to sustain (keep alive) a certain number of individuals
calorie - the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one milliliter of water one degree Celsius
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feature - a structure, characteristic or behavior of an organism, such as eye color, fur pattern, or timing of migration, which helps to identify the organism as a certain species
trait - the specific way a feature is expressed in an individual: for example, eye color is a feature; blue eyes are a trait
variation - the range of differences in a trait in any population; for example, there are variations in the color of walking sticks: brown, green-brown and green.
Heredity is the passing of
information from one generation to the next.
ratio- a comparison of two or more numbers (written with a colon: 2:2 (read "a ratio of two to two")
DNA - deoxyribonucleic acid; the complex chemical, of which chromosomes are made, that carries genetic information to the next generation
chromosome - a structure in a cell's nucleus that is made of DNA and which transfers hereditary information to the next generation (genes are found on chromosomes)
gene - a section of a chromosome that carries a chemical code for features of organisms
dominant, recessive - in genetics, dominant refers to a gene that is expressed or shows up whenever it is present and recessive is the form of the gene that is expressed only when no dominant gene is present
genotype, phenotype - genotype refers to the letters that represent the genes of a trait of an organism, for example: TT is the genotype for tall pea plants. Phenotype means the trait that is expressed, for example: 'tall' is a phenotype in pea plants An organism’s particular combination of paired alleles is its genotype; the traits produced by those alleles result in the organism’s phenotype.
allele - a form of a gene, dominant or recessive, that is responsible for hereditary variation.
Punnett square - a diagram which shows the possible offspring genotypes when two particular parents breed
heterozygous gene, homozygous gene - heterozygous genes have two different alleles, one dominant and one recessive, for example: Tt, Aa, Ff; homozygous genes have two identical alleles, for example, both dominant or both recessive: TT, aa, FF, ff
genome - the complete set of genes of an organism. The human genome project has cataloged 30000 human genes.
heredity - the passing on of traits from one generation to the next
partial dominance - type of inherited characteristic in which a heterozygous gene results in a trait unlike the dominant trait or the recessive trait, for example the larkey fur pattern: Ff (heterozygous) results in solid patterned fur rather than striped (dominant) or spotted (recessive).
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