ecology

• Ecosystem


  All the organisms that live in a habitat and the non-living parts of the habitat
• Competition


  Occurs when two organisms are trying to obtain the same factors from the environment
• Interdependence


  When one organism relies on another for certain resources/factors
• Abiotic


  Non-living
• Biotic


  Living factors
• Adaptation


  The gradual change in a particular organism, over many generations, to become better suited to its environment
• Extremophile


  An organism that can live in very extreme environments
• Population


  A group of organisms of the same species living together in a habitat
• Quadrat


  A square frame used for sampling organisms in their natural environment
• Transect line


  A fixed line along which samplings of populations, such as species abundance, is measured
• Decomposers


  Microorganisms that break down dead organic material
• Carbon Cycle


  The constant recycling of carbon through the processes of life, death and decay
• Water cycle


  A series of processes that circulate water through the environment
• Food chain


  The feeding relationships between organisms
• Producer


  An organism that can make its own food
• Trophic level


  A feeding level in a food chain or web
• Predator


  An animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals
• Prey


  An organism that is hunted and killed by a predator for food
• Apex predator


  The top consumer in a food chain; has no predators
• Biodiversity


  The variety of living organisms and the ecosystems in which they live
• Pollution


  The contamination of an environment, e.g. by chemicals of water
• Acid rain


  Rain with a low pH (acidic) due to the gases released by burning fossil fuels
• Deforestation


  The destruction of forests by cutting down large areas of trees
• Global warming


  The increase in the average temperature on Earth due to a rise in the levels of green house gases in the atmosphere
• Sustainable


  Resources that can be replaced or maintained in sufficient quantities to support current and future needs
• Pyramid of biomass


  A diagram that uses different sized boxes to represent the total biomass at each trophic level in a food web
• Biotechnology


  Thechnology that usese living organisms to produce useful products
• Fermenter


  An industrial vessel that is used to grow microorganisms
• Mycoprotein


  A protein-rich food produced from fungi