territories

• environment

  everything that affects an organism as well as what that organism affects throughout life
• biotic

  living things that the organism encounters
• abiotic

  non-living components usually affect the distribution of organisms
• ecologists

  people who study the interactions of organisms and their environment
• species

  organisms that are able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring ex. deer
• population


  a group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area at the same time (studied using population density, pop, size, males, vs females)

  ex. 200 deer in a specific valley
• communities


  all the individuals in all interacting populations in a given area

  ex. deer, coyote, grass, mice, grasshoppers, hawk
• ecosystem


  a community of populations together with the abiotic factors that affect it

  -these are general large areas on earth but you can have small ecosystems within large ones

  ex. lichen ecosystem with a boreal forest ecosystem
• ecotones


  transitions between ecosystems
• biosphere


  all the ecosystems in the world and their interactions
• taxonomy

  scientists came up with a way of organizing and classifying organisms
• archaea (archaebacteria)

  often live in extreme like salt lakes, hot springs, and thermal vents

  -prokaryotic, unicellular organisms

  -asexual reproduction

  -autotrophic by chemosynthesis; some are heterotrophic by absorption

  -unique rna base sequence

  -plasma membrane and cell wall chemistry
• bacteria (eubacteria) 


  very diverse, live everywhere
• animalia

  ingest their food, mobile, multicellular, specialized cells

  ex, insects, mammals, and birds
• plantae


  photosynthesize, multicellular, sessile, complex and specialized cells

  ex. mosses, ferns, trees, and flowering plants
• fungi


  multicellular, absorb food, do not photosynthesize

  ex. mushrooms, yeasts and moulds
• protista


  unicellular or multicellular, photosynthesize or are heterotrophs through absorptions

  ex. amoebas and protozoa
• prokaryotes


  archae and bacteria that have no nucleus
• eukaryotes


  animalia, plantae, fungi, protists, that have a cell nucleus
• domains


  three group division which is just now being used that seems to be more accurate
• archae domain


  single celled, prokaryotic (means before nucleus), many are chemosynthetic, unique rna base sequence
• bacteria domain


  single celled, prokaryotic, chemosynthetic or photosynthetic, move by flagella, include all bacteria
• eukarya domain


  eukaryotic (have nuclei), unicellular or multicellular, sexual reproduction, each kingdom quite unique

  (includes the protists, animals, plants, and fungi)
• Carolus Linnaeus


  phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
• binomial nomenclature


  genus and species, first name must be capitalized, the second all lower case (must be underlined and in italics)
• dichotomous key


  a two step flowchart used to identify unknown organisms in an environment/
• climate zone


  determines by mean levels of precipitation and annual temperature
• biomes

  general trends in the soil, temp, plants, and animals

  -unique to certain areas of the biosphere but can also be found as one rises in altitude

  -also called altitudinal succession
• habitats


  place or area with a particular set of characteristics both biotic and abiotic species are always found in types of habitats that match their adaptations
• range

  geographical area where the population of species is found, usually determines by habitat requirements
• niche


  role a species plays in a community and the range of biotic and abiotic requirements that its members need to survive

  -both elk and wolves have overlapping ranges and habits, but do not have overlapping niches
• grassland


  -central part of canada

  -characterized by black soil with very high productivity

  -supports deer, squirrels, rabbits, snakes, gophers, and many bird species, and many grasses
• deciduous forest


  -dominated by trees, aspen, balsam poplar, and birch

  -lower water than taige

  -decidous trees in the spring so the understorey receives lots of sunlight

  -thick layer of leaf litter that provides many insects with a home
• taiga


  -found throughout northern alberta along the mountains

  -dominated by conifers which are trees with wax covered needles

  -well adapted to warm moist summers and cold dry winters

  -many different ecosystems due to position in the canopy (higher up, more sunlight)

  -includes bears, weasels, owls, and wolverines
• muskeg (tundra)


  -area of permafrost where the soil never thaws

  -we get water that soaks decomposing plants and animals to form peat moss which in turn creates the muskeg

  -unique part of ecosystem that supports caribou
• littoral zone


  area extending from lakeshore until plants can no longer root in the bottom of the lake, most productive zone
• limnetic zone


  are of open lake where photosynthesis can occur in plankton but also contains zooplankton
• profundal zone


  where the is not enough light for photosynthesis and where there is an abundance of detritus (decomposing plant and animal matter)
• abiotic limiting factors


  -soil type, does it contain litter, top soil, what type of subsoil and bedrock

  -moisture-rainfall, groundwater levels

  -humidity

  -temperature range

  -amount of sunlight
• biotic limiting factors


  -predators

  -parasites

  -competition for food, water, habitat, and other resources