matter, energy, and biodiversity

• Ecosystem


  A series of interactions among biotic and abiotic matter
• Autotrophs


  • Species that can produce their own foods
• Heterotrophs


  • Species that eat other animals or plants to get energy
• Secondary consumers


  • Carnivorous animals that consume the primary consumers
• Tertiary consumers


  • Carnivores that feed on secondary consumers
• Energy flow in plants

  1. 60% used up during cellular respiration

  2. 30% used for other necessary functions

  3. 10% left for consumption by primary consumers
• Decomposers


  • Microorganisms that break down the remains of dead organisms and release abiotic chemicals back into the environment
• Species diversity


  The number and abundance of each species dwelling in a specific location or specific type of ecosystem
• Species richness


  The total sum of all varied species living together within the same community
• Species evenness or relative abundance

  How balanced or disparate the population of each species is, relative to one another in a given ecosystem
• Functional traits


  Characterize how they behave within their environment and how they function as a part of it
• Ecosystem function


  The combination of all the activities of species and their effects on the ecological processes taking place in an ecosystem
• Ecosystem stability


  • Ability to resist large-scale changes
  • Ability to return to a state of homeostasis after its functions have been disrupted
• Ecosystem resistance


  Ability of an ecosystem to maintain its original condition despite the presence of a disturbance
• Ecosystem resilience


  Ability and rate of an ecosystem to recover from a disturbance
• Population


  Number of individual species inhabiting a particular area at a specific point in time
• Population ecology is a study that focuses on the distribution of species across different habitats, the growth of population in a specific area, and the changes in population size.
• Dispersion pattern


  The manner through which individual members of a population are spaced in a particular geographic area
• Uniform distribution


  • Individual members are evenly spaced apart from one another
• Random distribution


  • Individual members spread throughout a habitat in an unpredictable way
• Clumped distribution


  • Members clustered into groups that travel together toward other places
• Population growth


  Fluctuation of the number of individual species occupying a specific habitat
• Positive growth rate


  Number of species in a particular region is increasing over time
• Negative growth rate


  Number of species in a particular region is decreasing
• Population density


  Number of individual members of a population per unit area or volume
• Birth rate


  Total number of live births of a species over a given period of time
• Mortality rate


  Total number of deaths occurring in a population of species over a certain period of time
• Immigration


  An individual member of a species migrates and joins another population
• Emigration


  Individual members of a species migrate and join another population
• Fecundity


  The potential of a group of species to reproduce, or increase in number
• Density-depending limiting factors


  Occurrences and variables that tend to limit population growth
• Density-independent limiting factors


  Factors that limit the population growth of a species regardless of its population density
• Population dynamics


  The population's density, size, and composition relative to factors influencing these changes throughout time
• Logistic growth


  A population growth that decreases in rate and plateaus over time
• Carrying capacity (K)


  The point at which the population size stops growing and remains constant