Ecology (post-quiz)

• limiting factors: reduce the continuous growth of a certain population because of the limited/finite amount (abiotic/biotic)
• exponential growth does not continue in natural populations for very long because resources become less available
• carrying capacity: the number of individuals an environment can support over a long period of time
• population sizes will fluctuate above and below the carrying capacity of their environments
• Symbiotic relationships: a relationship in which two organisms live together in a close nutritional relationship
• commensalism: one organism benefits, the other is neither harmed nor benefited
• mutualism: both organism benefit
• parasitism: one benefit and the other is harmed
• succession: the gradual, sequential regrowth of an area following a disturbance
• primary succession: the development of a community in an aqrea that has not previously supported life
• primary succession occurs very slowly because the minerals necessary for plant regrowth are unavailable
• secondary succession: the replacement of species that follow a disturbance in an already existing community
• pioneer species: the first organisms to colonize an area
• climax communities: the stable point of succession
• ecosystem: all the living organisms in a given area (biotic + abiotic factors)
• producer rely on sun's energy, water, and carbon dioxide to create glucose and oxygen (photosynthesis)
• consumers use the oxygen and glucose and place carbon dioxide and water back into the atmosphere
• energy enters the ecosystem in the form of sunlight and exists the ecosystem in the form of heat
• energy cannot be recycled, but matter can be recycled between ecosystems
• biogeochemical cycle: the process in which elements and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and one part of the biosphere to another
• carbon-hydrogen-oxygen cycle: cycled by the process of respiration and photosynthesis
• evaporation: water molecules are added to the atmosphere in the form of water vapor
• transpiration: the loss of water from the leaves of plants
• condensation: water vapor in the atmosphere condenses to form the clouds
• precipitation: water leaves the atmosphere and returns to earth
• all organisms must have nitrogen in order to build proteins and nucleic acids
• Nitrogen fixation: the process of converting atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia and nitrates (bacteria and lightning)
• denitrification: conversion of nitrates to nitrogen gas
• Ammonification: the production of ammonia by bacteria during the decay of nitrogen containing organic matter
• nitrification: is the production of ammonia to nitrates
• carbon cycle: in order to build new organic compounds for living cells, there must be a constant and steady supply of available carbon
• Nitrogen is found in ammonia, dead plants and animals, and in living organisms' waste.
• nitrogen fixing bacteria: convert free nitrogen into ammonium
• decomposers: convert nitrogenous wastes into ammonia
• Nitrifying bacteria: convert ammonia into nitrates
• denitrifying bacteria: break down nitrogen compounds into free nitrogen that returns to the atmosphere
• photosynthesis and cellular respiration form the basis of the carbon cycle
• agricultural advances brought major changes in the environment, harming beneficial insects, contaminating water, and causing pesticides to accumulate in the environment
• Renewable resources: resources that can regenerate if they are alive or can be replenished by biogeochemical cycles if they are nonliving
• nonrenewable sources: cannot be replenished by natural processes. Once it's depleted, it's gone forever.