Ecology
Vocab 		"No method nor discipline can supersede the necessity of being forever on the alert. What is a course of history, or philosophy, or biology, or poetry, no matter how well selected, or the best of society, or the most admirable routine of life, compared with the discipline of looking always at what is to be seen?"

--Henry David Thoreau Walden

biological magnification the increased concentration of toxic chemicals in the tissues of organisms higher in the food web.
carrying capacity the maximum population that a particular habitat can sustain.

community the populations of species that cohabitate in a given area.
decomposers heterotrophic organisms that break down organic material as a means of obtaining energy.
density-dependent a factor regulating population size having to do with the density of that population.

density-independent a factor regulating population size that has nothing to do with population density, (such as the weather).
detritivores An organism that consumes fragments of dead organisms.
ecology the study of our home ("eco"); the interrelationships of living things and our environment.
ecosystem the interacting system that encompasses a community and its nonliving environment.
environmental resistance Limits set by the environment that prevent organisms from reproducing indefinitely at their biotic potential.
exponential growth Growth that occurs at a constant rate of increase over a period of time. (J-shaped curve)
food chain the successive flow of energy (food) through various organisms in an ecosystem.
food web the interconnection of food chains in an ecosystem.
logistic growth population growth that is relative to a carrying capacity(S-curve).
mortality the inevitable tendency of life toward death.
parasitism an organism's living off of another organism.
population the number of individuals.
predation when animals kill other animals for food.
primary consumers Any organism that consumes producers.
producers organisms that produce the energy that provides for life (green plants).
secondary consumers organisms that consume primary consumers.
succession the sequence of changes in a plant community over time..
trophic level each level in the food web.
B   R  I   G   H   A   M            Y   O   U   N   G       U   N   I   V   E   R   S   I    T   Y