Ecology - High School

Review this essential ecology vocabulary and learn all about the relationships between organisms and their environment. This list covers ecosystems and biomes, food chains and food webs, ecological relationships like symbiosis and parasitism, and much more.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. adaptation
    the process of adjusting or conforming to new conditions
  2. air pollution
    pollution of the atmosphere
  3. algae
    primitive chlorophyll-containing aquatic organisms
  4. autotroph
    an organism capable of synthesizing its own food
  5. biodegradable
    capable of being decomposed
  6. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
  7. biomass
    the total amount of living matter in a given unit area
  8. biome
    major ecological community with distinct climate and flora
  9. biosphere
    the regions of the Earth where living organisms exist
  10. biotic
    of or relating to living organisms
  11. carbon cycle
    the organic circulation of carbon from the atmosphere into organisms and back again
  12. carnivore
    a terrestrial or aquatic flesh-eating mammal
  13. cell
    the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms
  14. climate
    the weather in some location averaged over a period of time
  15. commensalism
    when one organism benefits from another without damaging it
  16. community
    group of interdependent organisms living in the same region
  17. competition
    the act of contending with others for rewards or resources
  18. conservation
    careful management of the environment and natural resources
  19. cycle
    a periodically repeated sequence of events
  20. depletion
    the state of being used up
  21. desert
    arid land with little or no vegetation
  22. digestion
    the process by which the body breaks down food
  23. ecology
    the environment as it relates to living organisms
  24. ecosystem
    organisms interacting with their physical environment
  25. emigration
    moving from one place in order to settle in another
  26. endangered species
    a species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction
  27. energy
    any source of usable power
  28. environment
    the area in which something exists or lives
  29. evaporation
    the process of becoming a suspension of particles in the air
  30. excretion
    the bodily process of discharging waste matter
  31. extinction
    the state of being no longer in existence
  32. food chain
    community of organisms where each member is eaten by another
  33. food web
    community of organisms with several interrelated food chains
  34. global warming
    a rise in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere
  35. grassland
    land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant life
  36. habitat
    the type of environment in which an organism normally lives
  37. herbivore
    any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other plants
  38. heterotroph
    an organism that cannot make its own food supply
  39. homeostasis
    metabolic equilibrium maintained by biological mechanisms
  40. host
    an animal or plant that nourishes and supports a parasite
  41. immigration
    movement of people into a country or area
  42. ingestion
    the process of taking food into the body through the mouth
  43. interact
    do something together or with others
  44. interspecies
    arising or occurring between species
  45. intraspecies
    arising or occurring within a species
  46. lichen
    a plant occurring in crusty patches on tree trunks or rocks
  47. metabolize
    produce by the organic processes necessary for life
  48. microbe
    a minute life form, especially one that causes disease
  49. mutualism
    the relation between two organisms that benefit each other
  50. natural resource
    material in the environment that can be used by people
  51. niche
    status or place of an organism within its environment
  52. nitrogen fixation
    the assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen by soil bacteria and its release for plant use on the death of the bacteria
  53. omnivore
    an animal that feeds on both animal and vegetable substances
  54. organism
    a living thing that can act or function independently
  55. parasite
    an animal or plant that lives in or on a host
  56. parasitism
    when one organism benefits from another by causing damage
  57. photosynthesis
    formation of compounds in plants aided by radiant energy
  58. plankton
    aggregate of small organisms that float or drift in water
  59. pollution
    contamination of the natural environment
  60. population
    a group of organisms of the same species inhabiting an area
  61. population growth
    increase in the number of people who inhabit a territory or state
  62. precipitation
    the falling to earth of any form of water
  63. predation
    the act of preying by an animal that kills and eats the prey
  64. predator
    any animal that lives by preying on other animals
  65. prey
    animal hunted or caught for food
  66. rain forest
    a forest with heavy annual rainfall
  67. renewable resource
    any natural resource (as wood or solar energy) that can be replenished naturally with the passage of time
  68. respiration
    the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation
  69. saprophyte
    an organism that feeds on dead organic matter especially a fungus or bacterium
  70. savanna
    a flat grassland in tropical or subtropical regions
  71. scavenger
    any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying matter
  72. species
    taxonomic group whose members can interbreed
  73. succession
    the gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem
  74. symbiosis
    the relation between two interdependent species of organisms
  75. transpiration
    the emission of water vapor from the leaves of plants
  76. tropical rain forest
    a rain forest in a tropical area
  77. tundra
    a vast treeless plain where subsoil is permanently frozen
  78. water pollution
    pollution of the water in rivers and lakes
Created on Wed Feb 08 21:40:24 EST 2017 (updated Mon Jun 12 17:11:20 EDT 2017)

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