adaptation. a gradual change in an organism that enables it to survive in a particular environment
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Adaptation
A gradual change in an organism that enables it to survive in a particular
environment.
Algae
Nonvascular plants that are often found in aquatic or marine
environments and provides both food and a place for organisms to live.
Acid Rain
Rain that is contaminated with pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxide gases.
Adapt
Change; to change in order to fit a new situation or use.
Abiotic Factors
The nonliving parts of the environment.
Aquatic
Living in water.
Benthos
Bottom-dwelling organisms.
Biome
The natural place in a particular climate where many plants and animals live.
Biosphere
Encompasses all areas of the Earth — land, air and water — that support life.
Biotic Factors
The living parts of the environment.
Camouflage
Exploit the natural surroundings to disguise something.
Carbon Cycle
The cycle in which carbon flows through the environment and living things.
Carnivore
A consumer that eats only meat from animals or insects.
Carry Capacity
The largest population that an area can support.
Classify
To group things together because they share one or more properties.
Climate
temperature
Tim
e/y
ear
The average and variations of weather in a region over long periods of time.
Co-exist
Exist together.
Commensalism
Relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither helped nor
harmed.
Community
All of the populations that live in the same area.
Competition
The struggle between organisms to survive as they attempt to use the same limited
resources.
Consumer
An organism that feeds on other organisms or organic matter because
it cannot make its own food
Decay
The process where bacteria and other decomposers break down dead
things.
Deciduous
Describes a plant whose leaves fall off seasonally, or a leaf which falls off
seasonally.
Decomposers
Members of an ecosystem that break down organic material so it may be
used again (or recycled) by the ecosystem.
Deforestation
The clearing of forest lands.
Dependent
To depend on something else for survival.
Desert
A sandy or rocky biome, with little precipitation and little plant life.
Ecology
The study of how living things interact with each other and their environment.
Ecologists
Scientists who study ecology.
Ecosystem
A community that includes all the living and nonliving things found in a
certain area.
Emigration
To leave a population.
Endangered Species
A species that is in danger of becoming extinct.
Energy Pyramid
Shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food
web.
Entomologist
A scientist who studies insect life.
Environment
Everything that surrounds an organism and influences it.
Equilibrium
State of balance within an ecosystem.
Estuaries
Bodies of water found in areas where fresh water and salt water mix.
Extinct
A species that has died out completely.
Food Chain
The ways in which the organisms in an ecosystem interact with one another
according to what they eat.
Food Web
Consists of the many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.
Fossil Fuel
Fuels formed from plant or animal remains, such as coal, gas, and oil.
Germination
The process by which seeds swell up and begin to sprout and develop
roots.
Grasslands
Land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant
life.
Habitat
A place that is natural for an organism to live.
Herbivore
A consumer that eats only plants.
Host
The organism that a parasite lives in or on.
Humus
Partially decomposed organic matter; the organic component of soil.
Immigration
To move into a population.
Inorganic
Composed of matter other than plant or animal.
Interdependence
Being mutually responsible to and sharing a common set of principles
with others.
Lake
Bigger than a pond, and is too deep to support plant roots except near the shore.
Limiting Factor
An environmental factor that causes a population to stop growing.
Live-Bearer
An animal that gives birth to live, fully formed offspring.
Microorganism
An extremely small organism that can not be seen without a microscope.
Migration
To move periodically from one area to another for feeding or breeding.
Mutualism
Relationship in which both species benefit.
Natural Selection
A process by which characteristics that make an individual better suited to its
environment become more common in species.
Nekton
Organisms that swim through the water.
Niche
The role of an organism in the community; how it makes its living.
Nitrogen Cycle
The cycle in which nitrogen moves through the environment and living things.
Nitrogen Fixation
Process of changing free nitrogen gas into a usable form.
Nutrients
phosphorous potassium
nitrogen
Food for plants.
Organic
Composed of plant or animal matter.
Organisms
Living things.
Omnivore
A consumer that eats plants and animals.
Oxygen
An element that is normally colorless, odorless and tasteless and which is the most abundant element and is
essential to life.
Parasite
An organism that lives on, or inside, another organism and harms it.
Permafrost
Ground that is permanently frozen.
pH
A term that refers to the relative concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) in a solution, and therefore whether
the solution is acid or base.
Pioneer Species
The first species to populate an area.
Photosynthesis
The process by which green plants and blue-green algae, in the
presence of light, make food out of carbon dioxide and water.
Plankton
Organisms that float on the water.
Pollutant
Anything that spreads harmful or unpleasant substances into the air,
water, or ground.
Pollution
An unwanted change in the environment.
Pond
A still body of water smaller than a lake, often shallow enough for rooted plants to
grow throughout.
Population
A group of organisms of the same species living in the same place.
Predator
An animal that hunts and eats other animals.
Prey
An animal that is hunted and eaten by other animals.
Primary Consumer
An animal that eats green plants.
Primary Succession
The series of changes that occur to an area where no soil or organisms exist.
Producer
An organism that can make its own food through the process of
photosynthesis.
Protection
Anything that helps ward off some threat.
Recycle
To take something that would otherwise be thrown away and make it into something that can be used
again.
Reproduction
Process by which plants and animals give rise to offspring.
Respiration
OxygenCarbon
Dioxide
The processes by which an organism takes in and processes oxygen and
releases carbon dioxide.
Savannas
Grasslands that stay warm all year round.
Scavenger(Detrivore)
An organism, also known as a decomposer, that eats dead or
decaying organic matter.
Secondary Consumer
An animal that eats animals who eat plants.
Secondary Succession
The series of changes that occur in an area where the ecosystem has been disturbed,
but where soil and organisms still exist.
Soil
The top layer of earth, composed of organic materials (humus), inorganic
materials (sand, silt, and clay), water, and air.
Stable
Steady and balanced.
Symbiosis
A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species.
Taiga
A cool forest biome of conifers in the upper Northern Hemisphere.
Temperate
A region with moderate or mild conditions.
Temperate Forest
Contain trees that lose their leaves each fall and found in areas with moderate
temperatures.
Temperature
A measurement of the amount of heat a substance contains.
Terrarium
A closed glass or plastic container where organisms can live and be
observed.
Terrestrial
Of or related to the land.
Tertiary Consumer
An animal that eats secondary consumers.
Thermometer
A device for measuring temperature.
Threatened Species
A species that is in danger of becoming endangered.
Topsoil
The layer of soil on the surface which supports vegetation.
Toxins
Tropical Rain Forest
A hot biome near the equator, with much rainfall and a wide variety of life.
Tundra
A type of ecosystem dominated by lichens, mosses, grasses, and woody plants and is
located near the north and south poles.
Water Cycle
The ongoing process in nature that recycles fresh water.
Water Pollution
Condition that exists when harmful materials have entered the water and made it harmful to organisms.