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Fundamentals of Ecology
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Food Web
A complex network of feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem, representing the flow of energy. Example: Grasses eaten by rabbits, which are then eaten by foxes.
Carrying Capacity
The maximum population size of a species that an environment can sustain indefinitely. Example: The number of deer an island can support without running out of food resources.
Biodiversity
Variety and variability of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire planet. Example: The Amazon rainforest hosts a high level of biodiversity.
Habitat
Place where an organism or a biological population normally lives or occurs. Example: A coral reef serving as a habitat for a variety of marine species.
Niche
The role and position a species has in its environment; how it meets its needs for food and shelter, how it survives, and how it reproduces. Example: Bees pollinating flowers while feeding on nectar.
Biogeochemical Cycles
The movement of nutrients and other elements through biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem. Example: Water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle.
Ecosystem Services
Benefits provided by ecosystems that contribute to making life sustainable for humans. Example: Wetlands filtering pollutants and providing habitat for fish.
Ecological Succession
The process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. Example: After a forest fire, the area regrows from grasses to shrubs to a mature forest.
Trophic Levels
The hierarchical levels in a food web based on the position in the flow of energy. Example: Producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers.
Invasive Species
Species that are non-native to an ecosystem and cause harm. Example: The zebra mussel in the Great Lakes region disrupting local ecosystems.
Biomagnification
The process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain. Example: Mercury becoming more concentrated in fish at higher trophic levels.
Keystone Species
A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance. Example: Sea otters protecting kelp forests by eating sea urchins.
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