Unit 7 Vocabulary

biotic

• Organisms living or that had once lived in the environment (i.e., mouse, clover, dead tree)

abiotic

• Non-living factors in the environment (i.e., light, temperature, water, atmospheric gases, wind, soil, and nature of land surface)

habitat

• The place in which an animal lives

ecosystem

• A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

sustainability

• The capacity to endure. • In ecology, the word describes how biological

systems remain diverse and productive over time.

biodiversity

• The variety of organisms in an ecosystem

biome

• Large geographic areas with similar climates and ecosystems (i.e., desert, tundra, etc.)

population

• Made up from all of the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species

ecosystem

• A smaller part of the biosphere consisting of the organisms and non-living features that interact in an area

primary succession

• the development of biotic (living) communities in a previously uninhabited and barren habitat with little or no soil

secondary succession

• The development of communities in an area that has been disturbed but still retains its topsoil, as in a burned-over area

climax community

• An ecological community in which populations of plants or animals remain stable and exist in balance with each other and their environment.

• A climax community is the final stage of succession

species

• All organisms of the same kind that adapted to a particular set of resources (called a niche) in the environment

pioneer species

• The first species/organisms to grow in an area after a disturbance.

microhabitat

• A small habitat that differs in character from some surrounding more extensive habitat.