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Glossary of Terms
B C D
E F G H
I J K L
M N O
P Q R S
T U V W X
Y Z
- Aestivation
- Estivation.
- Allopatric
- The non-overlapping ranges of two or more populations of organisms
(compare to sympatric).
- Alluvial Fan
- A wedge-shaped collection of alluvium deposited at the mouth of a ravine,
stream, or river.
- Alluvium
- Sediment deposited by flowing water, as in a river, stream bed, or flood
plain (plural: ALLUVIA).
- Amensalism
- Interaction in which one species is inhibited and the other is
unaffected. Examples: penicillin mold accidentally inhibiting
bacteria; large trees shading out smaller ones. (Compare to commensalism,
competition, mutualism, neutralism,
parasitism, symbiosis.)
- Amnion
- A thin, membranous, fluid-filled sac surrounding an embryo (as inside bird
or reptile eggs, or in mammals) which keeps the embryo
from drying out.
- Aquatic
- Living wholly or chiefly on or in water.
- Autecology
- Studies the interrelations of a single species to its environment.
- Autotroph
- An organism that is self-nourished, able to build organic substances from inorganic substances; a
producer.
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- Biology
- The study of living organisms.
- Biomass
- The total amount of living organic material in a given ecosystem; the standing crop.
- Burl
- Root crown.
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- Carnivore
- Meat eater; secondary consumer.
- Carrying Capacity
- The maximum number of a wildlife species a given habitat will support during the most critical time of the year.
- Chitin
- A white or colorless, horny substance forming part of the hard outer
covering of insects, crustaceans, and some other invertebrates.
- Climate
- A locality's atmospheric conditions over a long period of time.
Compare to weather.
- Climax Community
- The final stage of a community succession.
- Commensalism
- Interaction in which one species is favored and the other is
unaffected. Examples: shark and remora - the remora shares the kill
but contributes little or nothing to the shark; orchids grow on, but do not
affect, other trees. (Compare to amensalism, competition,
mutualism, neutralism, parasitism,
symbiosis.)
- Community
- Interacting population of species (plant or animal) in a common location.
- Competition
- Interaction in which both species are inhibited. Examples: deer and
elk or sheep in the same area; swifts and swallows over the same pond,
feeding together. (Compare to amensalism, commensalism,
mutualism, neutralism, parasitism,
symbiosis.)
- Crepuscular
- Dawn- and dusk-active.
- Crown-sprouting
- Growing shoots from a root crown after a fire or other disturbance.
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- Deciduous
- Losing leaves or foliage during cold or dry periods.
- Desiccation
- Total or nearly-total loss of moisture.
- Diurnal
- Day-active.
- Dormant
- Temporarily inactive.
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- Ecology
- That branch of biological sciences that studies the interrelationships between
organisms and their environments.
- Ecosystem
- A natural unit of living and nonliving components which interact to form a stable system in which an interchange of materials takes place between the living and nonliving components.
- Ecotone
- A transition, or contact, zone between two or more diverse communities.
- Ectothermic
- Having a variable body temperature which closely matches that of the
surroundings. "Cold-blooded".
- Edge Effect
- The tendency for increased variety and density of organisms at
community junctions
(ecotones).
- Embryo
- An organism in the early stages, before it has completed its development.
- Endemic
- Confined to a certain region (noun form: ENDEMISM).
- Endothermic
- Having a relatively high and constant body temperature mostly independent of the surroundings.
"Warm-blooded".
- Environment
- The physical (e.g., climate), chemical (e.g., soil), and biotic (living
things) factors acting upon an organism or ecological
community which determine its form and survival.
- Estivation or
Aestivation
- Dormancy during summer or dry season.
- Extant
- Still in existence; living (compare to Extinct & Extirpated).
- Extinct
- No longer living - for example, dinosaurs (compare to Extant &
Extirpated).
- Extirpated
- No longer living in a particular area - for example, the grizzly bear has
been extirpated from California (compare to extant & extinct).
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- Food Chain and Food Web
- The transfer of food energy from the source in plants through a series of organisms with repeated eating and being eaten is the
Food Chain. The interlocking pattern of Food Chains makes up the Food Web.
- Fascicle
- Bundle or cluster of leaves, stem, or flowers.
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- Habitat
- The place where an organism lives; the place where one would go to find a given organism.
- Haustoria
- Rootlike outgrowths of a parasitic plant that attach to and obtain food from a host plant.
(singular: HAUSTORIUM)
- Herbivore
- Plant eater; primary consumer.
- Heterotroph
- An organism that is other-nourished; obtains energy from the breakdown of complex
organic substances; a
consumer (see primary consumers, secondary
consumers).
- Hibernation
- Dormancy during winter, generally accompanied by lower metabolic rate and temperature.
- Hirsute
- Hairy, or having hairlike parts.
- Home Range
- The area over which an animal generally moves in obtaining its food.
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- Igneous
- Formed by solidification of magma.
-
- Indicator Species
- A plant or animal species, the absence or presence of which can provide
information about a given area.
- Invertebrate
- An animal lacking a spinal column, such as a
bee, spider, lobster, or snail.
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- Limiting Factors
- A set of environmental requirements which each species and
organism must meet for survival. These include temperature, light, water, soil condition,
topography, availability of food, etc.
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- Magma
- Molten (liquefied by heat) rock material within the earth. When it
reaches the earth's surface it is called lava.
- Mediterranean
Climate
- A climate characterized by long, hot, dry summers
and short, cool, moist, winters. Less than 3% of the entire world has
this type of climate, existing in only five locations: the Mediterranean
Coast, Southern California, Western Chile, the Cape of South Africa, and
Southwestern Australia. All are between 30 and 45 degrees north- and
south latitude.
- Mesic
- "Wet"; habitats with plentiful rainfall and well-drained soil.
- Metamorphic
- Produced by a change in form.
- Mutualism
- Interaction in which both species are favored. Examples: lichen - an
alga (singular of algae) and fungus growing together; yucca and yucca moth,
each dependent upon one another; ground squirrel and oak. (Compare to amensalism,
commensalism, competition,
neutralism, parasitism,
symbiosis.)
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- Neutralism
- Interaction in which neither species is affected to a significant
degree. Examples: pelicans and cormorants feeding in the ocean;
spiders and mantises feeding on insects on the same bush; crows and ravens
in the same cornfield; numerous songbirds feeding and nesting together in
woodlands. (Compare to amensalism, commensalism,
competition, mutualism, parasitism,
symbiosis.)
- Niche
- The functional status or role an organism plays in its
community.
- Nocturnal
- Night-active.
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- Omnivore
- Animal that eats both plant and animal material (Compare to herbivore,
carnivore).
- Organic
- Of, relating to, or derived from a living organism.
- Organism
- A living thing.
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- Parasitism or
Predation
- Interaction in which one species is favored and the other is
inhibited. Examples of predation: mountain lion and deer; hawk and
rabbit; snake and rodent. Examples of parasitism: dodder and shrub;
flea and dog; vampire and victim; creosote and other plant. (Compare to amensalism,
commensalism, competition,
mutualism, neutralism, symbiosis.)
- Photosynthesis
- Utilization of the energy of light to combine carbon dioxide and water into simple sugars.
- Plant Community
- A grouping of plants which have similar tolerances to a given physical environment (e.g., temperature, rainfall, soil, solar radiation, and
wind). The same plant community may vary slightly in different
geographical locations, but is characterized by its indicator
species.
- Primary Consumers
- Organisms that eat plants; first-order consumers; herbivores.
- Primary Succession
- The process of community change on an area which has not been previously occupied by a community (such as a newly-exposed rock or sand surface.).
- Producers
- Largely green plants, which are able to manufacture food from simple inorganic
(non-organic) substances;
autotrophic organisms.
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- Root Crown
- Large, vegetative masses just below the soil surface found in some plants,
such as Adenostoma fasciculatum, Cercocarpus betuloides, Heteromeles
arbutifolia, and Malosma laurina. See stump-sprouting.
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- Secondary Consumers
- Organisms that eat animals; second-order consumers; carnivores.
- Secondary Succession
- Community development in an area from which a community was removed (such as a plowed field or cutover forest).
- Sedimentary
- Formed by deposits of sediment (material deposited by water, wind, or glaciers).
- Sere
- The entire series of communities which develop in a given situation. A single community taken from a given period of succession is called a
"seral stage".
- Stump-sprouting
- The ability of certain plants to grow new shoots from their root
crowns after being burned in a fire.
- Succession
- The orderly process of community change; the sequence of communities which replace one another in a given area.
- Symbiosis
- The living together of two or more organisms in which the association is mutually advantageous.
(Compare to amensalism, commensalism,
competition, mutualism, neutralism,
parasitism)
- Sympatric
- The overlapping or coinciding of geographical ranges of two or more populations of
organisms (compare to allopatric) .
- Synecology
- Study of groups of organisms as they relate to their
environments.
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- Territory
- That portion of the home range that is actively defended.
- Topography
- The three-dimensional characteristics of an area, including both natural
and man-made features.
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- Vertebrate
- An animal possessing a spinal column, such as a mammal, bird, reptile,
amphibian, or fish.
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- Weather
- A locality's current atmospheric conditions. Compare to climate.
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- Xeric
- "Dry"; habitats in which plant production is limited by availability of water.
