Glossary of Ecological Terms For Food Chain, Food Web, Habitat and Wildlife

Arthropods The animal phylum comprised of crustaceans, spiders, mites, centipedes, insects, and related forms. The largest of the phyla, containing more than three times the number of all other animal phyla combined. Carnivore Animals that eat meat. Carnivorous animals often have sharp teeth and powerful jaws. Carrion Dead and putrefying animal flesh Carrying capacity The number of individuals a given area can support. Climax community The end of a successional sequence; a community that has reached stability under a particular set of environmental conditions. Community A naturally occurring group of plants and animals that live within a certain environment and interact with each other. Communities are often defined by a dominant species Consumers Organisms within a biological community which cannot manufacture their own food and therefore depend on other organisms for their nutritional supply; also called “heterotrophs.” Corridor A defined tract of land, usually linear, through which a species must travel to reach habitat suitable for reproduction and other life-sustaining needs. Cover Vegetation used by wildlife for protection from predators, or to mitigate weather conditions, or to reproduce. May also refer to the protection of the soil and the shading provided to herbs and forbs by vegetation. Decomposer An organism that obtains energy from dead or waste organic matter. Bacteria and fungi are decomposers that usually secrete enzymes to digest the material and then ingest the smaller molecules that are released by the enzymes. When animals eat the flesh of dead animals, they are also functioning as decomposers. Decomposition The breakdown of organic materials by organisms in the environment, releasing energy and simple organic and inorganic compounds. About 10 percent of the energy that enters living systems through photosynthesis in plants passes to herbivores, and a fraction of this energy then passes to carnivores. Whether feeding on living or non-living material, however, the detritivores (the organisms consuming non-living material, such as many fungi, bacteria, and earthworms) and consumers break down organic material (such as sugars and proteins) to obtain energy for their own growth, thereby returning the inorganic components (the nutrients) to the environment, where they are again available to plants. Detritus Dead organic matter, both plant and animal. Detrivore An organism that feeds on large bits of dead and decaying organic matter. What they leave behind is used by decomposers. Crabs and seabirds are examples of detrivores.

Ecology Glossary page 1 Duff layer The layer of loosely compacted debris underlying the litter layer on the forest floor. Ecological niche The role a plant or animal plays in its community. What it eats, its predators, physical tolerances, etc. define the niche of an organism. Two species cannot live stably in the same habitat if they occupy identical niches. Ecotone A habitat created by the juxtaposition of distinctly different habitats; an edge habitat; a zone of transition between habitat types or adjacent ecological systems having a set of characteristics uniquely defined by space and time scales and by the strength of the interactions. Edge Where plant communities meet or where successional stages or vegetative conditions with plant communities come together. Endangered A species facing imminent extirpation or extinction. Extinct A species which no longer exists. Extinction The evolutionary termination of a species caused by the failure to reproduce and the death of all remaining members of the species; the natural failure to adapt to environmental change. Extirpation The elimination of a species from a local area or region. Fauna All of the animals found in a given area. Flora All of the plants found in a given area. Food chain The sequence of who eats whom in a biological community (an ecosystem) to obtain nutrition. A food chain starts with plants or other autotrophs (organisms that make their own food from light and/or chemical energy) that are eaten by herbivores (plant- eaters). The herbivores are eaten by carnivores (meat-eaters). These are eaten by other carnivores. When any organism dies, it is eaten by detrivores and then broken down by tiny microbes (detrivores) and the exchange of energy continues. Food web A non-linear network of feeding between organisms that includes many food chains, and hence multiple organisms on each trophic level. For example, both sharks and tuna eat herring, and sharks also eat tuna. Forest fragmentation Patchwork conversion and development of forest sites (usually the most accessible or most productive ones) that leave the remaining forest in stands of varying sizes and degrees of isolation Generalist A species that can live in many different habitats and can feed on a number of different organisms. For example, shore crabs on the Pacific coast live in a wide of variety of habitats, such as mud, sand and rock, and feed on everything from the algae growing on rocks to invertebrates to detritus. Habitat The immediate space where an animal or plant lives and has food, water and protection. Habitat loss, which includes the destruction, degradation, or fragmentation of habitats, is the primary cause of decreasing biodiversity. Habitat The alteration of a large habitat patch to create isolated or fragmentation tenuously connected patches of the original habitat that are interspersed with an extensive mosaic of other habitat types.

Ecology Glossary page 2 Herbivore An animal that eats plants. Herbivory is the process of animals eating plants. Indicator species A species whose status provides information on the overall condition of the ecosystem and of other species in that ecosystem. Indigenous peoples People whose ancestors inhabited a place or country when persons from another culture or ethnic background arrived on the scene and dominated them through conquest, settlement, or other means and who today live more in conformity with their own social, economic, and cultural customs and traditions than with those of the country of which they now form a part (also: native peoples or tribal peoples). Inorganic Part of or derived from non-biological material. A chemical compound that does not include a carbon chain. Introduced species An organism that has been brought into an area, usually by humans, where it does not naturally occur. Introduced species often compete with and cause problems for native species. Introduced species are also called exotic, normative, and alien species. Invasive species An introduced species that out competes native species for space and resources. Scotch Broom is an invasive species that out competes local vegetation and results in a monoculture, and hence a decrease in diversity. Invertebrate Is a general term used for animals that do not have a backbone. Animals with a backbone are vertebrates. Keystone species A species whose loss from an ecosystem would cause a greater than average change in other species populations or ecosystem processes. Larva (e) An immature form of an organism. This word is normally used in organisms in which the immature form is very different than the adult form. Litter layer The loose, relatively undecomposed organic debris on the surface of the forest floor made up typically of leaves, bark, small branches, and other fallen material. Mutualism Relationship between two or more species that benefits all parties. Native species A species that occurs naturally in an area (i.e. Not introduced). Natural selection The process in nature by which individuals in a population best adapted to the environment increase in frequency relative to less well-adapted forms over a number of generations. Nectarivore An animal that eats nectar. Niche Includes all of the functional roles of an organism in a biological community; what an organism does in and for a living community. Omnivore Omnivores are animals that eat both animals and plants. Some omnivores include people, many monkeys and marmosets, lion tamarins, chimpanzees, and most bears. Organic Part of or derived from living organisms. Or a chemical compound that contains carbon as an essential component.

Ecology Glossary page 3 Parasites Form close associations with other species. The parasite benefits from this relationship but the other species is harmed. Population A population is an interbreeding group of organisms (the same species) that occupies a particular area. Predator An animal that hunts and kills other animals for food. Prey Living organisms that are caught and eaten by other organisms. Primary consumers Animals which eat producers Producer An organism, such as a plant or alga, which produces the organic sugar compounds from carbon dioxide by photosynthesis and is a source of food for other organisms. Raptor Animal which has a hooked beak and sharp claws, and is therefore adapted for seizing prey animals. Scavenger An animal that feeds on dead organic matter. Secondary consumer A heterotrophic, carnivorous organism that feeds on a primary consumer. Snag Any standing dead, partially dead, or defective tree at least 10 inches in diameter at breast height and at least 6 feet tall. Species A group of organisms capable of interbreeding freely with each other but not with members of other species. Symbiosis An interaction between two different species where either both, one or neither of the organisms benefit from the relationship. Many symbiotic relationships are obligatory Taxonomy The naming and assignment of organisms to taxa. Terrestrial Organisms that live on land Threatened A species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed. Transfer of matter Process by which an animal obtains energy when it eats another and energy animal or a plant. Energy captured by eating is a) used to maintain life functions, b) stored in the chemical bonds of the substances making up the organism's body, or c) lost as heat. The amount of energy that is lost in the energy transfer process is much greater than the amount of energy that is transferred, often in the ratio of 90% lost and 10% transferred. Trophic level Position in the food chain, determined by the number of energy- transfer steps to that level. Vertebrates Are animals with a backbone. Phylum: chordata subphylum: vertebrata

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