individual
first level that can live on its own environment
population
consists of all individuals belonging to the same species w/ in given area
community
collection of populations in a given area that interact with each other
ecosystems
multiple communities involving nonliving environments
biosphere
includes all ecosystems on Earth
kinesis
random movement
taxis
movement in specific direction
phototropism
occurs because plants possess hormones in the tips of stems
auxins
group of plant hormones
photoperiod
number of sunlit hours
circadian clock
24 hr clock that regulates wide range of activities
innate behaviors
instinctive behaviors that are performed w/o previous experinces
learned behaviors
individuals experience behavior in environment
habituation
animals learn over time to ignore a stimulus
operant conditioning
animal is rewarded or punished after a behavior
imitation
individuals learn a behavior from watching other individuals perform
cooperative behavior
members of the same species exhibit behaviors that improve another individuals fitness
endotherms
body temp is regulated internally
ectotherms
organisms that generate small amounts of heat impacted by external conditions
metabolic rate
# of calories that organism burns over time while at rest
chemosynthesis
obtain energy from chemical compounds to build sugars
autotrophs
producers
heterotrophs
organisms that obtain energy by eating other organims
tropic levels
auto + heterotrophs organized into successive levels
sedimentation
carbon moves between pools using processes of exchange
extraction
removal of buried carbon
combustion
transforms fossils fuels from fossilized carbon sources into CO2
thermorgulation
process of an organism controlling body temp.
food chain
direction of energy & matter flow between trophic levels
food webs
depictions of how energy and matter flow among large # of species
pools
places an element resides
proccesses
ways an element moves from one pool to another