Title: Define basic terminology in ecology and other environmental sciences.
Course: Ecology and Environmental Management (18003-36) > Section: Developing Basic Environmental Science Concepts

Definitions may include, but are not limited to,

- abiotic factors
- autotroph
- behavioral requirement
- biochemical cycle
- biodiversity (genetic diversity, species diversity)
- biological community
- biomass
- biotic factors
- carrying capacity (biological and cultural)
- climax
- commensalism
- community
- consumer
  - primary
  - secondary
  - tertiary
- decomposer
- differentiation
- ecological interactions (predation, competition, mutualism)
- ecological succession
  - primary
  - secondary
- ecology
- ecosystem
- food chain
- fragmentation
- generalists
- habitat
- heterotroph
- keystone species
- limiting factors
- mutualism
- niche
- nitrogen cycle
- organism
- physiological requirement
- population
- predation
- producer
- range of tolerance
- Shelford’s law of tolerance
- specialists
- species
- symbiotic relationships
- systems and cycles
- trophic level.

Process/Skill Questions:

- How are an animal’s niche and its range of tolerance related?
- How does population compare with community?
- What is biodiversity, and why is it important?
- Why is fragmentation a potential problem for wildlife?
- What is the relationship between biological and cultural carrying capacity?
- What happens when two species share much, or all of, the same niche?
- What is a keystone species, and why are they important in an ecosystem?

Teacher Resource:

What is the Law of Tolerance?, Socratic