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| Non-living; devoid of life |
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| microorganism which independently produces the compounds which are necessary for its survival |
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| Pertaining to any aspect of life, especially to characteristics of entire populations or ecosystems. |
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| bodily process whereby oxygen in the blood is absorbed by the cells of the body and carbon dioxide is absorbed by the blood as a waste product to be transported to the lungs |
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| A modification in structure, form or function in an organism, deviating from other organisms of the same species or group. |
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| The systematic arrangement of similar entities on the basis of certain differing characteristics and the basis of their relationships. |
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| transmission and reception by animal or plant generation. |
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| All species or populations living in the same area. |
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| Any of various organisms (as many bacteria and fungi) that feed on and break down organic substances (such as dead plants and animals). |
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| Tendency of an organism to suit its environment; one of the major points of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection: organisms adapt to their environment. Those organisms best adapted will have a greater chance of surviving and passing their genes on to the next generation. |
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| study of the relationship between living organisms and their environment (especially pertaining to issues such as pollution); environment as it connects or relates to living organisms |
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| ecological system, reciprocal relationship between living things and the environment |
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| Any heritable change in the nucleotide sequence of DNA; can involve substitutions, insertions, or deletions of one or more nucleotides. |
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| The biological role played by a species. |
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| ood chain, pyramid-shaped structure illustrating the feeding order in natureA complex network of feeding interrelations among species in a natural ecosystem; more accurate and more complex depiction of energy than a food chain. |
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| Term pertaining to a heterotroph, usually an animal, that eats plants or algae. Herbivores function in food chains and food webs as primary consumers. |
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| Organisms that obtain their nutrition by breaking down organic molecules in foods; include animals and fungi. |
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| A nucleic acid composed of two polynucleotide strands wound around a central axis to form a double helix; the repository of genetic information. Nucleic acid that functions as the physical carrier of inheritance for 99% of all species. The molecule is double-stranded and composed of two strands in an antiparallel and complementary arrangement. The basic unit, the nucleotide, consists of a molecule of deoxyribose sugar, a phosphate group, and one of four nitrogenous bases. |
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| The maintenance of a stable internal environment. |
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| The observed remains of once-living organisms taken as a whole. |
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| The process of differential survival and reproduction of Þtter genotypes; can be stabilizing, directional, or disruptive. Better adapted individuals are more likely to survive to reproductive age and thus leave more offspring and make a larger contribution to the gene pool than do less Þt individuals. The differential survival and reproductive successes of individuals in a variable population that powers the evolutionary process. |
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| Characteristics or attributes of an organism that are expressed by genes and/or influenced by the environment. |
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| When organisms produce more than enough offspring to ensure that if many of them die, at east some will live to reproduce. |
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| Cell division in which the chromosomes replicate, followed by two nuclear divisions. Each of the resulting gametes (in animals, spores in plants) receives a haploid set of chromosomes. Reduction/division by which ploidy, the number of sets of homologous chromosomes, is reduced in the formation of haploid cells that become gametes (or gametophytes in plants). |
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| A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time and sharing a common gene pool. A group of potentially interbreeding organisms in a geographic area. |
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| An organism that preys upon other organisms. |
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the animal being hunted;
The organisms being eaten |
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| Any organism that consumes or feeds on autotrophs or decaying matter. |
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| A natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment. |
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| An organism that largely feeds on primary consumers. |
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| One or more populations of interbreeding or potentially interbreeding organisms that are reproductively isolated in nature from all other organisms. Populations of individuals capable of interbreeding and producing viable, fertile offspring. The least inclusive taxonomic category commonly used. |
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| An interactive association between two or more species living together; may be parasitic, commensal, or mutualistic. The relationship between two organisms. |
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| One of the biological interactions that can limit population growth; occurs when two species vie with each other for the same resource. |
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