evolution and ecology
...roducts, or wastes of other organisms. Decomposers help cycle nutrients to producers in ecosystems certain fungi and bacteria are examples. Detrivore: An organism which obtains most of its nutrients from the detritus in an ecosystem. Ecology: The study of interactions of organisms and their physical environment, all of which interact through a flow of energy and a cycling of materials. Ecological Niche: The species physical, chemical, and biological conditions the species needs to live and reproduce in an ecosystem. Ecosystem: An array of organisms and their physical environment, all of which interact through a flow of energy and a cycling of materials. Evolution: A biological act, change within a line of descent over time. A population is evolving when some forms of a trait are becoming more or less common relative to the other kinds of traits. The shifts are evidence of changes in the relative abundances of alleles for that trait, as brought about by mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow. Generalist Species: species that have a broad band of niches. They eat many things, live in many places. Examples are humans. Genus: A taxonomic grouping of species exhibiting certain phenotypic similarities and evolutionary relationships. Habitat: The type of place where an organism normally lives, characterized by physical features, chemical features, and the presence of certain other species. Herbivore: Plant eating animal. Heterotroph: Organisms that cannot synthesis its own organic compounds and must obtain nourishment by feeding on autotrophs, each other, or organic waste. Animals and fungi are examples of heterotrophs. Mutation: A heritable change in DNA due to the deletion, addition, or substitution of one to several bases in the nucleotide sequence. Natural Selection: A micro evolutionary process; a difference in survival, and reproduction among members of a population...