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Vocabulary List Santa Monica Mountains and Channel
Islands
Ecology terms
Abiotic – Nonliving, as in abiotic factor, which is a nonliving physical and chemical attribute of a
system, for example light, temperature, wind patterns, rocks, soil, pH, pressure, etc. in an environment.
Autotroph – any organism capable of self-nourishment by using inorganic materials as a source of
nutrients and using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis as a source of energy, as most plants and certain
bacteria and protists.
Adaptation – changes in an organism's physiological structure or function or habits that allow it to
survive in new surroundings. For example, forests develop only where soil types, moisture and sunlight
are balanced to the proper degree. Desert plants have made adjustments so as to be able to live under
intense sunlight, on poor quality soils, and with reduced water supply.
Biomimicry – the copying or imitation of a natural phenomenon's or environment's efficiency and
survival mechanisms in manufacturing processes or in applied case-based reasoning.
Biotic – Of, pertaining to, or produced by life or living organisms (of an ecosystem).
Carnivore – a meat eater.
Commensalism – a symbiotic relationship between two species in which one species benefits and the
other neither benefits or harms. Often, the host species provides a home and/or transportation for the
other species. Commensalism is much more difficult to demonstrate than mutualism. For true
commensalism, the second species must be unaffected by the presence of the first, but commonly a
detailed study of the relationship will show some affect on the second species.
Community – an association of organisms – plant and animal – each occupying a certain position or
ecological niche, inhabiting a common environment and interacting with each other: all the plants and
animals in a particular habitat that are bound together by food chains and other interrelations.
Competition – when two or more organisms have the potential for using the same resource. May be
inter- or intra-specific.
Crepuscular - appearing or active in the twilight.
Decomposition – the breakdown of dead and decaying organic matter into nutrients and soil material.
Diurnal – active by daylight; the opposite of nocturnal
Vocabulary List SAMO CHIS (updated 10/20/2011mj) p. 1
Diversity – variety
Ecology - the study of home (earth and the interconnections of organisms)
Ecosystems – a natural unit that includes living and non-living parts interacting to produce a stable
system in which the exchange of materials between the living and nonliving parts follows closed paths;
all living things and their environment in an area of any size with all linked together by energy and
nutrient flow.
Environment – the total of all of the surroundings – air, water, vegetation, human element, wildlife –
that has influence on you and your existence, including physical, biological and all other factors; the
surroundings of a plant or animal including other plants and animals, climate and location.
Exotic – in conservation language, this refers to a foreign plant or animal – one that has been
introduced into a new area.
Herbivore – a plant eater
Hibernation – the act of passing the winter, or a portion of it, in a state of sleep: a torpid or resting
state
Interdependence – the interrelationships of wildlife with one another and with the various elements of
their environment
Mutualism – a relationship between two species of organisms in which both benefit from the
association-a type of symbiosis
Niche – the position or function of an organism in a community of plants and animals
Nocturnal – active by night; the opposite of diurnal
Omnivore – an animal that eats both plant and animal materials
Organism – a living thing; a form of life composed of mutually dependent parts that maintains various
vital processes
Parasitism – is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one
organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the host
Photosynthesis – the process by which green plants produce their food (carbohydrates) from water,
carbon dioxide, and minerals, using the sun’s energy.
Predator – an animal that kills and eats other animals
Prey – animals that are killed and eaten by other animals
Saprophyte – an organism living on dead organic matter; neither parasitic nor making its own food
Symbiosis – A close, prolonged association between two or more different organisms of different
species that may, but does not necessarily, benefit each member.
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Geology terms
Basalt -- a very common igneous rock. In fact, it is the most common rock in the Earth's crust. Almost
all oceanic crust is made of basalt and basalt is a common extrusion from many volcanic regions
around the world. It forms from the melting of the upper mantle and its chemistry closely resembles
the upper mantle's composition. It is generally silica poor and iron and magnesium rich. Basalt
originates from "hot spot" volcanoes, massive basalt flows and mid oceanic ridges.
Erosion – the process of gradual removal of material from the earth’s surfaces by wind, water and
other forces
Exfoliation – the breaking off or peeling of concentric layers of rock due to physical or chemical forces
Fault – a plane of weakness in rock where movement of the two sides has occurred relative to one
another
Geologic Time – all of the time since the origin of the earth
Geology – the study of the earth, the rocks that comprise it and the changes it undergoes
Igneous Rock – formed by magma cooling and becoming solid. Igneous rock may form with or
without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive (plutonic) rocks or on the surface as
extrusive (volcanic) rocks.
Joint – a naturally occurring weakness or fracture line in the rock, created by forces of compression or
extension
Magma - molten material beneath or within the earth's crust, from which igneous rock is formed
Mantle - the mantle is a highly viscous layer between the crust and the outer core of the Earth
Meander – a bend in a flowing river as it loses potential energy while flowing through flatter terrain
Metamorphic Rock – either sedimentary rock or igneous rock that has been heated or pressurized to
such an extent that it undergoes both chemical and structural change
Mineral – a naturally occurring inorganic substance composed of multiple elements in a fixed ratio
Plate Tectonics – a geologic theory that postulates the existence of seven major plates of the earth’s
crust which float and move on the molten rock of the mantle and periodically reshape the land as they
collide with each other
Pluton - any body of igneous rock that solidified far below the earth's surface
Sediment – fine particles of broken up rock that are deposited on the earth’s surface by moving water,
wind or ice
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Sedimentary Rock – rock formed by the layered deposition of fine, broken up particles of eroded rock
Subduction - the process by which collision of the earth's crustal plates results in one plate's being
drawn down or overridden by another
Uplift – a process of mountain building in which collisions of the tectonic plates result in a
displacement of the compressed land upwards
Watershed – a geographic area in which all the surface water drains ultimately to a particular
watercourse or body of water
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