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This glossary of biology terms is a list of definitions of fundamental terms and concepts used in biology, the study of life and of living organisms.It is intended as introductory material for novices; for more specific and technical definitions from sub-disciplines and related fields, see Glossary of cell biology, Glossary of genetics, Glossary of evolutionary biology, Glossary of ecology ...
The definition of life has long been a challenge for scientists and philosophers. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] This is partially because life is a process, not a substance. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] This is complicated by a lack of knowledge of the characteristics of living entities, if any, that may have developed outside Earth.
For example, the forests of eastern North America still show legacies of cultivation which ceased in 1850 when large areas were reverted to forests. [22]: 340 Another example is the methane production in eastern Siberian lakes that is controlled by organic matter which accumulated during the Pleistocene. [26]
Also called functionalism. The Darwinian view that many or most physiological and behavioral traits of organisms are adaptations that have evolved for specific functions or for specific reasons (as opposed to being byproducts of the evolution of other traits, consequences of biological constraints, or the result of random variation). adaptive radiation The simultaneous or near-simultaneous ...
Biologists can study life at multiple levels of organization, [1] from the molecular biology of a cell to the anatomy and physiology of plants and animals, and the evolution of populations. [ 1 ] [ 6 ] Hence, there are multiple subdisciplines within biology , each defined by the nature of their research questions and the tools that they use.
A closely related approach, relational biology, is concerned mainly with understanding life processes in terms of the most important relations, and categories of such relations among the essential functional components of organisms; for multicellular organisms, this has been defined as "categorical biology", or a model representation of ...
A planet roughly 1,200 light-years away from Earth might be suited for habitability, according to researchers.
Another way is by perceived taxonomic group, with fields such as zoology, botany, and microbiology, reflecting what was once seen as the major divisions of life. A third way is by approaches, such as field biology, theoretical biology, experimental evolution, and paleontology. These alternative ways of dividing up the subject have been combined ...