organism
a living thing
habitat
an environment that provides an organism with what it needs to live, grow, and reproduce
biotic factor
living/once living things that interact with an organism
abiotic factor
nonliving factors that interact with an organism
species
group of organisms that can mate and produce offspring that can also mate and reproduce
population
all members of one species living in one particular area
community
all different populations (living things) in an area living together
ecosystem
community of organisms that live in an area along with nonliving factors
ecology
study of how organisms react with their environment
birth rate
number of births/time period
death rate
number of deaths/time period
immigration
moving into a population
emigration
leaving a population
population density
number of individuals in an area of a specific size
limiting factor
environmental factor that causes a population to drop/stop growing
ex: food, water, space
carrying capacity
largest number of individuals that an area is able to support
natural selection
process through which suitable adaptations will increase and not-suitable adaptations will go away
adaptation
behaviors & physical characteristics that allow organisms to live successfully in their environments
niche
the role of an organism in its habitat
competition
the struggle between organisms to survive as they use the same limited resources.
predation
an interaction in which predator eats prey
predator
organism that eats prey
prey
organism eaten by predator
symbiosis
any relationship in which two species live close together and at least one benefits from the situation
mutualism
symbiosis- both species benefit
commensalism
symbiosis- one species benefits, other is neither helped or harmed
parasitism
symbiosis- (species live on or inside host) one species is helped, other is hurt
parasite
lives on/inside host
host
organism that the parasite lives in or on
succession
series of predictable changes that happen in a community over time
primary succession
succession- no soil or organisms exist
pioneer species
1st species to populate an area
secondary succession
succession- ecosystem disturbed, but soil and organisms still exist