Ecology
Ecosystem
-A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. -All living and non living
Autotroph
-An organism that makes its own food -Use of solar or chemical energy to produce "food" (PRODUCER)
Biosphere
-part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere -entire earth
predator-prey
-predator captures and feed on pray -population size is affected by this relationship
Biodiversity
-the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem - total of all the genetically based variation in all organisms in the biosphere
scavenger
A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms
Carnivore
A consumer that eats only animals.
Herbivore
A consumer that eats only plants.
Biome
A group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms
Species
A group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.
Community
All the different populations that live together in an area
Omnivore
An animal that eats both plants and animals
Decomposer
An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms
Density-dependent limiting factors
Competition,predation,herbivore,parasitism,disease, and stress
Niche
Full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions
Interdependence
Living and non living thing rely on each other to survive
Abiotic
Non-living
Ecology
Scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment
Density-independent limiting factors
Wildfires,hurricanes,flood, droughts
Herbivory
affects size and distribution of plant populations
Limiting factors
factors that limit population growth
Population
group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area
Biotic
living
keysone species
one species can have dramatic changes on the whole community
Heterotroph
organism that obtains energy from the foods it consumes; also called a consumer
exponential growth
the larger a population gets, the faster it grows
carrying capacity
the maximum number of individuals of a particular species that a particular environment can support