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