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environment sciences
Chapter 2 -vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| abiotic factors | nonliving parts of an ecosystem |
| adaptation | an inherited trait that increases an organism's chance of survival and reproduction in a certain environment |
| biotic factors | living parts of an ecosystem |
| coevolution | two or more species evolving in response to each other |
| commensalism | relationship between two species in which one species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor helped |
| community | a group of interacting populations of different species |
| competition | the relationship between species that attempt to use the same limited resource |
| ecosystem | all living organisms in a certain area as well as their physical environment |
| evolution | change in the genetic characteristics of a population from one generation to the next |
| extinction | the irreversible disappearance of a population or a species |
| habitat | place where an organism lives |
| host | organism from which a parasite takes its nourishment |
| mutualism | a relationship between two species in which both benefit |
| natural selection | any natural substance that humans use, such as sunlight, soil, water, plants, and animals |
| niche | an organism's way of life |
| organism | an individual living thing |
| parasites | organism that lives in or on another organism and feeds on it without immediately killing it |
| parsitism | the relationship between a parasite and its host |
| population | a group of individuals of the same species living in a particular place |
| predation | the act of killing and eating another organism |
| predator | organism that kills and eats another organism |
| prey | organism that is killed and eaten by a predator |
| species | a group of organisms that are able to produce fertile offspring and that resemble each other in appearance, behavior, and internal structure |