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Interactions of Life
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| community | all the populations of different species that live in an ecosystem |
| habitat | place where an organism lives and that provides the types of food, shelter, moisture, and temperature needed for survival |
| ecology | the study of the interactions that take place among organisms and their environment |
| limiting factor | anything that can restrict the size of a population, including living and nonliving features of an ecosystem, such as predators or drought |
| biosphere | the part of Earth where life can be found |
| ecosystem | all the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) factors in the same area |
| population | made up of all the organisms of the same species that live in an area at the same time |
| competition | occurs when two or more organism seek the same resources at the same time |
| carrying capacity | the maximum number of individuals of one species that an ecosystem can support over time |
| organism | an individual living thing |
| biome | large area with distinct climate, plant, and animal life |
| niche | the way an organism fits into its ecosystem |
| herbivore | an animal that eats only plants |
| omnivore | an animal that eats plants and other animals |
| carnivore | an animal that eats only other animals |
| decomposer | an organism, especially a soil bacterium, fungus, or invertebrate, that decomposes organic material |
| producer/autotroph | an organism that makes its own food |
| consumer/heterotroph | an organism that eats other organisms |