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Chapter 1
populations and communities
Term | Definition |
---|---|
organism | a living thing |
habitat | an environment that provides the things a specific organism needs to live, grow, and reproduce |
biotic factor | a living thing or once living thing of an organism's habitat |
abiotic factor | a non-living part of an organism's habitat |
species | a group of similar organisms that can mate with each other and produce offspring that can also mate and reproduce |
population | all the members of one species living in the same area |
community | all the populations that live together in a particular area |
ecosystem | the community of organisms that live in a particular area, along with their non-living environment |
ecology | the study of organisms interact with each other and their environment |
birth rate | the number of births per 1000 individuals for a certain time period |
death rate | the number of deaths per 1000 individuals for a certain time period |
immigration | movement of individuals into a populations area |
emigration | movement of individuals out of a population's area |
population density | the number of individuals in an area of a specific size |
limiting factor | an environmental factor that causes a population to decrease in size |
carrying capacity | the largest population that a particular environment can support |
natural selection | the process by which organisms that are best adapted to their environment are most likely to survive and reproduce |
adaption | an inherited behavior or physical characteristic that helps an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment |
niche | how an organism makes its living and interacts with the biotic and abiotic factors in its habitat |
competition | The struggle between organisms to survive as they attempt to use the same limited resources in the same place at the same time. |
predation | An interaction in which one organism kills another for food or nutrients |
predator | The organism that does the killing in a predation interaction. |
prey | An organism that is killed and eaten by another organism in a predation interaction. |
symbiosis | Any relationship in which two species live closely together and that benefits at least one of the species |
mutualism | A type of symbiosis in which both species benefit from living together. |
commensalism | A type of symbiosis between two species in which one species benefits and the other species is neither helped nor harmed. |
parasitism | A type of symbiosis in which one organism lives with, on, or in a host and harms it. |
parasite | The organism that benefits by living with, on, or in a host in a parasitism interaction. |
host | An organism that a parasite lives with, in, or on, and provides a source of energy or a suitable An organism that a parasite lives with, in, or on, and provides a source of energy or a suitable environment for the parasite to live. |