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 or once living part of an organisms habitat |
abiotic factor | A nonliving 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 members of one species living in the same area |
community | All the different populations that live together in a particular area |
ecosystem | The community of organisms that line in a particular area, along with their nonliving environment |
ecology | The study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment |
birth rate | number of births per 1,000 individuals for a certain time period |
death rate | number of deaths per 1,000 individuals for a certain time period |
immigration | Movement of individuals into a populations area |
emigration | Movement of individuals out a populations 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 |
adaptation | An inherited behavior or physical characteristic that helps and organism survive and reproduce in its enviroment |
niche | How and 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 and nutrients |
predator | The organisms 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 | Any type of symbiosis in which both species benefit from living together |
commensalism | Any type of symbiosis between two species in which one species benefits and the other species in neither helped nor harmed |
parasitism | Any type of symbiosis in which one organism lives with, on, or in a host and harms it |
host | 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 |
succession | The series of predictable changes that occur in a community over time |
primary succession | The series of change that occur in an area where no soil or organism exist |
pioneer species | The first species to populate and area during succession |
secondary succession | The series of changes that occur in an area where the ecosystem has been disturbed, but where soil and organisms still exist |