16.1 Teacher Notes Interactions of Living Things

An environment has two parts: ecology – the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment An environment has two parts: biotic – living organisms abiotic – nonliving, the physical factors that affect living organisms such as water, soil, light, & temperature

6 levels of environmental organization: individual – a single living thing population – two or more organisms of the same species that live together in the same area at the same time community – two or more populations of different species that live and interact in an area ecosystem – two or more populations in their abiotic environment (water, soil, light, temperature) biome – the climate affects the plant community which affects the animal community (rainforest, desert) biosphere – the part of the Earth where life exists