Ecology

Ecology Biosphere- the part of Earth that supports life Ecosystem- all organisms living in an area and the nonliving parts of their environment Ecology- study of interactions that occur among organisms and their environment Population- made up of all organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species Community- all the populations in an ecosystem

Habitat Place where an organism lives Provides food, safe temperatures, moisture organism needs to live Competition- two or more organisms seek the same resource at the same time

Populations Population size- indicates whether a population is healthy and growing Measured by trap-mark-release or sample count Limiting factor- any living or nonliving feature that restricts the number of individuals in a population Carrying capacity- largest number of individuals of one species that an ecosystem can support Exponential growth- the larger a populations becomes, the faster it grows

Symbiosis Any close relationship between species Mutualism- a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit Commensalism- a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is not affected Parasitism- a symbiotic relationship in which one organisms benefits and the other is harmed

Niche An organism’s role in its environment, including its habitat, food, how it avoids danger, finds a mate, cares for young Predator- animal that captures and eats other consumers Prey- organism that is captured by the predator Predators limit the size of prey populations, increasing the number of different species that can live in an ecosystem

Abiotic Factors Atmosphere (air) Water Soil Sunlight climate

Water Cycle How water moves from the Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back to the surface again Evaporation- when liquid water changes into water vapor and enters the atmosphere Condensation- the process of changing water from a gas to a liquid

Other Cycles Nitrogen cycle- the transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to atmosphere Carbon cycle- how carbon molecules move between the living and nonliving world

Energy flow Matter recycled over and over, but energy is converted from one form to another Chemosynthesis- production of energy rich nutrient molecules from chemicals Energy stored in the molecules of one organism is transferred to another when one organism becomes food for another organism

Food chain Simple wat of showing how matter and energy pass from one organism to another

Food web Shows all possible feeding relationships among the organisms in a community

Energy Pyramid Shows the amount of energy available at each feeding level in an ecosystem

Ecological succession Normal, gradual changes that occur in types of species that live in an area Climax community- stable stage of ecological diversity and balance