Ecology

Study of the Interactions between Organisms and the Nonliving Components of their Environment Each organism Depends in some way on other living and nonliving things in its Environment

Levels of Organization Organism- a single life form

Population Population- all the organisms of the same species living in one place at one time

Community Community- all of the populations in one area at one time

Habitat Habitat- the physical location of the community

Ecosystem Ecosystem- All organisms and the non-living environment in an area Can be as small as your back yard or as large as the world.

Diversity Diversity- measure of the number of different species there are and how common each species is. Ecosystems flourish more with more diversity

Niche Niche- an organism’s role in the community (like a job) It includes the way an organism interacts with its environment. (ex. How it gets food, how it finds shelter, when it reproduces, how many offspring it has, etc)

Generalist Generalists- species with broad niches, they can tolerate many conditions and use many resources (ex cats, deer, roaches)

Specialists Specialists- Species that have narrow Niches, they can only tolerate certain conditions. (ex. Koala and Panda)

Abiotic Factors Abiotic factors- non-living factors in the ecosystem that affects that ecosystem Ex. Sunlight, Climate, Water supply, Chemicals, etc

Biotic Factors Biotic factors- living components of an ecosystem Interactions between organisms that can affect the ecosystem

Competition competition- two species or organisms struggling for the same resource (- and -) ex. lions and hyenas.

Mutualism Symbiosis- organisms living in a close relationship mutualism- two species cooperating (+ and +) ex. bees and flowers, hippos and fish

Commensalism commensalism- one species benefits from another, the other species is not affected (+ and no affect) ex. Sea anemones and clown fish

Predation predation- one species hunting and eating another (+ and -) leopards and gazelles

Parasitism parisitism- one species benefits from another, the other species is harmed (+ and -) dogs and ticks, humans and tape worms