1. Ecological Principles: A Brief Overview

2. Ecology: The study of the interactions that take place among organisms and their environment

3. Biosphere
The part of Earth that supports life; consists of 3 main parts:
Lithosphere- Top portion of Earth's crust
Hydrosphere- All the waters that cover Earth's surface
Atmosphere- “air” that surrounds Earth.

5. Ecosystem
All the organisms living (biotic) in an area and the nonliving features (abiotic) of their environment
Biotic examples: flora and fauna
Abiotic examples: sun, water, soil

6. Population
All the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species

8. Community All the populations that coexist in an ecosystem
Populations in a community may or may not work together for a common goal (i.e. food and water attainment, survival, etc.)

10. The place in which an organism lives
Habitat
The place in which an organism lives
provides the kinds of food and shelter, the temperature, and the amount of moisture the organism needs to survive

12. Competition
Populations within an ecosystem may compete for the same resources within that ecosystem.
Examples of such things that are competed for include food, water, and living space.

13. Competition
Competition caused by population growth affects many organisms, including humans
Limits population size

14. Limiting Factor
Anything that restricts the number of individuals in a population.
Includes living and nonliving features of the ecosystem
Examples of limiting factors: food, water, sunlight, space, etc.

16. Succession
Natural, gradual changes in the types of species that live in an area; can be primary or secondary.
Primary – begins in a place without soil (succession from scratch)
Secondary – occurs where soil already exists (so…there’s already a starting point for succession)

19. Primary Succession

20. Secondary Succession

21. Pioneer species
A group of organisms, such as lichens, found in the primary stage of succession and that begin an area's soil-building process

23. Climax community
A community that has reached a stable stage of ecological succession
Climax = peak…so a climax community is the “furthest” a community can “succeed” in an area.

25. Biome Large geographic areas with similar climates and ecosystems
Examples include: tropical rainforest, taiga, tundra, deciduous forest, et al
More on biomes later…