2. Ecology Ecology- the study of how organisms interact with each other and with their environment

3. Abiotic Factors Abiotic factors- the nonliving parts of the environment. They include: Sunlight Water Temperature Wind Soil type The atmosphere The types and amounts of abiotic factors that are available in an ecosystem help determine which organisms can live there.

4. Biotic Factors biotic factors- all the living things or once-living things in an environment. Ex: Animals Plants Bacteria Fungi

5. Organization In The Environment The biosphere consists of all life on Earth and all parts of the Earth in which life exists, including land, water, and the atmosphere.

6. Biome — a geographic area that contain groups of ecosystems with similar biotic and abiotic features. Terrestrial (land) Biomes include: Forests Deserts Tundra Grasslands

7. Aquatic Biomes include: Marine Freshwater (rivers & lakes) Estuaries

8. Ecosystem—all the organisms that live in a place, together with their physical environment(abiotic factors) The types and amounts of abiotic factors that are available in an ecosystem help determine which organisms can live there

9. Community—All the populations of species that live in the same area and interact

10. Population-a group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

11. Organism- any unicellular or multicellular form exhibiting all of the characteristics of life, an individual

13. The size of a population can increase or decrease in response to changes in biotic or abiotic factors in the environment. Increase when: individuals move into an area (Immigration) when more individuals are born Decrease when: Individuals move away from an area(Emigration) When individuals die Population density describes the number of organisms in an area relative to the amount of space available.

14. Limiting factors: any biotic or abiotic factor that restricts an organism’s ability to survive and therefore limiting the size of a population They include: Lack of sufficient resources such as: food supply water supply living space shelter predation competition disease

15. Limiting factors: Differ for different ecosystems They contribute to fluctuations in wildlife populations Can occur “naturally” or can be caused by “Human Activities” Biotic Potential: the potential growth of a population if it could grow in perfect conditions with no limiting factors

16. Carrying capacity- the largest number of individuals of a species that an ecosystem can support over time The limiting factors of an area determine the area’s carrying capacity. Overpopulation occurs when a population's size becomes larger than the ability of the area to support it.

17. Succession-the orderly, natural change in communities over time Primary succession: development of living communities from BARE ROCK NO soil present Ex. Rock  lichens  moss  ferns  shrubs  trees  mature trees

18. Pioneer organism: the first organism to inhabit a community (ex. lichens) Climax community: a stable, mature community that undergoes little or no succession Primary succession takes a relatively long time to reach this point

19. Secondary succession: the development of living communities that takes place when a community is disrupted by natural disasters or human impact Soil IS present Takes less time to reach climax community Ex. Abandoned farms, fires, volcanic eruptions..

20. Organisms whose abundance or activity is essential in maintaining the nature of a habitat. They may be : important habitat modifiers Pollinators Seed dispersers Ex: Grey wolf Elephant Kangaroo rat Chipmunk Sea urchin Sea otter

22. All populations in a community share a habitat- the physical place where a population or an organism lives. Niche-the role a species plays in a community (job) Symbiosis-the relationship in which there is a close and permanent association between organisms of different species 3 types: Mutualism Parasitism Commensalism

23. Relationship in which both organisms benefit Organism 1 = = Benefit Organism 2 = = Benefit

24. Ants and the acacia tree

25. Relationship in which one species benefits and the other is harmed Organism 1 = = benefit Organism 2 = = harmed

26. Tapeworms

27. relationship in which one species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited Organism 1 = = benefit Organism 2 = = no harm, no benefits

28. Spanish moss growing on trees

29. RelationshipOrganism 1Organism 2 Mutualism Benefit Benefit Commensalism BenefitNo benefit, not harmed Parasitism BenefitHarmed