Ecology

The study of the interactions between organisms and their environment

The part of the earth where life can exist

consists of organisms and their interactioins with the environment

The place where an organism lives

All the members of the same species in an area

All the different populations in an area

Non living factors

Living factors

Refers to weather over a long period of time

relate to soil

Organisms that carry out photosynthesis

All the plants in an ecosystem

Organisms that feed off of another organism

All the animals in an ecosystem

Organisms that feed on dead organic matter

Organisms that feed on small pieces of dead organic matter

A sequence of organisms in which each one is eaten by the next

A feeding level in a food chain

Two or more interlinked food chains

Represents the number of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain

The role an organism plays in a community

The way in which elements are exchanged between the living and non-living components of an ecosystem

*The conversion of nitrogen gas into nitrate

*The conversion of ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate

*The conversion of nitrates to nitrogen gas

Any harmful addition to the environment

Harmful additions to the environment

The wise management of natural resources in an ecosystem

the struggle between organisms for a resource in short supply

*Takes place between members of the same species

*Occurs between members of different species

An active physical confrontation between two organisms in which only one wins the resource

All of the competing individuals get some of the resource

The hunting, killing, and eating of another organism

An organisms that hunts, kills, and eats another organism

The organism that is eaten by the predator

A close relationship between two organisms in which at least one benefits

A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and does harm to the other