Ch. 8 Key Terms

Question 1

population

Answer 1

an assortment of organisms in a given location

Question 2

density

Answer 2

the number of individuals within a given area or volume

Question 3

dispersion

Answer 3

the dissemination, or scattering, of organisms over periods within a given area or over the Earth

Question 4

growth rate

Answer 4

the rate, or speed, at which the number of organisms in a population increases

Question 5

reproductive potential

Answer 5

the relative capacity of a species to reproduce itself under optimum conditions

Question 6

exponential growth

Answer 6

when a population’s per group growth rate stays the same

Question 7

carrying capacity

Answer 7

a species’ average population size in a particular habitat

Question 8

niche

Answer 8

the role an organism plays in a community

Question 9

competition

Answer 9

an interaction between organisms or species in which both require a resource that is in limited supply

Question 10

predation

Answer 10

one organism kills and consumes another

Question 11

parasitism

Answer 11

relationship between two species of plants or animals in which one benefits at the expense of the other, sometimes without killing the host organism

Question 12

mutualism

Answer 12

when two organisms of different species “work together

Question 13

commensalim

Answer 13

a relationship between individuals of two species in which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other without either harming or benefiting the latter

Question 14

symbiosis

Answer 14

any of several living arrangements between members of two different species