ch.8 key terms

Question 1

population

Answer 1

consists of all the organisms of a given species that live in a particular area

Question 2

density

Answer 2

is the number of individuals per unit geographic area

Question 3

dispersion

Answer 3

is the spreading of a population or organism away from its parents and happens when organisms are looking for additional resources

Question 4

growth rate

Answer 4

the growth rate of a population is sometimes measured as the increase in numbers of individuals

Question 5

reproductive potential

Answer 5

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

Question 6

exponential growth

Answer 6

rate stays the same regardless of population size, making the population grow faster and faster as it gets larger.

Question 7

carrying capacity

Answer 7

as a species’ average population size in a particular habitat

Question 8

niche

Answer 8

A variety of abiotic factors, such as soil type and climate, also define a species’ niche.

Question 9

competition

Answer 9

Ecological competition is the conflict that arises between two or more organisms or species for identical environmental resources.

Question 10

predator

Answer 10

An organism that captures and feeds on some or all parts of an organism of another species.

Question 11

parasitism

Answer 11

is a symbiosis in which one organism, the parasite, causes harm to another, the host, which the parasite utilizes as habitat and depends on for resource acquisition

Question 12

mutualism

Answer 12

as an interaction between individuals of different species that results in positive

Question 13

commensalism

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

is a term describing any relationship or interaction between two dissimilar organisms