chapter 8 key terms

Question 1

population

Answer 1

the whole number of people or inhabitants in a country or region. b : the total of individuals occupying an area or making up a whole. c : the total of particles at a particular energy level —used especially of atoms in a laser

Question 2

density

Answer 2

Density is a word we use to describe how much space an object or substance takes up (its volume) in relation to the amount of matter in that object or substance (its mass). Another way to put it is that density is the amount of mass per unit of volume. If an object is heavy and compact, it has a high density.

Question 3

dispersion

Answer 3

Dispersion is a statistical term that describes the size of the distribution of values expected for a particular variable and can be measured by several different statistics, such as range, variance, and standard deviation

Question 4

growth rate

Answer 4

Growth rates refer to the percentage change of a specific variable within a specific time period. For investors, growth rates typically represent the compounded annualized rate of growth of a company’s revenues, earnings, dividends, or even macro concepts, such as gross domestic product (GDP) and retail sales

Question 5

reproductive

Answer 5

relating to or concerned with the production of offspring reproductive cells. reproductive

Question 6

potential

Answer 6

The organism that produces the most organisms in that time frame has the most biotic potential. … If both organisms produce the maximum recorded number of offspring in a year, a human can only produce eight children. In one year, a dog has the potential to produce 48 offspring

Question 7

exponential growth

Answer 7

Exponential growth may occur in environments where there are few individuals and plentiful resources, but when the number of individuals becomes large enough, resources will be depleted, slowing the growth rate. Eventually, the growth rate will plateau or level off

Question 8

carrying capacity

Answer 8

Carrying capacity can be defined as a species’ average population size in a particular habitat. The species population size is limited by environmental factors like adequate food, shelter, water, and mates.

Question 9

niche

Answer 9

In ecology, the term “niche” describes the role an organism plays in a community. A species’ niche encompasses both the physical and environmental conditions it requires

Question 10

competition

Answer 10

The competitive environment relates to how a business is affected by its competition and how it adapts its businesses practices to enable it to compete effectively

Question 11

predation

Answer 11

In predation, one organism kills and consumes another. Predation provides energy to prolong the life and promote the reproduction of the organism that does the killing, the predator, to the detriment of the organism being consumed, the prey. Predation influences organisms at two ecological levels

Question 12

parasitism

Answer 12

Environmental parasitology deals with the interactions between parasites and pollutants in the environment. Their sensitivity to pollutants and environmental disturbances makes many parasite taxa useful indicators of environmental health and anthropogenic impact

Question 13

mutualism

Answer 13

Mutualism is defined as an interaction between individuals of different species that results in positive (beneficial) effects on per capita reproduction and/or survival of the interacting populations

Question 14

commensalism

Answer 14

n biology, 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. … In commensal interactions, one species benefits and the other is unaffected

Question 15

symbiosis

Answer 15

Symbiosis is an ecological relationship between two species that live in close proximity to each other. Organisms in symbiotic relationships have evolved to exploit a unique niche that another organism provides