Chapter 8 Key Terms Flashcards
Population
A group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific geographical area and interbreed.
Density
The number of individuals of the same species that live in a given unit of area.
Dispersion
In ecology, the process of distribution of organisms in a population.
Growth Rate
An expression of the increase in the size of an organism or population over a given period of time.
Reproductive potential
The maximum number of offspring that a given organism can produce.
Exponential Growth
Growth in which numbers increase by a certain factor in each successive time period.
Carrying Capacity
The largest population that an environment can support at any given time.
Niche
The unique position occupied by a species, both in terms of its physical use of its habitat and its function within an ecological community.
Competition
The relationship between two species in which both species attempt to use the same limited resource such that both are negatively affected by the relationship.
Predation
An interaction between two organisms in which one organism, the predator, kills and feeds on the other organism.
Parasitism
A relationship between two species in which one species, the parasite, benefits from the other species, the host, which is harmed.
Mutualism
A relationship between two species in which both species benefit.
Commensalism
A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected
Symbiosis
A relationship in which two different organisms live in close association with each other.
