Chapter 8 Key Terms

Question 1

population

Answer 1

a group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific geographical area and interbreed

Question 2

density

Answer 2

the number of individuals of the same species that live in a given unit of area

Question 3

dispersion

Answer 3

in ecology, the pattern of distribution of organisms in a population

Question 4

growth rate

Answer 4

an expression of the increase in the sizeof an organism or population over a given period of time

Question 5

reproductive potential

Answer 5

the maximum number of offspring that a given organism can produce

Question 6

exponential growth

Answer 6

logarithmic growth, or growth in which numbers increase by a certain factor in each successive time period

Question 7

carrying capacity

Answer 7

the largest population that an environment can support at any given time

Question 8

niche

Answer 8

the unique position occupied by a species, both in terms of its physical use of its habitat and its function within an ecological community

Question 9

competition

Answer 9

the relationship between two species(or individuals) in which both species (or individuals) attempt to use the same limited resource such that both are negatively affected by the relationship

Question 10

predation

Answer 10

an interaction between two organisms in which one organism, the predator, kills and feeds on the other organism, the prey

Question 11

parasitism

Answer 11

a relationship between two species in which one species, the parasite, benefits from the other species, the host, which is harmed

Question 12

mutualism

Answer 12

a relationship between two species in which both species benefit

Question 13

commensalism

Answer 13

a relationship between two organ-isms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected

Question 14

symbiosis

Answer 14

a relationship in which two different organisms live in close association with each other