Vocab Cards Flashcards
Tolerance
the ability to survive and reproduce under a range of environmental circumstances
Habitat
the general place where an organism lives
Niche
describes not only what an organism does, but also how it interacts with biotic and abiotic factors in the environment
Resource
can refer to any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients, light, food, or space
Competitive exclusion principle
states that no two species can occupy exactly the same niche in exactly the same habitat at exactly the same time
Predation
an interaction in which one animal captures and feeds on another animal
Herbivory
an interaction in which one animal feeds on producers
Keystone species
changes in the population of a single species
Symbiosis
any relationship in which two species live closely together
Mutualism
kind of relationship between species in which both benefit
Parasitism
relationships in which one organism lives inside or on another organism and harms it
Commensalism
a relationship in which one organism benefits and it neither helped nor harmed
Ecological succession
a series of more-or-less predictable changes that occur in a community over time
Primary succession
succession that begins in an area with no remnants of an older community
Secondary succession
where a disturbance affects the community without completely destroying it
Pioneer species
the first species to colonize barren areas
Population density
the number of individuals per unit area
Age structure
the number of males and females of each age a population contains
Immigration
a population may grow if individuals move its range from elsewhere
Emigration
a population may decrease in size if individuals move out of a populations range
Exponential growth
the size of each generation of offspring will be larger than the generation before it
Logistic growth
when a populations growth slows and then stop’s following a period of exponential growth
Carrying capacity
the maximum number of individuals of a particular species that a particular environment can support
Limiting factors
a factor that controls the growth of a population
