Levels of Ecology
group of individuals of same species (elk herd)
What is a population?
Any close and long-term interaction between two organisms of different species
What is symbiosis?
Reduces population size since there are fewer resources available & fewer organisms can survive
What is competition?
standing bodies of fresh H2O (key drinking water source)
What is a lake?
have at least 2 different, interconnected food chains
What is a food web?
all living organisms in an area (plants, animals, and fungi)
What is a community
Organisms of different species living close together in a way that benefits both
What is mutualism?
different species using the same resource in diff. ways to reduce competition
What is resource partitioning?
How much salt there is in a body of water, determines which species can survive & usability for drinking
What is salinity?
the number of different habitats available in a given area
ecosystem diversity
one single organism
What is the individual?
Coral and Algae are a type of this type of situationship
What is mutualism?
species use the same resource @ different times, such as wolves & coyotes hunting @ different times (night vs. day)
areas where rivers empty into the ocean
What is an estuary?
removal or addition of a top predator has a ripple effect down through lower trophic levels
What is a trophic cascade?
all living & nonliving things in an area
What is an ecosystem?
relationship that benefits one organism & has no impact the other (birds nest in trees)
What is commensalism?
using different areas of a shared habitat (different length roots)
What is spatial partitioning?
Warm shallow waters beyond the shoreline; most diverse marine (ocean) biome on earth
What is a coral reef?
when organisms mate with closely related “family” members due to a reduced number of organisms left
What is interbreeding depression?
a regional grouping of plants and animals determined by climate.
What is a biome?
relationship where one organism gains nutrients from a host and harms but usually doesn’t kill it.
What is parasitism?
Species evolve different types of body structures to exploit (Darwins Finch Beaks)
What is morphological partitioning?
Biomes are determined by these two things
Temperature and precipitation
the ability of an ecosystem to return to its original conditions after a major disturbance (wind storm, fire, flood, clear-cutting, etc.)
What is ecosystem resilience?