Vocab
Place where an organism lives and gets what it needs (food, water, shelter, mates)
Habitat
An organism's job or role in its environment
Niche
More niches allow more species (example: coral reef)
Niche Diversity
How to determine population density
Population divided by area
Organisms that use the sun's energy to make sugar and oxygen. Producers are at the base of every food chain.
Autotroph
A community and its nonliving surroundings
Ecosystem
Organisms competing for resources or limiting factors
Competition
Destroying habitats; a major cause of biodiversity loss
Habitat Destruction
When predators decrease
Prey increase
Any animal that eats plants or other animals.
Heterotroph
All members of one species in an area (all giraffes at a watering hole)
Population
Variety of species in an area
Biodiversity
Raising animals in captivity to increase population
Captive Breeding
When prey increases
predators increase
Break down dead or decaying plant and animal material.
Decomposers
Group of organisms that can mate and produce viable offspring
Species
Importance of keystone species that affect many others in an ecosystem
Ecological Value
Protecting natural environments to save species
Habitat Preservation
When predators increase
prey decreases
Amount of energy transferred between trophic levels
10%
All different populations that live together in an area
Community
Amount of genetic diversity in a population; low diversity → more disease risk
Gene Pool
Breaking habitats into smaller pieces
Habitat Fragmentation
When prey decreases
predators decrease
An organism that eats producers
Primary Consumer