The variety of all life on earth
Biodiversity
The movement sections of the earth's crust as a result of convection of the mantle
plate tectonics
Interaction between species living close together
symbiosis
Plant or animal that plays a critical role in the way an ecosystem functions
keystone species
Process of exchanging genetic information between populations
gene flow
Number of different unique habitats in a given area
Ecosystem
The mechanism of evolution where species better adapted to the environment survive(Darwin)
natural selection
When both species benefit from an interaction
mutualism
An organism that is not native to an environment(likely to cause harm)
invasive species
What a species is capable of doing
fundamental niche
How well a species is adapted to its environment and better able to survive and reproduce
Fitness
When a species is physically separated
geographic isolation
When one species benefits from an interaction, but the other is unaffected
commensalism
Organisms only found in one place on Earth
endemic species
What a species actually does in an environment
realized niche
A species' role in the environment
Niche
The disruption of gene flow over time preventing mutations from one population from being share with the other
speciation
When one species benefits from an interaction at the expense of another
exploitation
Organism in an ecosystem that is sensitive to changes in an environment
indicator species
The current geological age in which humans have been the dominant influence on the world
anthropocene
Any change in the genetic makeup of an organism
mutation
Change in gene frequency caused by random chance
Genetic Drift
Long term relationship benefiting the parasite and harming the host
Parasitism
Native species that faces the risk of becoming extinct in the near future
endangered species
The extinction of a large number of species within a short period of geological time
mass extinction