Ecology

  What is ecology? Ecology is a scientific study of the distribution and abundance of living things and how the distribution and abundance are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment.

  What is an Ecosystem? An ecosystem is a community interacting with the non living parts of its environment.

Limiting factors are things that limit a species population. Examples of limiting factors for chipmunks are Predators like owls and hawks, water, food supply, nest sites.

What is symbiosis? Symbiosis is a relationship of mutual benefit or dependence.

There are three different kind of symbyotic relationships. They are mutualism, commensulism, and parasitism.

What is mutualism? It is the association between organisms of two different species in which each member benefits. For example a clown fish and a sea enemy.

  What is Commensulism? It is a symbiotic relationship between two organisms of different species in which one derives some benefit while the other is unaffected.

  What is parasitism? It is a symbiotic relationship in which one species, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host.


It's import that there is many species in one area because with out many species most of the animals will die.

Community: A group of plants and animals living and interacting with one another in a specific region under relatively similar environmental conditions.

Population: All the organisms that constitute a specific group or occur in a specified habitat.

Habitat: The physical location where an organism lives.

Consumer: Organisms that can't make their own food.

Producer: Plants that make their own food by photosynthesis.