| Ecology: The study of
relationships between organisms and between organisms and their physical
environments. |
| Ecosystem: A biological
community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. Ecosystems have no particular size. An ecosystem can be as large as a desert or a lake or a lake or as small as a tree or a puddle. All the parts work together to make a balanced system. A healthy ecosystem has lots of species diversity and is less likely to be seriously damaged by human interaction, natural disasters and climate changes. Every species has a niche in its ecosystem that helps keep the system healthy. |
| Limiting Factors: anything
that can restrict the size of a population, including living and non living
features of an ecosystem, such as predators or drought. |
| symbiosis: any close relationship
between species, including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. |
| producer: organism, such as green
plant or algae, that uses an outside source of energy like the sun. |
| community: all populations of
different species that live in an ecosystem. |
| prey: an animal that is hunted
and killed by another for food. |
| predators: an animal that naturally
preys on others. |