Ecological Relationships

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Community Ecology Noun

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[kuh-myoo-ni-tee ee-kol-uh-jee]

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Community Ecology

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The scientific study of the interactions between the populations of different species that inhabit a specific area or community.

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Example: A food web shows how different species in a community, like plants, rabbits, and hawks, are connected through feeding relationships, a key part of community ecology.

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Community Noun

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[kuh-myoo-ni-tee]

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Community

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A group of all the different populations of species that live together and interact in a particular geographic area.

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Example: This image shows a community of different species (grasses, rabbits, foxes, owls, etc.) interacting in an ecosystem, primarily through feeding relationships.

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Biotic Adjective

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[bahy-ot-ik]

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Biotic

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Relating to or resulting from living things, especially in their ecological relations; the living components of an ecosystem.

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Example: This image shows that biotic factors are the living or once-living parts of an ecosystem, such as animals (fish, snake), plants (tree), and fungi (mushrooms).

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Abiotic Adjective

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[ey-bahy-ot-ik]

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Abiotic

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Relating to the non-living physical and chemical components of an environment, such as sunlight, temperature, water, and soil.

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Example: This image shows sunlight and rain, which are non-living (abiotic) factors that are essential parts of any ecosystem.

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Predation Noun

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[preh-dey-shuhn]

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Predation

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A biological interaction where one organism, the predator, hunts, kills, and consumes another organism, known as the prey.

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Example: This graph shows how predator (lynx) and prey (hare) populations are linked, with changes in one population causing a delayed change in the other.

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Predator Noun

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[pred-uh-ter]

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Predator

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An organism that naturally preys on others, hunting and killing other organisms for its food in a feeding relationship.

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Example: In this food chain, the owl is a predator because it hunts and eats the mouse for energy.

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Prey Noun

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[prey]

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Prey

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An organism that is hunted and killed for food by another organism, known as a predator, in an ecosystem.

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Example: In this food chain, the beetle is prey for the mouse, and the mouse is prey for the owl, showing how energy moves between organisms.

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Coevolve Verb

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[koh-i-volv]

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Coevolve

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The process where two or more species reciprocally influence each other's evolution through their ecological interactions over time.

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Example: This image shows a moth with a long tongue and a flower with a long tube, which have evolved together; the moth gets nectar, and the flower gets pollinated.

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Mimicry Noun

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[mim-i-kree]

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Mimicry

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An evolutionary adaptation where one species evolves to resemble another species, providing an advantage like protection from predation.

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Example: This image shows different butterfly species that look very similar, a defense called mimicry, which helps protect them from predators.

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Competition Noun

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[kom-pi-tish-uhn]

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Competition

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An interaction between organisms or species in which both are harmed by their shared need for a limited resource.

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Example: This image shows two types of ecological competition: between members of the same species (intraspecific) and between different species (interspecific) for limited resources.