Unit 3 PLATINUM (Principles of Ecology)

Anything in an environment that is now OR was once living. (It can grow, react to environmental changes, move nutrients around inside it, reproduce, etc.)

• abiotic factor
• habitat
• biotic factor
• CONSUMER

Anything in an environment that is not living - and it never has been. These factors could be natural or man-made.

• abiotic factor
• PRODUCER
• biotic factor
• habitat

An individual living thing. (One biotic factor.) Smallest unit of organization in environments.

• community
• organism
• population
• ecosystem

All the members of a species in a certain area. (How many organisms of one species in an area.) It doesn't matter how large of an area you refer to, as long as you define where it is.

• population
• organism
• community
• ecosystem

All the living things in a certain area. OR All the biotic factors in an area. OR All the populations in an area.

• ecosystem
• population
• organism
• community

All the living and non-living things in a certain area. OR All the biotic & abiotic factors in an area. Remember that these factors will interact with each other.

• community
• ecosystem
• organism
• population

A type of interaction between members of a community. This can occur within one species, or between members of multiple species. It occurs because there are limited resources (food, water, shelter, mates, territory...) available.

• predation
• SPECIALIZATION
• competition
• commensalism

A type of interaction between members of a community. This typically occurs between members of two or more species. It is hunting with the intent to kill and eat.

• competition
• predation
• parasitism
• symbiosis

The hunter in the predation relationship. *If you are eating plants, you cannot be one of these - because you're not HUNTING plants!

• species
• prey
• parasite
• predator

The animal that is the food source in a predation relationship.

• prey
• species
• parasite
• predator